The Changing Face of Watches

The Changing Face of Watches

Alongside excerpts from his book, The Watch: A Twentieth-Century Style History, Alex Barter has selected 17 pieces from the 24 September Watches sale in London, which represent snapshots from more than a century of horological development.
Alongside excerpts from his book, The Watch: A Twentieth-Century Style History, Alex Barter has selected 17 pieces from the 24 September Watches sale in London, which represent snapshots from more than a century of horological development.

T he watch underwent an extraordinary evolution during the 20th century - transforming from pocket to wrist, its design reacted to a rapidly changing world. Wars, financial crashes, space races and sporting events all played their part in influencing the design of the watch.

During the Quartz Crisis of the 1970s and early 1980s, the rise of the battery powered watch threatened to eliminate the traditional mechanical watchmaking industry, yet out of the cataclysm that this seemingly heralded, a mechanical renaissance was born.

Alex's book The Watch: A Twentieth-Century Style History is available for purchase here.

 
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