When did men start wearing wrist watches?

Sorry, RichardH. The first mens watches worn on the wrist were actually pocket watches during the end of the 19th century. Men took them to their jewelers and had wire loops soldered onto the cases to accept leather straps.
The first mens watch specifically designed for the wrist was designed and made by the famous jeweler Louis F. Cartier in 1904 for his friend, Brazillian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont. By the next year, Cartier started making this "Strap Watch" available for sale to the public.
But sales were slow. The general opinion of men was that wearing a watch on the wrist was too lady-like, as women had started the practice many years previous. It wasn't until World War I that soldiers realized that having their watch on the wrist was a lot more convenient than digging through their uniforms for it- especially under battle conditions!
Then, slowly, the general population accepted that it was OK and manly to wear a "wrist watch". And it was in 1926 that the Hamilton Watch Company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania finally started placing 2 wrist watch models in their sales catalog (other companies may have done this earlier but records are inconplete or even non-existant)..

• 0
• 0

When you think about it men's watches really haven't been around for very long. It was only post World War 2 when men's watches began to be worn on the wrists of men all over the world. Until that point, men were more inclined to carry pocket watches then wear watches on their wrists. It was during the war when watches were manufactured to be worn on the wrists of soldiers in order to help keep those in the army managing their time and missions accurately and maintaining overall organization. Once the war was over, those that received these men's watches kept wearing them instead of carrying watches around. That's when watch manufacturers recognized the growing demand for men's watches and began producing them, hence supplying to the demand. From that point onward, wrist watches gained more and more popularity until they reached the point of necessity where we stand today. It has become quite rare to look at a man's wrist and find it watch-less. Of course women's watches soon followed suit and in modern day society, we have endless options for watches that do everything from telling time to providing GPS coordinates. Obviously watches have met with great progression over the years and manufacturers have continued to supply men's watches that aim to suit the needs of the modern man. For many guys, men's watches serve as the only piece of jewelry they are willing to wear aside from their wedding rings. This probably explains why there is such a wide variety of men's watches available today. If it's the only piece of jewelry a man will wear, he might as well have a few men's watches to choose from. That way, men are able to wear watches that match not only who they are and how they live, but what they want to wear as well. And most importantly, men's watches are supposed to keep them on time for the special women in their lives.

• 9
• 3