Designed to slip into the pocket of the new waistcoats introduced by King Charles II of England, pocket watches became a luxurious accessory for correct dress after the Restoration of the British monarchy in 1660.
Prior to this, they had been heavy, drum-shaped cylinders fastened to clothing or worn on a chain around the neck.
17th Century
The French, Swiss, Dutch and Germans were the main artisans producing these beautiful watches that were essentially items of jewelry that incidentally told the time.
It wasn’t until 1680 that pocket watches introduced the minute hand and another 10 years before the second hand made an appearance.
Adorning the elaborately jeweled pocket watch below is a depiction of the young Louis XIV (1638 – 1715) on horseback.
One of the most important surviving watches of its period, it is thought to have been made as a gift for the young king.
1645. Watch. Jacques Goullons. Case and dial of enameled gold; hand of steel; movement of brass, partly gilded, and steel. metmuseum
It includes a miniature with the arms of France and Navarre and the Orders of Saint Michael and the Holy Spirit.
1645. Watch. Jacques Goullons. Case and dial of enameled gold; hand of steel; movement of brass, partly gilded, and steel. metmuseum
1645. Watch. Jacques Goullons. Case and dial of enameled gold; hand of steel; movement of brass, partly gilded, and steel. metmuseum
1645. Watch. Jacques Goullons. Case and dial of enameled gold; hand of steel; movement of brass, partly gilded, and steel. metmuseum
1645. Watch. Jacques Goullons. Case and dial of enameled gold; hand of steel; movement of brass, partly gilded, and steel. metmuseum
1645. Watch. French, probably Paris case with Dutch, The Hague watch. Case and dial enameled gold; Movement gilded brass and steel, partly blued. metmuseum
1645. Case and dial painted enamel on gold with brass hand; Movement gilded brass and partly blued steel. metmuseumFrench, probably Paris
Britain was at the forefront of watch making in the 18th century.
Not only were half of the world’s watches made in Britain, but probably 70% of the innovation in a modern mechanical watch came from Britain.
Originally developed for large clocks like those of the town hall, the earlier watch mechanisms used the verge escapement—verge being derived from the Latin virga for stick or rod.
An escapement is a device that transfers energy to the watch’s timekeeping element, allowing the number of oscillations to be counted.
Inherent with the verge escapement design was a high degree of friction, with no jewelling to protect the contacting surfaces from wear.
As a result, a verge watch could rarely achieve any high standard of accuracy.
How goes your watches ladies? What’s o’clock now?
First Lady: By mine full nine.
Second Lady: By mine a quarter past.
These three lines by the Jacobean playwright Thomas Middleton (d. 1627) sum up the unreliability of watches, which for the most part were more useful as jewelry than as timekeepers.
But with time came improvements.
Lever escapement. Credit Mario Frasca
The cylinder escapement invented by English clockmaker Thomas Tompion in 1695 and perfected by another English clockmaker, George Graham, in 1726, was much thinner allowing for very slim watch designs, which became the height of fashion.
But the cylinder escapement didn’t significantly improve accuracy.
Then in 1759, along came another Englishman, Thomas Mudge, with his invention of the lever escapement—the greatest single improvement ever applied to pocket watches.
With the lever escapement, watches could keep time to within a minute a day.
1770. Watch. German, Dresden. Case gold, inlaid with hardstones. metmuseum
1770. Watch. German, Dresden. Case gold, inlaid with hardstones. metmuseum
19th and early 20th Centuries
Although the exquisite craftsmanship of British and Swiss watchmakers dominated the first half of the 19th century, it was the Second Industrial Revolution in the latter third that catapulted America to center-stage of watch manufacturing.
1810. Watch. Swiss, La Chaux-de-Fonds. Gold, glass. metmuseum
1819. Watch. British, London. Case of gold, enamel, and pearls, with floral design; jeweled movement, with ruby cylinder escapement. metmuseum
1820. Watch. Swiss, Geneva. Case of gold and enamel, with floral design. metmuseum
1820. Watch. Swiss, Geneva. Case of gold and enamel, with floral design. metmuseum
1850. Watch. Swiss, Geneva. Case partly enameled gold; Dial white enamel with gold hands; Movement gilded brass and steel. metmuseum
1850. Watch. Swiss, Geneva. Case partly enameled gold; Dial white enamel with gold hands; Movement gilded brass and steel. metmuseum
1850. Watch. Swiss, Geneva. Case partly enameled gold; Dial white enamel with gold hands; Movement gilded brass and steel. metmuseum
Demand for pocket watches rose dramatically in the late 19th century, but Britain and Switzerland were ill-equipped to seize the opportunity.
World leadership changed hands to America, with Waltham, Massachusetts and Elgin, Illinois becoming centers of mass manufacturing using standardized parts and the latest machine tools.
The rise of railroads also spread the popularity of pocket watches and helped improve their reliability.
Attributed to one of the engineer’s watches running four minutes behind, a deadly train disaster in Kipton, Ohio in 1891, in which two trains collided at full speed, prompted new precision standards and safety inspections for Railroad pocket watches.
Colloquially called “railroad-grade pocket watches”, these precision timepieces had to meet the General Railroad Timepiece Standards adopted in 1893 by almost all railroads.
