Tag: history

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Watch Fact of the Day: The Hidden History of the Waterproof Mechanical Watch

So, back in the day, Swiss watchmakers had a tough time keeping water out of their watches, which could ruin them. Mido was one of the pioneers in tackling this issue with its Aquadura system that used a cork gasket around the crown to keep moisture at bay while still letting you wind or set the time. This innovation led to the Multifort line, focusing on rugged, everyday watches that handle all sorts of conditions. Mido’s cork solution was super effective and paved the way for today’s standards in sports watches, showing that sometimes, old-school materials can do the job just fine.

📅 Saturday, September 26, 2026

Long before modern dive watches became icons, Swiss watchmakers were already fighting one of mechanical horology’s oldest enemies:

WATER.

Moisture could enter through the crown, case joints, or crystal and quickly damage steel components inside the movement. Rust, corrosion, and contaminated lubricants could turn a perfectly good watch into a repair nightmare.

Mido became one of the early brands to take that problem seriously.

One of its best-known solutions was the Aquadura system, which used a specially treated cork gasket surrounding the crown stem. The cork remained compressed around the winding stem, helping form a barrier against water and dust while still allowing the crown to be operated. Mido’s own technical material continued describing Aquadura as a distinctive system for improving water resistance decades later. MIDO Watches

That sounds simple today.

In the early years of wristwatch engineering, it was anything but.

Why the Crown Was Such a Problem

A watch case can be sealed relatively easily if nothing has to move through it.

But the crown does.

The wearer has to pull it.

Turn it.

Wind the watch.

Set the time.

Every moving interface creates a possible entry point for moisture.

Mido’s cork system addressed that vulnerable area by maintaining pressure around the crown stem rather than relying only on a rigid metal fit.

MOVING PART + FLEXIBLE SEAL = BETTER PROTECTION

That became part of Mido’s broader reputation for practical, robust watches.

Where the Multifort Fits In

The Multifort became one of Mido’s defining lines and was associated with the brand’s push toward durable everyday wristwatches.

Rather than chasing only elegance, Mido leaned into the idea that a watch should be able to handle:

water

dust

shocks

temperature changes

That philosophy helped shape the kind of utility watch we now take for granted.

And eventually, Mido would extend the Multifort family into chronographs and other sportier configurations.

💡 Did You Know?

The clever thing about the Aquadura system was the material choice.

Cork seems primitive next to modern synthetic gaskets, but it had useful properties:

compressible

resilient

capable of maintaining contact around a moving stem

That made it surprisingly effective for early watch sealing.

Modern Mido documentation still describes the Aquadura concept as a cork gasket surrounding the crown stem. MIDO Watches

⭐ Why It Matters

Today we expect a sports watch to survive rain, sweat, washing hands, and sometimes swimming.

That expectation had to come from somewhere.

Early water-resistant watchmaking was built one vulnerable point at a time:

caseback

crystal

crown

pushers

gaskets

The crown was one of the hardest problems.

Mido’s cork-seal approach was an early and elegant answer.

BEFORE SCREW-DOWN CROWNS BECAME STANDARD…

SOME WATCHMAKERS TRUSTED CORK.

Category: Watch History

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Watch Fact of the Day: Why Minute Repeaters Were Invented for the Dark

Long ago, telling time in the dark was a challenge, leading to the revolutionary invention of speaking watches in the late 1600s. These ingenious mechanisms allowed users to hear the time through a series of musical chimes, transforming timekeeping into a delightful auditory experience. The innovation continued with Breguet’s spring gong in the late 1700s, which improved sound quality and design. Although the need for such watches diminished with the advent of easier lighting methods, the minute repeater evolved into a remarkable piece of artistry in watchmaking. Today, these intricate devices embody a blend of tradition and technical mastery, showcasing the beauty of horology.

📅 Tuesday, September 22, 2026

Long before luminous paint, electric lights, or glowing digital displays, checking the time at night could be surprisingly inconvenient.

