Portable timepieces and pocket  watches have been around since the 15th and 16th centuries. The wristwatch (as opposed to a watch worn on the wrist) as we know it today is of course more recent. It was not until the early 20th century that its popularity, design and development began to accelerate.

To begin with, it seems, watches for the wrist were marketed mainly for women, sports people and military officers. At the turn of the century men generally didn’t see watches for the wrist as something that they would wear, considering it decorative jewellery, continuing to opt for the traditional pocket watch.

 

It was World War 1 that probably helped shift perceptions of the wrist watch.  Very early wristlets were basically small pocket watches or fob watches attached to leather straps or bangles and chains. They were still impractical during use. Therefore after initial resistance watchmakers started to concentrate on designing “purpose built” wrist watches, making parts that suited the much smaller cases. Following the war, by the 1920’s the wrist watch in concept was embraced by the mass market and as a result began its real journey in design and development. Over the following decades it became a fashionable and practical accessory for both men and women. Great investment was put into improvements in the technical and aesthetic design and we see a wide variety appearing during the first half of the 20th Century.

 

Postcard postmarked 1918

Trench WW1 Postcard

 

The Allnutt Collection contains examples of early wrist watches, watch guards and watch packaging. The next project is to digitise the examples we have so that they can be easily accessed and referred to, for use in information exchange and research. Please do contact us if you wish to see the permanent collections we have. Alternatively if you have further information about any of the objects please do let us know.

Watch Guard

 

Watch Guards

These were designed to protect the more vulnerable early wrist watch glasses from damage.   Examples of these can be seen below and we hope that by illustrating these they will be useful for reference as there are a wide variety many with only subtle differences.  Where we know the patent numbers and associated information we have provided it and if you can add to this we would be grateful.

 

ACWG 1,2,3 Watch GuardWatch GuardACWG5 Watch GuardACWG6 Watch GuardACWG7 Watch GuardACWG8 Watch Guard
ACWG 1,2,3ACWG4ACWG5ACWG6ACWG7ACWG8
ACWG9 Watch GuardACWG10 Watch GuardACWG11 Watch GuardACWG12 Watch GuardACWG13 Watch GuardACWG14 Watch Guard
ACWG9ACWG10ACWG11ACWG12ACWG13ACWG14
ACWG15 Watch GuardACWG16 Watch GuardACWG17 Watch GuardACWG18 Watch GuardACWG19 Watch GuardACWG20 Watch Guard
ACWG15ACWG16ACWG17ACWG18ACWG19ACWG20
ACWG21 Watch GuardACWG22 Watch GuardACWG23 Watch GuardACWG24 Watch GuardACWG25 Watch GuardACWG26 Watch Guard
ACWG21ACWG22ACWG23 ACWG24ACWG25ACWG26
ACWG27 Watch GuardACWG28 Watch GuardACWG29 Watch GuardACWG30 Watch GuardACWG31 Watch GuardACWG32 Watch Guard
ACWG27ACWG28ACWG29ACWG30ACWG31ACWG32
ACWG33 Watch GuardACWG33b Watch GuardACWG34 Watch GuardACWG35 Watch GuardACWG36 Watch GuardACWG37 Watch Guard
ACWG33ACWG33bACWG34ACWG35ACWG36ACWG37
ACWG38 Watch GuardACWG39 Watch GuardACWG40 Watch GuardWatch GuardWatch CoverWatch Cover
ACWG38ACWG39ACWG40ACWG41bACWG44ACWG45
Watch Cover
ACWG46