††The first watches were carried in the pocket rather than being worn on the wrist.
In 1502, a German, Peter Henlein, built a small spring-driven clock. This was one of the first clocks intended to be portable. They were later called watches, because they were used by watchmen. Henlein's watch was called the 'Nuremberg Egg''. It was about the size of a softball and had only one hand.
Pocket watches were first made possible by the invention of the balance spring by Christiaan Huygens in the Netherlands in 1675. Without this development they could never have kept accurate time.
The Perrelet Watch, invented in 1770, was the first to have automatic winding. Previously the back needed opening for the watch to be wound regularly.