If you woke in a dark room, reading a watch or clock meant finding a candle, lamp, or other light source first.

Watchmakers came up with a much more elegant solution:

MAKE THE WATCH SPEAK.

By the late 1600s, English watchmakers were developing repeating watches that could strike the time on demand. Early quarter repeaters announced the hours and quarter-hours, and by the early 1700s watchmakers in southern Germany had developed mechanisms capable of indicating the minutes as well. Haute Horlogerie

That was the breakthrough.

Instead of needing to see the dial, the owner could activate a slide or pushpiece and simply listen.

A traditional minute repeater translates the time into three acoustic signals:

LOW TONES = HOURS

TWO-TONE CHIMES = QUARTERS

HIGH TONES = REMAINING MINUTES

Watch Fact of the Day: Why Minute Repeaters Were Invented for the Dark

So if the time were 10:37, the watch would strike:

10 hour tones

then

2 quarter-hour sequences

then

7 minute tones

A mechanical watch had effectively become an audible time calculator.

🔔 Breguet Made It Smaller — and Better

Early repeating watches generally struck tiny bells housed inside the case.

That worked, but bells took up valuable space.

In 1783, Abraham-Louis Breguet introduced a major improvement by replacing the traditional bell with a spring gong. The gong could be coiled around the movement, helping make repeating watches thinner while also improving the quality and character of the sound. The idea was so effective that other watchmakers quickly adopted it. Montres Breguet

That innovation helped shape the architecture of the minute repeater we recognize today.

💡 Did You Know?

The modern matchstick didn’t appear until 1845.

The Fondation Haute Horlogerie notes that once matches made candles and oil lamps much easier to light, demand for repeating watches declined. But by then, the minute repeater had evolved beyond pure necessity and become one of watchmaking’s most technically prestigious complications. Haute Horlogerie

In other words, the technology survived long after the original practical problem became easier to solve.

Why?

Because watchmakers had turned a night-time convenience into mechanical art.

⭐ Why It Matters

A minute repeater is one of those complications that reminds us how differently watches were once used.

Today, we think of a watch primarily as something we look at.

A repeater was designed to be:

HEARD.

And making a tiny mechanical object produce clear, musical tones is extraordinarily difficult.

A modern minute repeater must coordinate:

racks

snails

hammers

gongs

springs

timing mechanisms

all while keeping the entire sequence synchronized with the actual time shown on the dial.

That is why minute repeaters remain among the most demanding complications in haute horlogerie. Breguet still describes the minute repeater as a mechanism that makes time audible through precise interaction between hammers and gongs.

Category: Watch History

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Watch Fact of the Day: The Titanic Pocket Watch with Hebrew Numerals

Sinai Kantor’s pocket watch, recovered from the Titanic wreckage, is a poignant artifact of human tragedy and resilience. This Swiss-made timepiece bears Hebrew numerals and an embossed depiction of Moses, connecting deeply to Kantor’s Jewish identity. As a second-class passenger, Sinai aimed to start anew in America with his wife, Miriam, who survived the disaster. The watch stopped around 2:25 a.m., leaving a haunting reminder of that fateful night. Its sale at auctions for impressive sums underscores its significance as a personal relic amidst the Titanic’s vast history, humanizing a tale often told through cold statistics.

📅 Thursday, September 17, 2026

Among the many personal objects recovered after the sinking of the RMS Titanic, one pocket watch stands out for both its appearance and the story of the man who carried it.

The watch belonged to Sinai Kantor, a 34-year-old Jewish immigrant from Vitebsk in the Russian Empire who was traveling to New York with his 24-year-old wife, Miriam. The couple boarded Titanic at Southampton as second-class passengers, hoping to begin a new life in America. Sinai was a furrier and reportedly intended to sell furs to help finance further study after their arrival. Miriam survived the disaster; Sinai did not.

What makes Kantor’s watch extraordinary is its unmistakably personal design.

