The First World War was a turning point in the development of watches. Although wrist watches had been invented in the 1860’s as a fashion accessory for ladies, war service quickly made the value of being able to tell time without using your hands apparent to men. Accordingly, all of the clockmakers rushed out a wide variety to market, where they were snapped up quickly. New types of wrist watches were introduced as well; a Cartier best-seller today is a variant of a 1917 model. Read more about this here.

For those who remained attached to their pocket watches, a number of firms began offering wrist bands that could hold a pocket watch.  Read more about this here.

James (“Jim”) Patton BS BA MPA is a retired state official from Shawnee, Kansas and a frequent contributor to several WW1 e-publications, including "Roads to the Great War," "St. Mihiel Tripwire," "Over the Top" and "Medicine in the First World War." He has spent many hours walking the WW1 battlefields, and is also an authority on British regiments and a collector of their badges. An Army Engineer during the Vietnam War, he does work for the US World War 1 Centennial Commission and is affiliated with the WW1 Historical Association, the Western Front Association, the Salonika Campaign Society and the Gallipoli Association.