Topic summary
Wristwatches
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Watch.
Wristwatches
The concept of the wristwatch goes back to the production of the very earliest watches in the 16th century. In 1571, Elizabeth I of England received a wristwatch, described as an "armed watch", from Robert Dudley. 17th century French mathematician Blaise Pascal is said to have worn a watch on his left-wrist. The oldest surviving wristwatch (then described as a "bracelet watch") is one made in 1806, and given to Joséphine de Beauharnais. From the beginning, wristwatches were almost exclusively worn by women – men used pocket watches up until the early 20th century. In 1810, the watch-maker Abraham-Louis Breguet made a wristwatch for the Queen of Naples. The first Swiss wristwatch was made in the year 1868 by the Swiss watch-maker Patek Philippe for Countess Koscowicz of Hungary.