It’s been over a century since the conclusion of the First World War — an event that proved the catalyst for widespread adoption of the wristwatch amongst men. (Ever tried coordinating an infantry charge with a pistol in one hand and a pocket watch in the other? We personally have not — though we imagine it ain’t easy!)
By soldering improvised wire lugs to their pocket watches, soldiers were able to wear them on their wrists using leather straps, thus freeing up their second hands for more pressing tasks. Soon, the watch companies themselves were making these “trench watches” fresh from the factory, and by 1916 — smack dab in the middle of the conflict — even such an august publication as The New York Times was forced to concede “the changed status of the wrist watch."
A New York Times Article published in 1916 on the adoption of wristwatches - (Image by ABlogToWatch)
Though many American (let alone Swiss) watchmaking firms produced pocket-borne timekeepers for military use during the Second World War, by the time the mid-20th century rolled around, the pocket watch was all but dead. And while certain firms continued to produce them for decades — Patek Philippe, in fact, still features a handful of pocket watches in its collection — the wristwatch all but took over the entirety of the horological universe.
For many years, vintage timepiece collecting focused on the pocket watch, but by the turn of the 21st century, the wristwatch held sway here, too. However, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and this predilection for the wrist-worn timekeeper has meant that many vintage pocket watches of truly astounding quality and history have largely languished on shelves. Beautiful aesthetics, stunningly decorated movements, tangible horological history — these pocket watches have it all, with pricing that would make any wristwatch collector do a swift double-take. In fact, we would wager that vintage pocket watches, travel clocks, and stopwatches provide some of the best value in watch collecting right now, full stop.
While we don’t anticipate a return to the era of the waistcoat any time soon, we do believe that a good pocket watch is an essential object in the collection of any self-respecting watch enthusiast. Why? Well, for one thing, they’re simply larger than wristwatches, making it much easier to enjoy the movement design and decoration — which, by the way, is particularly striking on 19th-century American pocket watches, many of which can be had for a song. And speaking of said song, there’s the affordability angle: Imagine being able to purchase an incredible time-only pocket watch from Patek Philippe for well under $10,000. A similar sum wouldn’t get you very far with an equivalent Calatrava, after all.
Patek Philippe 18k Gold Pocket Watch – 1860 - (Image by Watch Museum)
Then there’s the historical aspect: Prior to the Second World War, America was a horological powerhouses, with firms such as Waltham and Hamilton making their wares in-house and producing them with good-ole’ American assembly line techniques — which meant that parts were uniform and interchangeable. Beyond this, many of these timekeepers helped America time the railroads and lead this country to victory during the First and Second World Wars. Pretty heady stuff! Beyond America, meanwhile, timepieces from the likes of Omega were used to time the Olympic Games, and dashboard timers from Heuer were used to time laps at Monte Carlo, Le Mans, and elsewhere.
Omega 1976 Olympic Games stopwatch - (Image by Omega Forums)
And what of design? The Movado Ermeto, a mechanical timepiece fitted to a collapsible case often covered in exotic leathers, was a lady’s best friend in the early-to-mid 20th century, when it fit snugly inside a purse and could be used as a bedside timer while traveling. (Certain of these were wound by opening and closing the case — fascinating!) And the Patek ref. 600 pocket watch with its simple dauphine hands and applied indices? Why, it’s a Calatrava for your pocket. And the IWC cal. 972 and 952? The pocket-worn version of the cal. 89, we would argue.
In short, there are myriad pocket watches, stopwatches, and clocks floating around the greater watch world whose history, aesthetics, and build quality are tremendous and that can be had at truly incredible prices. Even if set in an ornate stand and used as a desk clock, one of these timekeepers is sure to bring a smile to the wristwatch collector's face — and this is to say nothing of modern clocks such as the Atmos that are expressly designed for this purpose. Check out some of our favorites below!
Hamilton 992B
Vintage 1947 Hamilton Railway Special 992B Movement Pocket Watch 21 Jewel - (Image by Timekeepers)
Founded in 1892, Hamilton was a relative latecomer to the American watchmaking scene. (Waltham was founded in 1850, Elgin in 1864.) Nevertheless, it built some of the most robust railroad-grade pocket watches in the United States, and it did so at scale. The 992B — the last of Hamilton’s railroad-caliber pocket watches — was produced in over half a million examples between 1940 and 1969. Even with hardscrabble use, it can maintain an accuracy up to +/- 15 seconds per week — pretty good for the mid-20th century! A 21-jewel movement — the “992B” is actually the movement designation and doesn’t refer to a particular case style or watch reference — it boasts an Aurium (a monometallic beryllium-silver-nickel alloy) balance, an Elinvar-Extra hairspring, six positions of adjustment (plus isochronism), and a power reserve of roughly 52 hours. You can find one for well under $1,000 all day long — and you should. Beautiful objects and highly accurate timekeepers, they’re a testament to the American way of manufacturing at scale.
Patek Philippe Ref. 600
Patek Philippe Ref. 600 - (Image by N.Green & Sons)
In 1932, the Stern family — owners of a famed Swiss dial manufacturer established in the late 19th century — invested in Patek Philippe. Though the pocket watch was already giving ground to the wristwatch, the maison was, at this time, still heavily invested in designing and delivering beautiful models for the gentlemen who preferred them. In 1933 — a year after the launch of the Ref. 96, the simple, time-only watch that would birth the Calatrava line — the firm debuted the Ref. 600 pocket watch. Streamlined and beautiful, this extraordinary timekeeper featured modern design codes that clearly borrowed from the Bauhaus in their pared-back simplicity. Though numerous dial types exist, perhaps most emblematic is that with applied Heures Lapidées indices in a metal that matches the case. (Solid gold and, to a lesser extent, platinum and two-tone were used.) Powered by the hand-wound Calibre 17-140 movement, a solid-gold ref. 600 would have cost roughly $18,000 in 2025 dollars in the mid-1950s.