The Swiss-made, open-face pocket watch has Hebrew letters in place of conventional numerals around the dial. Its back cover carries an embossed scene of Moses holding the Ten Commandments, making the watch not only a timekeeper but also an object closely connected to Kantor’s Jewish identity.

When Titanic sank in the North Atlantic in the early hours of April 15, 1912, Kantor was among the passengers who lost their lives. His body was later recovered by the cable ship CS Mackay-Bennett, and the pocket watch was among the belongings ultimately returned to his widow. Surviving documentation lists a “silver watch and strap” among his recovered effects, helping establish the watch’s provenance.

An illustrated article about Sinai Kantor's Titanic pocket watch, featuring Hebrew numerals. The image includes a vintage photo of Kantor, details about the watch's history, and its significance as a personal artifact from the Titanic disaster.

More than a century in salt water left its mark.

The hands are now almost completely deteriorated, the dial is stained, and the movement shows extensive rust. Yet dried water marks on the dial have been interpreted as indicating that the watch stopped at approximately 2:25 a.m. — only a few minutes after Titanic disappeared beneath the surface. That detail should be treated as an interpretation of the surviving marks rather than absolute proof of the exact moment the mechanism stopped, but it adds an undeniably haunting dimension to the object.

The watch has also become a significant Titanic collectible.

In 2018, Heritage Auctions sold it for $57,500. Then in 2023, it appeared at auction again and sold for £97,000, roughly $118,700 at the time. The dramatic increase reflects not just the watch itself, but the importance collectors place on objects with strong provenance and a deeply documented personal story.

💡 Did You Know?

Sinai and Miriam Kantor were not traveling as wealthy first-class passengers.

They were second-class immigrants heading toward a new life in New York.

Miriam survived in Lifeboat No. 12, while Sinai’s body was recovered days later. His effects eventually made their way back to her after considerable administrative effort.

That makes this watch much more than Titanic memorabilia.

It is one of the few surviving personal objects that still connects us directly to an individual passenger.

⭐ Why It Matters

Titanic is often remembered through statistics:

more than 1,500 dead
one enormous ship
one catastrophic night

But objects like Sinai Kantor’s pocket watch bring the story back down to human scale.

A watch.

A husband.

A wife.

A journey toward a new life.

A dial marked with Hebrew letters.

A back cover showing Moses and the Ten Commandments.

And a movement scarred by the Atlantic more than a century ago.

THE SHIP BECAME HISTORY.

THE WATCH REMAINED PERSONAL.

Category: Watch History

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Watch Fact of the Day: The Mechanical Alarm That Won Over US Presidents

So, back in 1947, Vulcain rolled out a game-changer: the Cricket wristwatch, which could actually wake you up thanks to its super loud mechanical alarm. This wasn’t just any watch; it turned its case into an acoustic system, delivering a noticeable buzz when the alarm went off. The Cricket became a favorite among U.S. presidents, earning it the nickname “The Presidents’ Watch.” Fast forward to today, and the updated Crickets still bring that cool mechanical charm, buzzing away without any batteries or electronics. It’s a cool reminder of how watchmaking tech stood out way before the digital age!

📅 Sunday, September 6, 2026

In 1947, Swiss watchmaker Vulcain introduced a wristwatch with a remarkable party trick: it could actually wake you up. The Vulcain Cricket featured a mechanical alarm powerful enough to be genuinely useful, producing the distinctive buzzing sound that inspired its name. Vulcain describes it as the world’s first alarm wristwatch with a sufficiently forceful striking mechanism, and it quickly became one of the company’s defining creations.

Making a mechanical alarm wristwatch was one thing; making one that could actually be heard was another. Vulcain’s solution turned the watch case itself into part of the acoustic system. When the alarm activates, a tiny mechanical hammer rapidly strikes a pin, while the outer caseback functions as a resonance chamber, amplifying the vibrations into the Cricket’s unmistakable sound.

