I was torn about posting this on this board, or the wristwatch board, but decided to post here, because it does hold a pocket watch.

I bid on this wristwatch band, or holder, because I remember reading about the Gallent Watch Co being the first to try to sell wristwatches in 1895. This is from the net.


Gallet - Pioneer in Wrist Watches

In 1895, Gallet developed the Worlds First Wrist Watches for ladies and for men.

As from 1895 until his death in 1899, Léon Gallet tried to launch wrist watches mainly on the American market. Initial results were however not very encouraging. Racine returned a large part of a first shipment, as these watches could not be sold! Only some 20 years later, other Swiss watch manufacturers started to take up the idea too and added "the new toys", wrist watches to their collections as well.

I thought the one I purchased looked a lot like the one they have shown on the site, so I bid and won. The picture below is from the history page, and the next one I post will be mine.

Anyone ever read about the Gallet being the first wristwatch? Any other information about the first wristwatch?

mine
I had missed an auction with another one like this one, but nicer. It sold a lot higher than mine though, so I got a good deal.

Sheila,

I have one of those gizmos, designed to hold a good sized pocketwatch, most likely a 12 size or even bigger. Mine is NOS and supple enough that I think it's of later manufacture, maybe the 1920s, although it could be earlier. There are photos of these contraptions in use during the Boer War(1899-1902.) I have a hard time thinking of these as "true wristwatches".

I had heard about Gallet's early wristwatches, but haven't seen an example until I looked at the Gallet website to see the image you posted. I have usually heard that the first true wristwatches were done by Girard-Perregaux. They supposedly filled an order by the German Navy in 1880 for wristwatches, allegedly delivering 2000 of them. I've seen a bad, old image that purports to be the GP Navy watch, but I've not seen a good image, nor an example of the watch. It appears that none of these 2000 watches survived, which makes me question the validity a bit. In the old image, the watch looks like what we commonly think of as a trench watch, with an integral shrapnel guard.

Several Swiss manufacturers claim to be making true wristwatches by 1900, notably Omega. Longines follows shortly after. Gruen advertised their first one in the US in 1908 and Elgin in 1912.

For what it's worth,

Cary

Sorry, I forgot to post the link.
This is page 3 where this information is listed, however you can read from page one if you go to the top of the page and read from there.

http://www.gallet.ch/history.php?page=history&part=3&i=h

This is what they say about the Worlds First True Chronograph.


In 1916, Gallet made the Worlds First True Wrist Chronograph for the British Army.

After long and very rigid evaluation procedures, Gallet was chosen to supply watches (the worlds first true wrist chronographs) to the British Army in 1916. As can be seen, this chronograph has been developed and refined technically to a true masterpiece, a transitional timepiece, with similarities to a pocket watch still evident. Though the size has been reduced for wearing it on the wrist, this horological milestone retains the three piece case, porcelain enamel dial and center button crown of its larger predecessor.

The introduction of wrist watches into the civil markets was very difficult. Orders from armies were more and more non existent and the prices at retail level were so low, that it was difficult to make any profit, despite good volume in sales. The company under the management of Julien and Georges Gallet, the sons of the patriarch Léon, was forced in 1924 to sell the company "Electa" as well as some real estate, in order to pay suppliers and to go on. At this time, even third party assembly work was executed. Thanks to the excellent know-how in chronographs and stop watches, the company was able to make it, despite the worldwide economic crisis after the stock market crash of 1929. During the thirties, the 2nd World War became more and more apparent. Gallet produced again more and more watches for armies, clocks for boats with 8 day movements and stop watches for Great Britain, Canada and the USA. At the start of World War II production reached some 100'000 watches p.a. again.

Chronographs made with steel cases for pilots and sport fans were the speciality well before WW II. Special models for doctors to measure the puls of patients were also made. These watches where made with conventional two pushers, as well as with one pusher only at 4h for start, stop and reset, or as can be seen on the picture below...

The same movement with 15 rubies can be encountered in military versions, with white hands and black face, which is covered almost up to the center with tachy- and telemeter scales.

I'm not really concerned about who really made the first wristwatch, because we will most likely never know for sure, but I love the information you provided, and any information about some of these early "contraptions" is a lot of fun to me.

I got hooked on a Gallet watch some time ago and have since found out that mine is a pretty old model and in pretty good condition for it's age too. It has one of the original old trademarks on the movement so it helped with finding out who made it. I hope to find an original wristwatch/pocket watch one day, as soon as I find out what serial numbers they were sold with. They do have a partial list of them. We will see I guess. Thanks again for your information.

PS this picture is an example of the Chronograph mentioned above. (not mine)

Sheila, I recon this thread would have been at home in either the wrist or pocket watch forums.

I'm still kicking myself for letting one of those straps go a while back - a collector in Italy bought it.
It's in the Military watches forum here:

https://ihc185.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/990103944/m/8321063532

You'll need to scroll down the bottom to find it, but the strap has a particular relevence to the watch in the thread anyway, as it clearly served its time in the Somme trenches.

John

John,
That one looks exactly like the one I missed about a week or two ago, I could have kicked myself too. I was out helping my mom, and it was gone when I got back.

The WWI photo is fantastic! Great ephemera and proof of it's being around at the time.

Thanks for the link, I had missed that one.

I got the band yesterday, and WOW it's so much nicer than what I thought it would be. I'm really pleased with it, and put a Spanish American era watch in it!!!! signed by Harry Culbertson Camp Alger Va Company F 7 Reg 1898.

Looking to see if I have any others I can use, because the one above is not running.

A good buy for sure.

Hey Guys,
I found this one made by Waterbury watch Co for the ladies to use on their bicycles! It's called the Elfina! and goes with the Trump watch made by them.

It's exactly like mine, however some of the others are much bigger, so who knows who made the ones like in the pictures in the link above?