Jump Hour Watch - A Brief History

Jump hour watches are becoming incredibly popular right now. With the economic downturn, fewer people are looking for a watch to act as a big status symbol. They are looking for a watch that cartier watches them with something individual, unique and remarkable. And that is what the jump hour watch invicta watches always represented. This article takes a quick look through the history of the watch from its invention to its height of popularity to the present day.

The Invention of the Jump Hour Watch

Many people associate jump hour watches with the 1970s so are surprised to learn that they were invented in the nineteenth century. The first recorded jump hour watch was made by esteemed French watch makers Blondeau for the French King of the time in around 1830.

This, however, was a one off, the first mass produced jump hour watch was designed by Joseph Pallweber for the Cortobert company (again, a French firm) in the 1880s. Rather than being a wrist watch, these were in fact pocket watches but are very much the modern fore runner of today's watches since they were the first to display the time via numerals shown in a window rather than by a dial as other watches did (and most still do).

This makes jump hour watches the first ever digital watch: i.e. a watch that displays time via numerals rather than a dial and hands.

The 1970s

The 1970s saw a massive rise in the popularity of the jump hour watch. That decade saw a major economic downturn and, like today, people moved away from watches as status symbol towards watch as a statement of individuality.

At this time firms such as Lanco and Damas became popular with their innovative and almost space age designs. Their use of colour, shape and font marked them out as a completely new form of watch.

The Current Trend

Jump hour watches are again becoming highly fashionable as more and more people are looking for an interesting and different watch. There is a very large market for vintage watches which has lead many companies to release new designs of jump hours. These companies even include long established watch makers such as Breitling.

Al Wood writes about the jump hour watch, and buying a jump hour watch