An infographic showcasing the history and features of the Vulcain Cricket watch, including its mechanical alarm designed to wake important figures, with images of U.S. Presidents who wore it, and the watch's key components.

That meant the Cricket wasn’t simply a watch with an extra hand on the dial. It was essentially a tiny mechanical alarm clock engineered for the wrist. The wearer could set an independent alarm time, wind the alarm mechanism, and carry a genuinely audible reminder wherever they went—without batteries, electronics or a speaker.

Then the Cricket found some unusually powerful admirers.

The watch became closely associated with Harry S. Truman, and Vulcain’s history subsequently connects the Cricket with Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon and Lyndon B. Johnson as well. That presidential association became so strong that the Cricket earned its enduring nickname:

“The Presidents’ Watch.”

The connection was particularly appropriate. Before smartphones, digital calendars and electronic reminders, a mechanical alarm could be genuinely practical for someone whose day revolved around meetings and appointments. Set the alarm hand, wind the mechanism, and at the appointed time the little Cricket on your wrist would make sure you noticed.

The basic idea survives today. Modern Cricket movements remain mechanical and hand-wound, and Vulcain’s current V10 alarm calibre uses a double-barrel architecture, with the alarm sounding for approximately 20 seconds. More than 75 years after the original Cricket appeared, the complication remains wonderfully physical: gears, springs, hammer, resonance—and noise.

💡 Did You Know?

The Cricket’s famous sound doesn’t come from an electronic buzzer or miniature speaker. A mechanically driven hammer strikes a pin, creating vibrations that are amplified by the watch’s outer caseback acting as a resonance chamber. In other words, Vulcain didn’t merely put an alarm mechanism inside a wristwatch—it engineered part of the watch case into a miniature acoustic instrument.

SPRING → HAMMER → PIN → RESONANCE CHAMBER → CRICKET! 🦗

⭐ Why It Matters

Today, having an alarm on your wrist sounds completely ordinary. In 1947, making a compact mechanical wristwatch capable of producing an alarm loud enough to be genuinely useful was a significant watchmaking achievement.

And unlike the silent notifications appearing on our wrists today, the Cricket accomplished it with nothing more than mechanical energy and clever acoustics.

NO BATTERY. NO SPEAKER. JUST MECHANICS.

Category: Watch History

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Watch Fact of the Day: The Omega Speedmaster Was Originally Designed for Auto Racing

The Omega Speedmaster started its journey back in 1957, aimed at motorsport enthusiasts, not astronauts. It was part of Omega’s “Professional Line” with design features like a tachymeter scale for measuring speed, making it a go-to for racers. But plot twist: the Speedmaster ended up being picked for NASA’s Apollo missions, earning its nickname “Moonwatch.” This unexpected shift from the racetrack to space made its story super intriguing. The watch, built for speed on the ground, became legendary for traveling to the Moon. It’s a prime example of how an object’s purpose can evolve dramatically over time.

📅 Saturday, September 5, 2026

When Omega introduced the Speedmaster in 1957, nobody was designing it with lunar exploration in mind. It debuted as part of Omega’s new “Professional Line,” alongside the Seamaster 300 for divers and the Railmaster for people working around strong magnetic fields. The Speedmaster’s intended arena was much closer to Earth: motorsport and automobile racing.

Its name practically gives the game away. The Speedmaster was a chronograph designed to help measure elapsed time and calculate speed, making it naturally suited to drivers, racing enthusiasts and other sporting applications. Central to that identity was its tachymeter scale, positioned prominently around the outside of the dial on the bezel rather than being squeezed onto the dial itself.

That placement became one of the Speedmaster’s most recognizable design features. Used with the chronograph, a tachymeter allows the wearer to calculate average speed over a known distance. Start the chronograph at the beginning of a measured kilometer, stop it at the end, and the chronograph seconds hand indicates the corresponding average speed on the tachymeter scale. Omega’s own instructions still demonstrate the function using the example of calculating the speed of a car over one kilometer.

