A timeline of important watchmaking events.
15th Century – Portable timepieces were made possible by the invention of the mainspring.
16th Century – Nuremberg clockmaker Peter Henlein (1485-1542) is often credited as the inventor of the watch.
1657 – The addition of the balance spring to the balance wheel, an invention disputed both at the time and ever since between Robert Hooke and Christiaan Huygens.
1735 – Blancpain was founded by Jehan-Jacques Blancpain in Villeret, Switzerland.
1755 – Vacheron Constantin was founded by Jean-Marc Vacheron in Geneva, Switzerland.
1759 – The lever escapement was invented by Thomas Mudge.
1760 – The going barrel was invented by Jean-Antoine Lépine.
1770 – The first self-winding mechanism was invented by Abraham-Louis Perrelet.
1775 – Breguet was founded in by Abraham-Louis Breguet in Paris, France.
1790 – Abraham-Louis Breguet invented the “pare-chute” anti-shock device.
1794 – Abraham-Louis Breguet invented a retrograde display mechanism.
1795 – Abraham-Louis Breguet invented the tourbillon escapement (patented in 1801).
1795 – Abraham-Louis Breguet invented the Breguet spiral (flat spiral balance spring with overcoil).
1810 – Abraham-Louis Breguet created a wristwatch for Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples.
1816 – The first modern chronograph was invented by Louis Moinet.
1832 – Longines was founded by Auguste Agassiz.
1833 – Jaeger-LeCoultre was founded by Antoine LeCoultre in Le Sentier, Switzerland.
1839 – Patek Philippe SA was founded in Geneva.
1847 – Cartier was founded by Louis-François Cartier in Paris in 1847.
1848 – Omega was founded by Louis Brandt in La Chaux-de-Fonds (incorporating the name “Omega” in 1903).
1851 – Aaron Lufkin Dennison started a factory in 1851 in Massachusetts that used interchangeable parts, it eventually became Waltham Watch Company.
1860 – Founded by Edouard Heuer in St-Imier, Switzerland.
1865 – Zenith SA was founded by Georges Favre-Jacot in Le Locle, Switzerland.
1868 – The first Patek Philippe wristwatch was created.
1868 – American engineer and watchmaker Florentine Ariosto Jones founded IWC.
1875 – Audemars-Piguet was founded in 1875 by Jules-Louis Audemars and Edward-Auguste Piguet in Le Brassus.
1881 – Seiko was founded by Kintarō Hattori in Tokyo, Japan.
1884 – Lemania was founded by Alfred Lugrin in Switzerland in 1884.
1884 – Breitling was founded in 1884 by Léon Breitling in Saint-Imier.
1904 – Louis Cartier created a flat wristwatch for Alberto Santos-Dumont after his friend complained about the unreliability and impracticality of using pocket watches while flying. The “Santos” watch was Cartier’s first men’s wristwatch.
Credited to:https://professionalwatches.com/
