The watchmakers: the people and companies who built time

From tower clocks to the Moon: the inventors who made clocks accurate, the family workshops that became legends, and the companies that put a watch on every wrist. Pick a maker for the full story, or read the short version below.

The story in one sitting

The first mechanical clocks, around 1300, were iron machines in church towers built by blacksmiths and monks whose names are lost. They had no faces; they rang bells, which is where the word "clock" comes from (Latin clocca, bell). Two centuries later, in Nuremberg, Peter Henlein and his fellow craftsmen used a coiled mainspring to make clocks you could carry.

Science made them accurate. Christiaan Huygens built the pendulum clock in 1656 and gave watches a balance spring in 1675. In London, Thomas Tompion and his successor George Graham made the city the world capital of precision clocks; both are buried in Westminster Abbey. Graham backed a self-taught carpenter, John Harrison, whose sea watch H4 solved the deadly longitude problem in 1761. In Paris, Abraham-Louis Breguet invented the tourbillon and made the first wristwatch, for Napoleon's sister.

Meanwhile two very different industries grew. In Switzerland and Saxony, family workshops became legends: Blancpain (1735), Vacheron Constantin (1755), Patek Philippe (1839), A. Lange & Söhne (1845) and Audemars Piguet (1875). In Connecticut, Eli Terry and Seth Thomas mass-produced clocks, and the Waterbury company behind Timex sold watches for a dollar.

The 20th century moved the watch to the wrist. Cartier designed one for a pilot in 1904; Rolex made it waterproof in 1926; Omega took it to the Moon in 1969. That same year Seiko launched the first quartz wristwatch, so accurate and later so cheap that it nearly destroyed Swiss watchmaking, until a plastic watch called Swatch saved it in 1983.

Inventors

The craftsmen and scientists whose ideas made clocks and watches accurate.

• Peter Henleinc. 1485 – 1542: Peter Henlein of Nuremberg is credited with some of the first portable, spring-driven clocks around 1505–1510.
• Christiaan Huygens1629 – 1695: Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens invented the pendulum clock in 1656, making clocks about 60 times more accurate, and later the balance spring for watches..
• Thomas Tompion1639 – 1713: Thomas Tompion built clocks for King William III and the Royal Observatory, made London the world's watchmaking capital, and is buried in Westminster Abbey..
• George Graham1673 – 1751: George Graham invented the deadbeat escapement and the mercury pendulum, built instruments for astronomers, and lent John Harrison the money to start his sea clocks..
• John Harrison1693 – 1776: John Harrison, a self-taught carpenter, spent over 40 years building sea clocks.
• Abraham-Louis Breguet1747 – 1823: Abraham-Louis Breguet invented the tourbillon, made the first known wristwatch, and built watches for Marie Antoinette and Napoleon.
• Eli Terry and Seth Thomas1772 – 1859: Connecticut clockmakers Eli Terry and Seth Thomas brought mass production and interchangeable parts to clocks, making them affordable for ordinary American homes..

Swiss and German houses

The family workshops that became the great names of fine watchmaking.

• BlancpainFounded 1735: Blancpain, founded by Jehan-Jacques Blancpain in Villeret, Switzerland, in 1735, claims to be the oldest watch brand.
• Vacheron ConstantinFounded 1755: Vacheron Constantin, founded in Geneva in 1755 by Jean-Marc Vacheron, is the oldest watchmaker in continuous operation.
• Patek PhilippeFounded 1839: Patek Philippe was founded in Geneva in 1839 by Antoni Patek, later joined by Adrien Philippe, inventor of keyless winding.
• A. Lange & SöhneFounded 1845: A.
• Audemars PiguetFounded 1875: Audemars Piguet was founded in 1875 in Le Brassus, Switzerland.

Modern era

The companies that took watches to the wrist, the Moon and every pocket.

• OmegaFounded 1848: Omega began as Louis Brandt's workshop in 1848.
• CartierFounded 1847: Cartier, the Paris jeweler founded in 1847, made the Santos for aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont in 1904 and the Tank in 1917, helping make wristwatches acceptable for men..
• RolexFounded 1905: Rolex was founded in London in 1905 by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis and moved to Geneva in 1919.
• SeikoFounded 1881: Seiko began as Kintaro Hattori's Tokyo shop in 1881.
• Timex and the dollar watchSince 1854: Timex grew from the Waterbury Clock Company, founded in Connecticut in 1854, which made the famous Ingersoll 'dollar watch' that put a watch in every American pocket..
• SwatchFounded 1983: Swatch, launched in 1983, was a cheap plastic quartz watch with just 51 parts.

Timeline

More on watches

• The most popular watch colors, metals and stones
• Who invented the alarm clock?
• Who invented the watch? 50 inventions
• Why 24 hours and 60 minutes?
• Keeping Time: the full history of timekeeping

Last updated October 18, 2026.