Interior of Burlington Bulldog railroad watch. Credit Kevin Trotman
Vintage Elgin National Watch Co. Pocket Watch with Hunter Case and Gold Chain, Circa 1901. Credit Joe Haupt
Vintage Elgin National Watch Company Pocket Watch, 17 Jewels, Lever Set, 10 K Gold Filled Open Face Case Marked ‘Hamilton Keystone Watchcase, J. Boss, Railroad Model’, Circa 1918. Credit Joe Haupt
Pocket watches remained popular until World War I when officers in the field discovered that wristwatches were easier and quicker to use.
Waltham pocket watch once owned by a World War I veteran.. Credit Ross Dunn
For anyone living in the United Kingdom, there is one door knocker that is the most powerful in the land.
A lion’s head door knocker sits firmly affixed—as if keeping watch—to the shiny black door of 10 Downing Street, home to the Prime Minister.
Front door, 10 Downing Street with lion door knocker
Door knockers are more popular in England than in any other country and can be found everywhere, even in the most remote locations.
But the history of door knockers begins several thousand years ago in Ancient Greece.
Greeks were a bit picky about unannounced visits to their dwellings, and it was considered a breach of etiquette to enter without warning.
Where Spartans would simply shout their arrival, the more sophisticated Athenians preferred to use a door knocker.
Doors had replaced hangings to provide better safety and privacy, and upper class Greeks had slaves whose sole purpose was to answer the door.
It’s a bit like having a butler, but one that was chained to the door to prevent them wandering off. If they didn’t die of boredom, they’d fall asleep, and so to wake them up, visitors rapped the door with a short bar of iron attached to a chain.
It wasn’t long before some Greeks realized the short bar made a good weapon with which to attack the householder. So property owners fought back with new technology.
The knocker evolved into a heavy ring fastened to the door by a plate—dual purpose knocker and handle!
Ring and Plat Door Knocker. Albania. Credit Wolfgang Sauber
Adopting the Greek custom, the Romans spread the use of door knockers to the farthest reaches of their empire.
While the heavy ring remained until around the 15th century, blacksmiths became adept at working various forms onto the back plate.
Ancient Roman door knocker
And along with the Renaissance came the greatest embellishments to design of the hammer—as craftsmen saw the artistic possibilities beyond mere utility.
Some of the most elaborate examples can be found in Italy, England, and Germany.
1530. Italian. Bronze, with dark brown patina. metmuseum
Late 16th century. Venice. Bronze. metmuseum
Late 16th century. Venice. Bronze. metmuseum
16th century door knocer. Venice. Bronze. metmuseum
Early 1600s Bronze door knockers from Northern Italy featuring leaping lions and leonine mask backplates. metmuseum
Sanctuary Knockers
Dating from the 11th century, the knocker at Durham Cathedral holds a special significance under English common law.
As far back as 740, Cynewulf, the Anglo-Saxon Bishop of Lindisfarne, offered sanctuary to any criminal who could reach the White Church at Durham—later replaced by Durham Cathedral—and strike the knocker.
Housed, fed, and kept safe from capture for 37 days, the criminal was either pardoned or taken to a place of refuge far from the scene of the crime.
Door knocker at Durham Cathedral. Credit Michael Beckwith
This practice was lawful for hundreds of years until it was overturned by parliament in 1623.
Lion’s Head Knockers
One of the most enduring themes for knockers has been the lion’s head.
Traditionally regarded as the king of beasts, the lion’s head symbolizes bravery, nobility, strength, and valor.
Lion door knocker at Lazienka Palace, Warsaw, Poland
Lion head door knocker, Black Forest, Germany
Lion head at the outer portal of Seckau Basilica, Austria, 1164
Lion’s head door knocker in Beacon Hill, Boston
Lion’s head knockers were popular in the American colonies up until the revolution when the Eagle took precedence.
Eagle Door Knocker, 1800. Cast iron. metmuseum
Hand Door Knockers
Thought to originate from the Hand of Fatima—a palm-shaped amulet used to protect against evil—hand-shaped knockers are common in countries bordering the Mediterranean whence they spread to neighboring countries.
Hand door knocker, Trujillo, Spain. Credit Julius Eugen
Hand knocker from Bort-les-Orgues, France. Credit OliBac
Door Knockers in Literature
Shakespeare may have been the inspiration for the “knock knock” joke craze that swept America and England in 1936 with the famous “porter scene” in Macbeth, in which Macduff and Lennox knock at the castle gate:
Here’s a knocking indeed! If a man were porter of Hell Gate, he should have old turning the key. Knock, knock, knock! Who’s there, i’ th’ name of Belzebub? . . . Knock, knock! Who’s there, in th’ other devil’s name?Porter
That was some scary knocking! What must the door knocker have looked like? One of these designs from European castles, perhaps?
Door knocker at the Orava Castle, Slovakia. Credit Janos Korom
Lion head door knocker at the main entrance of Burg Neulengbach Castle, Lower Austria
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And who can forget the haunting scene in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol in which Scrooge’s door knocker morphs into an apparition of Jacob Marley?
Jacob Marley Knocker
How about ending with a knock knock joke? Groan …
Knock knock
Who’s there?
Theodore!
Theodore who?
Theodore wasn’t open, so I knocked.
18th Century
