Credits: Article and images by Sergio Galanti @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/04/05/a-brief-history-of-watchmaking-from-the-14th-century-to-the-present-day/
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The quartz crisis and the rebirth of traditional watchmaking
The 20th century saw the rise in popularity of the wristwatch over the pocket watch. By the 1930s, the wristwatch had taken over 50% of the pocket watch market. In this decade, the export of Swiss made watches comprised 65% of wristwatches and 35% pocket watches.
In the 1940s and 1950s, the chronograph wristwatch came back to popularity, as a result of its practical use in WWII, as well as self-winding wristwatches with a power reserve indication, complications such as the calendar, moon phases, and the perpetual calendar. In the late 1950s and in the 1960s, space exploration brought wristwatches that could endure space conditions. Astronauts wore watches by Omega, Breitling, Bulova, and the Russian Sturmanskie during their space walks or on the moon.
And then came the quartz revolution. In 1969, Seiko launched the Astron 35SQ, the first quartz wristwatch in the world. It marked the beginning of the quartz crisis. The Seiko Astron was the result of scientific and technological progress that had its roots in the US, since the 1920s. Its technology was 100 times more accurate and much cheaper than mechanical watches, and it brought accurate timekeeping within reach of all consumers.
By 1978, quartz wristwatches had overtaken mechanical wristwatches in popularity and had plunged the Swiss watch industry into a deep crisis. Before the 1970s, the Swiss watch industry had prospered in the absence of any real competition and held 50% of the world watch market. However, between 1970 and late 1980s, about 1,000 Swiss watchmakers did not survive the crisis and went out of business, and Swiss watch production fell from 90’000 to 28’000 units.
The quartz revolution drove several Swiss manufacturers to seek refuge at the higher end of the market. To survive, brands like Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, and Rolex shifted focus from precision to technical creativity and luxury. Mechanical wristwatches gradually became luxury goods, appreciated for their elaborate craftsmanship, aesthetic appeal, and glamorous design, and often associated with the social status of their owners.
In the late 20th century, new materials found their place in the creation of luxury wristwatches. Taking inspiration from other high-performance industries (e.g., aeronautics; F1 Racing), watch brands experimented with new materials, in a constant search for lightness (e.g., carbon and titanium), corrosion resistance (tantalum and ceramic), strength and hardness (titanium and ceramic), and reducing the need for lubrication (silicon and synthetic diamonds). A trend that is still ongoing today.
The rise of independent watchmakers brought a new energy to the watchmaking industry, in the early decades of the 21st century. From the mid-90s through to today, watchmakers like Max Busser, Philippe Dufour, F.P. Journe, and Richard Mille, to name just a few, established themselves as artisanal watchmakers, introducing a creative approach to the development of watchmaking.
They opened new avenues for mechanical watchmaking, with their experimentation of new materials, with their technical inventions and innovations, and with their original and visionary design choices. They pushed the boundaries of precision and emphasized the beauty of hand-finishing, exceptional craftsmanship. Often limiting their production to a few timepieces a year, their creations are sought after and purchased by collectors and enthusiasts around the world.
* This article was first published in “La Rivista” in March 2023.
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Credits: Article and images by Sergio Galanti @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/04/05/a-brief-history-of-watchmaking-from-the-14th-century-to-the-present-day/