The original Speedmaster CK2915 therefore looked every bit like a purpose-built sporting instrument: a highly legible dial, chronograph timing capability and that prominent external tachymeter scale. Rather than being born as an astronaut’s watch, its design language belonged to an era of racing circuits, sports cars, stopwatches and increasingly sophisticated wrist chronographs.

And then history took an extraordinary turn.
During the following decade, the Speedmaster found itself being evaluated for an environment its original designers could scarcely have anticipated: spaceflight. The rugged chronograph eventually became associated with NASA’s astronauts and, most famously, the Apollo lunar missions. The racing chronograph had become the Moonwatch.

That’s what makes the Speedmaster’s story so compelling. Omega didn’t sit down in 1957 and attempt to create an icon of space exploration. It created a highly functional sporting chronograph—and the underlying design proved versatile and robust enough to acquire an entirely different identity.

💡 Did You Know?
The Speedmaster’s famous tachymeter isn’t just decoration. Combined with the chronograph, it can calculate average speed over a known distance without electronics, GPS or a speedometer. If a car travels exactly one kilometer in 30 seconds, for example, the chronograph seconds hand points to approximately 120 on the tachymeter scale—meaning an average speed of 120 km/h.

So before we had:
SPEEDMASTER → NASA → APOLLO → MOONWATCH
we had:
RACETRACK → CHRONOGRAPH → TACHYMETER → SPEED
⭐ Why It Matters

The Speedmaster is a wonderful example of how an object’s original purpose doesn’t necessarily determine its legacy. A watch conceived for speed on the ground ultimately became famous for traveling farther from the racetrack than almost any watch imaginable.

Born for the racetrack. Destined for the Moon. 🚗💨⌚🌕

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Watch Fact of the Day: The Mystery of the First Wristwatch Made for a Woman

Long before wristwatches became standard for men during World War I, Abraham-Louis Breguet crafted what is widely considered the first known wristwatch in histo

📅 Monday, August 31, 2026

Long before wristwatches became standard for men during World War I, Abraham-Louis Breguet crafted what is widely considered the first known wristwatch in history for Caroline Murat, the Queen of Naples, in 1810. This extraordinary timepiece was an oval-shaped complication featuring a repeating movement and a thermometer, mounted on a sophisticated hair-and-gold thread bracelet. It took over two years to create, redefining timepieces as exquisite wearable jewelry for women decades before men adopted the style.

Long before wristwatches became commonplace—and nearly a century before they became standard equipment for men—Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples and younger sister of Napoleon Bonaparte, commissioned Abraham-Louis Breguet to create a watch specifically designed to be worn on the wrist. The order was entered into Breguet’s records on June 8, 1810, making Breguet No. 2639 what the manufacture describes as the first known wristwatch in history. Montres Breguet

The surviving commission book is wonderfully specific. Caroline ordered a repeating watch for a bracelet at a price of 5,000 francs. Breguet’s manufacturing records describe the resulting creation as an exceptionally thin repeating watch with complications, with an oblong/oval form and a thermometer, mounted on a wristlet made from hair intertwined with gold thread. This wasn’t simply a pocket watch attached to a strap—it was conceived specifically for the wrist. Montres Breguet

And it wasn’t an overnight project. The watch was commissioned in 1810, paid for in 1811 and finally delivered in 1812. That timeline is more precise than saying simply that Breguet “made it in 1810”: 1810 marks the commission and beginning of the story, while 1812 marks the delivery of the completed watch. Montres Breguet

Caroline Murat was no casual customer, either. Between 1808 and 1814, Breguet records that she purchased 34 clocks and watches, making her one of Abraham-Louis Breguet’s most important patrons. Yet No. 2639 was something altogether different. At a time when watches were overwhelmingly carried rather than worn on the wrist, Breguet was effectively treating the wrist itself as part of the design problem—combining complicated watchmaking with jewelry and wearable ergonomics. Montres Breguet