IWC Cal. 972
IWC Ref. 169 pocket watch powered by the IWC Calibre 972 - (Image by eBay)
Familiar with the famed IWC Calibre 89 and the simple dress watches it powered? You should be — they’re some of the most handsome time-only pieces of the past hundred years. But let’s not stop there: If you love the Bauhaus-inspired straightforwardness of the Calibre 89 wristwatches, then you’ll go absolutely bananas for the Calibre 972 pocket watches. Based upon the earlier Calibre 97 developed in the 1930s, the Calibre 972 powered a pocket watch produced between 1967-1973 in a scant 3,600 or so examples. The round 45mm case of a reference such as the 169 — with its curved bow, silvered dial, simple applied ‘baton’ indices, thin ‘sword’ handset, large subsidiary seconds register above 6 o’clock, and classic “International Watch Co” script signature below 12 o’clock — oozes midcentury charm. The crown-wound Calibre 972 itself, meanwhile — with 19 jewels and five positions’ worth of adjustment — is no slouch.
Movado Ermeto
Movado Ermeto Travel Clock Leather - IN THE SHOP
Before the advent of the digital alarm clock — and long before the debut of the smartphone — there were mechanical travel clocks. Perhaps the most famous of these (and certainly the most beautiful) was the Movado Ermeto, now a distinct collector’s item whose diminutive size belies its immense charm. Fitted to a case designed by Hugenin Frères in 1926, the mechanical Ermeto was produced until 1985, making the model a collector's dream. Available in four different sizes, it was designed to be carried in a purse or other bag and featured a rectangular housing that slid open to reveal the timepiece's dial and winding crown. While certain Ermeto variants were cased in plain sterling silver, many were stainless steel covered in exotic skins such as stingray or lizard. Certain versions (post-1927) housed movements wound by opening and closing the case — an ingenious system if ever there was one — while others featured complications such as calendars, moon phase displays, and alarms. Varied and fascinating, the Ermeto is a watch and clock collector’s dream.
Heuer Monte-Carlo
Heuer Monte Carlo Decimal Dash Clock - IN THE SHOP
In the 1930s, Heuer began manufacturing the Autavia series of dashboard stopwatches for use in the burgeoning automobile industry. In the 1950s the brand introduced a new model called the Auto-Rallye — unlike the Autavia, it displayed both the minute and second hands centrally, as opposed to placing the minute recorder on a sub-register below 12 o’clock and the hour recorder on a sub-register above 6 o’clock. In 1958, Heeuer released further evolution of the dashboard timer dubbed “Monte-Carlo,” which moved the hour counter to a window above 6 o’clock while keeping both the minute and seconds hands centrally located. Until 1967, these metal-cased dashboard timers used dual buttons and a central crown/button; after 1967, the design was streamlined to a single button plus the crown/button. (Finally, in 1976, Heuer moved to a plastic-cased version.) Handsome in their strictly utilitarian fashion, the Heuer Monte-Carlo makes for an excellent desk clock or — if you happen to own a vintage Porsche 911 (or similar) — a perfect dashboard timer!
Vacheron Constantin Corps of Engineers
Vacheron Constantin Corps of Engineers pocket chronograph - (Image by Sotheby's)
Who would’ve thought that a member of the horological “Holy Trinity” supplied timepieces to U.S. forces? Well, Vacheron Constantin certainly did: At the tail end of the First World War, the U.S. government contracted V.C. to produce pocket chronographs for the U.S. Corps of Engineers. Housed in a 52mm sterling silver open-faced case with a hinged caseback, this beautiful timekeeper featured a white enamel dial with luminous, radium-filled Arabic indices; an outer 1/5th-seconds track; a subsidiary running seconds indicator above 6 o’clock; a luminous ‘cathedral’ handset; and a central chronograph seconds hand. Signed “CORPS OF ENGINEERS, U.S.A.” as well as “VACHERON & CONSTANTIN, GENÈVE,” this important timepiece is also signed on its caseback with its individual serial number. Powered by a manually-wound 19-ligne movement with 20 jewels, the “Corps of Engineers” watch — produced in roughly 3,300 pieces between 1918 and 1920 — is a piece of both horological as well as American military history.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Atmos
Jaeger-LeCoultre Atmos - (Image by Jaeger-LeCoultre)
We know, we know — being a watch collector doesn’t automatically make one a clock enthusiast. But the Jaeger-LeCoultre Atmos is no ordinary clock. Designed by Jean-Léon Reutter in 1928 and produced by La Grande Maison beginning in the 1930s, the Atmos features a mechanism unlike any other on the market: A small hermetically sealed metal bellows contains liquid and gaseous ethyl chloride. As the ambient temperature rises, the ethyl chloride vaporizes and compresses a spiral ring; when the temperature falls, the spring expands, thus winding the clock’s mainspring. A variation of just one degree Celsius is enough to give the clock a power reserve of up to 48 hours, meaning that the Atmos effectively never requires human intervention. In continuous production for the better part of a century, modern versions feature complications such as calendars and moon phase displays — star Australian designer Marc Newson has even collaborated with JLC on a special version. If you count yourself a horological enthusiast, you need one of these bad boys on your mantle!
