The Early History Of Watches

Essentially, the watch is nothing more than a small clock. Nowadays, their size keeps them light and easy to carry, but pre-1600, when timepieces were driven by weights, carrying them would not simply not have been as practical.
The Earliest Watches
The earliest known date for a watch to be produced was 1524, when 15 Florins were handed over to Henlein for 'a gilt musk-apple with a watch'. This period is one of the greatest for innovation and advancements in the horological industry and In 1548 other watches appeared, probably, of German or French origin. English and Swiss versions were a few years behind and did not appear until around 1575.
The first timepieces were incredibly inaccurate. They had only the one hand, the hour hand and had to be wound twice a day. The first movements were straight verge movements, with no balance springs, and they were made exclusively from steel, though brass began to be used shortly after. The gear cutting-engine had not yet been introduced and steel production was not as precise as it is now. In fact, many steel alloys had not even been discovered. The variations in quality were huge, which meant time-keeping was anything but an accurate art.

A crucial development in the production of the first watches was the use of the spiral-leaf main spring. This was important as it allowed horologists to power the movement without the need for the regular hanging weights. This was good news for weak wrists, but it opened a pandora's box of new issues. Usually, a spiral spring's tension wouldn't remain constant from fully wound to unwound and watchmakers found there was a large difference between the timings of the short arcs and the long arcs.
Watchmakers attempted to improve the accuracy by reducing this spring force error. They only used a portion of the mainspring, which produced nearly linear tension on the train. This definitely helped, but other methods of producing constant torque on the train were sought in search of greater accuracy.
The English and French used a fusee for their solution. The first versions stopped the clock during winding, but it vastly improved the regulation of the spring tension and was widely used until the 20th century.
The Germans preferred to use the stackfreed, their own invention, which had a cam at the end of the barrel arbor. The cam had another leaf, or spring, acting upon it, which was meant to compensate for the variations on spring tension.
Stops were also included to try and prevent over oscillation of the balance wheel. They acted as a crude regulator and were usually made from stiff hog bristle.
By the end of this period, watches had already come a long way. Astronomical data and dates had already been included on the watch's face, but there was still a long way to go. Even with all the fancy add-ons, the most important of functions, the timekeeping, was still extremely poor.

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