Here’s where the story earns the word “Mystery.” The original watch is no longer known to survive, and Breguet’s archives contain no surviving sketch of its exterior. Important details—including its exact dimensions, dial configuration, bracelet shape and fastening system—remain unknown. What we know comes largely from Breguet’s meticulous commission, manufacturing and later service records. Montres Breguet

And remarkably, the paper trail doesn’t end in 1812. On March 8, 1849, Breguet No. 2639 resurfaced in the company’s repair register when Countess Louise Rasponi—Caroline Murat’s daughter—brought the watch in for repair. That later service record helped preserve evidence of a watch whose physical whereabouts would ultimately become a mystery. Montres Breguet

⭐ Why It Matters

There’s a wonderful reversal of conventional watch history here. The wristwatch wasn’t originally established as a masculine tool that was later adapted for women. One of the earliest—and according to Breguet’s archives, the first known watch specifically conceived for the wrist—was created for a woman more than a century before the wristwatch became the dominant way people wore time.

Category: Watch History

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Watch Fact of the Day: The World’s First Titanium Watch Wasn’t Swiss or Swiss-Made!

In 1970, Citizen made the bold move of launching the X-8 Chronometer, the first titanium wristwatch—because who needs stainless steel when you can rock aerospace-grade titanium? While Swiss watchmakers were busy polishing their gold, Citizen decided to take the road less traveled, battling the “triple trouble” of titanium’s machining quirks to create a watch that weighed less than a feather but looked just as fine. With only 2,000 units made, it was a rare gem in the watch world. Fast forward to today, and titanium is everywhere, proving that sometimes, being ahead of the curve really pays off—unless you’re late for dinner!

📅 Wednesday, August 12, 2026

In 1970, Japanese watchmaker Citizen made history by releasing the X-8 Chronometer, recognized as the world’s first titanium wristwatch. While Swiss brands still favored traditional stainless steel and gold, Citizen boldly turned to aerospace-grade titanium—99.6% pure—to harness its lightweight, corrosion-resistant properties. This groundbreaking move not only preceded the Swiss by years but also set the stage for modern high-tech tool watches, long before titanium became a staple in luxury watchmaking.

The timing couldn’t have been better. During the 1960s, the Apollo program had focused global attention on titanium because of its light weight, strength and resistance to corrosion. Citizen’s engineers saw those same characteristics and realized they could make titanium an intriguing material for something far more personal: a wristwatch.

But actually manufacturing one was another matter. Titanium proved so troublesome that Citizen’s engineers nicknamed it “triple trouble” because of the difficulty involved in press-forming, machining and polishing it. Titanium shavings could stick to cutting tools, and achieving the beautifully finished surfaces expected of a watch case presented serious engineering challenges.

The resulting X-8 wasn’t merely an exotic case wrapped around a conventional mechanical watch, either. It belonged to Citizen’s pioneering electronic X-8 family, and the X-8 Chronometer became Citizen’s final electronic watch to receive official certification from the Japan Chronometer Inspection Institute. Production was brief: Citizen says fewer than 2,000 were sold.

More than half a century later, titanium has become a familiar material in everything from serious tool watches to high-end luxury pieces. Citizen itself continued developing the material for decades, eventually combining titanium processing with its Duratect surface-hardening technology to create Super Titanium™.

💡 Did You Know?

Titanium may be famous for being lightweight, but Citizen says pure titanium is about 40% lighter than stainless steel. That meant the 1970 Citizen X-8 Chronometer wasn’t just historically significant for using an exotic Space Age metal—it demonstrated that a watch case could be lighter, corrosion-resistant, and comfortable on the wrist without relying on conventional steel. More than half a century later, titanium has become one of watchmaking’s most desirable high-tech materials. ⌚🚀

Category: Watch History

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Watch Fact of the Day: Breguet’s Secret Signature: The 18th-Century Anti-Counterfeit Hack

In the late 18th century, watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet faced a hilarious dilemma: his watches were so popular that counterfeiters were all over them like cats on a warm laptop. To combat this, he invented a “secret signature” so tiny it could hide in plain sight! Using a fancy engraving method, he created a mark that only the keenest eyes (or best lighting) could spot. Fast forward over two hundred years, and Breguet’s secret signature still ticks on, serving as both an anti-counterfeiting measure and a tribute to Breguet’s original genius. Talk about a watch that’s not just on time, but also a bit sneaky!

