The watches had only an hour hand and had to be wound twice daily. Soon the spiral leaf mainspring appeared, the greatest innovation at the time as it allowed long-term power without weights. Because of a difference in timing between the long arcs and the short arcs, accuracy could only be improved by using a limited portion of the mainspring. Germany produced a watch with a cam at the end of a barrel arbor to compensate for variations in spring tension, but it was the English and French solution to use the fusee. This stopped the watch during winding to prevent over oscillation of the balance wheel. Additional stops were included as regulators.

Form watches became popular in the 1600s, with cases shaped like animals and objects. Religious themes were especially popular. Although there were few technical improvements, watches became more like pieces of jewelry. It wasn't until 1704 that the first rubies were used in watch movements to create more accurate time pieces. By 1750, enamel was used on watch dials making them more visible in low light. The first self-winding movement was invented in 1780, by Abraham Perrelet, and in 1820 Thomas Prest registered a patent for a self-winding watch. In America, in 1809, the first watch manufacturer was Luther Goddard of Shrewsbuy, Massachussetts. In 1848, Louis Brandt opened a workshop in La Chaux-de-Fonds which was to later become the Omega Watch company. It was the Americans, around 1850, who were first to go into mass production, with mixed results, the main companies being Waltham, Elgin and Hamilton.

In 1884, Greenwich, England was named the zero meridian, a worldwide acceptance of a starting point for global time zones. After 1900, advances in metallurgy improved the mechanisms, primarily because the balance spring was sensitive to temperature and position. Self-compensating balances were made with bi-metallic properties to compensate for high and low tempartures, and eventually a balance was created that could compensate for middle temperature errors. In 1905 the Rolex Watch Company was started by Hans Wilsdorf. 1914 saw the first wristwatch with an alarm. Seiko was started in Tokyo in 1924.

Timeline

1500s : Germany : Peter Henlein creates the first pocket watch.

1485 : Leonardo da Vinci sketches a fusee for a clock.

Early 1600s : Form watches becoming popular. Cases are shaped like animals and objects. Religious themes are popular.

1635 : Around this time that the fusee was adapted from clocks to watches.

1659 - 1675 : Christian Huygens invents the "Remontoire".

1687 : Daniel Quare patents the repeating mechanism that uses bells to sound quarter hours and the hours.

1704 : Peter and Jacob Debaufre, Nicolas Facio, are the first to use rubies in watch movements.

1750 : Watch makers began using enamel on watch dials.

1759 : Thomas Mudge invents the English lever escapement.

1775 : Abraham Louis Breguet sets up his own watch making shop in Paris, France.

1780 : Abraham Louis Perrelet invents the self winding movement.

1786 : Breguet is the first to use guilloche on watch dials.

1791 : J.F. Bautte founded the watch company that would eventually become Girard-Perregaux.

1807 : Thomas Young invents the recording chronograph.

1809 : Luther Goddard of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts is the first watch manufacturer in America.

1820 : Thomas Prest registers a patent for the self winding watch.

1833 : Antoine LeCoultre starts his own watchmaking business which later become Jaeger-LeCoultre.

1837 : First Tiffany store opens.

1843: Adrien Philippe develops a watch with winding and setting through the crown.

1844 : The start, stop, and reset chronograph is invented by Adolph Nicole.

1844 : Antoine LeCoultre invents the millionometre.

1848 : Louis Brandt opens his own workshop in La Chaux-de-Fonds which eventually became the Omega Watch Company.

1853 : Tissot makes the first dual time zone watch.

1858 : Minerva is founded.

1860 : Heuer is founded.

1865 : Zenith founded.

1881 : Movado founded.

1884 : Greenwich, England is officially named the zero meridian and used as the world wide recognized basis of time zones.

1886 : Geneva Seal established.

1894 : Universal Geneve established.

1905 : Hans Wilsdorf starts the Rolex Watch Company.

1914 : Eterna introduces the first wristwatch with an alarm.

1918 : Japan : Shakosha Watch Company opened. This would become Citizen in 1931.

1923 : John Harwood is the first to mass produce a self winding wristwatch.

1924 : Tokyo : Seiko brand name is launched by Kinttaro Hattori.

1926 : Rolex introduces the first waterproof case called the "Oyster".

1929 : First anti magnetic watch created by Tissot.

1933 : Ingersoll introduces the "Mickey Mouse" watch.

1956 : Rolex introduces their first model that displays the day and date.

1957 : Hamilton introduces the world's first battery driven watch.

1962 : Rado produces the world's first scratch proof watch called the "Diastar 1".

1962 : ETA of Switzerland develops the first quartz battery operated watch.

1970 : Hamilton releases the "Pulsar", the first electronic digital watch.

1972 : Longines and Seiko introduce the LCD, (Liquid Crystal Display).

1980 : Hublot founded.

1983 : SMH of Switzerland launches the Swatch brand.

1985 : Swiss Heuer Company merges with TAG to form TAG Heuer.

1986 : Audemars Piguet introduces the first self winding tourbillon.

1991 : Franck Muller founded.

1999 : Casio innovates with the first wristwatch with a built-in Global Positioning System (GPS).

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