“I’m late. Very very late.” So said the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland while looking at his pocket watch just before he disappeared down the rabbit hole.
So what is a pocket watch, and where have they gone? Why are they so uncommon now? Well the Pocket Watch was a development from the 16th century. Industrialisation had led to the minuturisation of components allowing for clocks to get smaller and smaller. Eventually it became fashionable to wear a small clock, and these became known as pocket watches.
Wrist watches weren’t developed until the 20th century.