📅 Tuesday, August 11, 2026

By the late 18th century, Abraham-Louis Breguet had a problem most watchmakers could only dream of: his watches had become so desirable that counterfeiters were copying them. His response was remarkably sophisticated. Around 1795, Breguet began placing an extraordinarily small “secret signature” on the dials of his watches—a subtle authentication mark designed to be exceedingly difficult for imitators to reproduce.

The technique employed a pantograph engraving system and a fine dry/diamond point, allowing a larger master inscription to be reduced to microscopic proportions on the dial. Rather than appearing like an ordinary printed logo, the resulting engraving could virtually disappear under normal viewing conditions and reveal itself when examined carefully under raking or oblique light. Without the appropriate pantograph and master matrix, accurately reproducing it was extremely difficult.

That made the secret signature an ingenious early form of luxury-product authentication. Genuine examples could incorporate Breguet’s name, identifying information and, on certain Souscription watches, the watch number. A Breguet Souscription pocket watch now held by the British Museum, for example, carries a miniature secret inscription below the 12 o’clock position.

More than two centuries later, the tradition survives. Modern Breguet watches can still feature the secret signature—not simply as an anti-counterfeiting measure, but as a connection to Abraham-Louis Breguet’s original craftsmanship and one of watchmaking’s cleverest historical security features.

Category: Watch History

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Watch Fact of the Day: The First Waterproof Watch Was Actually a Pocket Watch!

Once upon a time in the 1890s, a genius named François Borgel created the first waterproof pocket watch. Yes, before Rolex made it fashionable in 1926, Borgel was sealing time like a pro with his nifty screw-down case. It’s like he was the watchmaker’s version of a mad scientist, laying the groundwork for timepieces enduring monstrous water battles. So, while Rolex gets the glory, it’s Borgel who deserves the VIP pass to the horology hall of fame. Picture a gold pocket watch chilling half-submerged in water, like: “Before the Oyster, there was Borgel!” And there you have it, timekeeping’s legendary origin story—splash zone included!

📅 Friday, August 7, 2026

While Rolex is often credited with popularizing the waterproof wristwatch with its Oyster case in 1926, the very first truly waterproof timepiece was a pocket watch created by François Borgel in 1890. His patented screw-down case design, featuring a threaded bezel, case back, and crown, was revolutionary and predated Rolex’s innovation by decades. This early design laid crucial groundwork for the development of robust watches capable of withstanding the elements, long before wristwatches became commonplace.

Borgel continued refining the idea, eventually patenting a three-piece screw case in 1903 whose construction—with threaded components securing the case—anticipated principles that would later become important in waterproof wristwatch design. Borgel cases were subsequently used with movements from respected Swiss manufacturers, making his work an important chapter in the evolution from delicate pocket watches to rugged wristwatches capable of surviving demanding environments.

Then, in 1926, Rolex’s Oyster would take the concept of a sealed wristwatch to another level and, crucially, turn water resistance into something the public could understand and trust. But the road to the Oyster didn’t begin overnight: watchmakers and specialist case makers had been attacking the problem for decades.

💡 Did You Know?

Borgel’s contribution wasn’t primarily the watch movement—it was the case. That actually gives us a killer visual direction for the W&M infographic: an exploded Borgel pocket-watch case, showing how the components screwed together, followed by an evolutionary timeline leading toward the waterproof wristwatch.

Category: Watch History

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