watch questions

[nyquestioner]

Not sure if antique watches fit in this forum but I have two questions about a watch I found. 1) what is the purpose of the wire on the bottom of the watch? When I look up similar Spaulding watches I don't see that. and 2) Did women wear pocket watches? This watch has my great-aunts initials on the back. Thanks to anyone who knows the answers!

 

[kgizo]

@Bron357

 

[LilAlex]

Isn't it so you can can hang it upside-down on your clothes and flip it up to read right-side-up?

 

[stracci2000]

Yes, ladies wore watches.
Your ladies' pocket watch would have had a dangle attached to the bottom. They were worn on a long chain.

 

[stracci2000]

Isn't it so you can can hang it upside-down on your clothes and flip it up to read right-side-up?

Some watches were designed that way, like pendant watches that were popular in the 1920s

 

[Bron357]

Yes, pocket watches were originally only worn by men but as time (ha ha) passed, women started wearing them but they were worn as pendants and sometimes as a wrist watch, depending on the watch size. Later the watches were made smaller and more feminine. Nurses were amongst the first to wear watches as on their uniforms for taking a patients pulse , with a second hand, and they were worn upside down. One of the most desirable and value Rolex watches, called “The Prince”, was popular with doctors because of the accuracy and the separate dial for the seconds. Absolutely beautiful as well.

 

[nyquestioner]

Thank you all so much for explaining. I found this fun nytimes article that made me think maybe I'll keep it and wear it....I only have to decide right side up with a dangle, or upside down

Who Says Pocket Watches Are Only for Men? (Published 2021)

Women are wearing them as necklaces and on fobs. As one fan says, they generate “feelings of power.”

www.nytimes.com

 

[stracci2000]

Thank you all so much for explaining. I found this fun nytimes article that made me think maybe I'll keep it and wear it....I only have to decide right side up with a dangle, or upside down

Who Says Pocket Watches Are Only for Men? (Published 2021)

Women are wearing them as necklaces and on fobs. As one fan says, they generate “feelings of power.”

www.nytimes.com

I have a collection of antique ladies pocket watches. I wear them on long chains like the girl in the photo.