13) Watch

WATCH

The history of watch began with the invention of spring in 15th century. Portable timepieces were made possbly by the invention of mainspring in 15th century. Nuremberg clockmaker Peter Henlein (1485-1542) is often credited as the inventor of the watch. He was one of the first German craftsman who made "clock-watches" ornamental timepieces worn as pendants, which were the first timepieces to be worn on the body. His fame is based on passage by Johann Cochiaus in 1511.

SPACE HISTORY :

The zero-gravity environment and other extreme conditions encountered by astronauts in space require the use of specially tested watches.

The first ever watch to be sent into space was a Russian "Pobeda" watch from the Petrodvorets Watch Factory. It was sent on a single orbit flight on the space ship Korabl-Sputnik 4 on 9 March 1961. The watch had been attached without authorisation to the wrist of Chernuchka, a dog that successfully did exactly the same trip as Yuri Gagarin, with exactly the same rocket and equipment, just a month before Gagarin's flight.

On 12 April 1961, Yuri Gagarin wore a Shturmanskie (a transliteration of Штурманские which actually means "navigator's") wristwatch during his historic first flight into space. The Shturmanskie was manufactured at the First Moscow Factory. Since 1964, the watches of the First Moscow Factory have been marked by the trademark "Полёт", transliterated as "POLJOT", which means "flight" in Russian and is a tribute to the many space trips its watches have accomplished. In the late 1970s, Poljot launched a new chrono movement, the 3133. With a 23 jewel movement and manual winding (43 hours), it was a modified Russian version of the Swiss Valjoux 7734 of the early 1970s. Poljot 3133 were taken into space by astronauts from Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine. On the arm of Valeriy Polyakov, a Poljot 3133 chronograph movement-based watch set a space record for the longest space flight in history.

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WATCH FACTS :

The Seiko Astron is a solar-powered watch and it is the world’s first GPS Solar Watch. The Astron features GPS controlled time zone adjustment, world time functions that recognize 39 time zones via satellite, and a perpetual calendar. Automatic Atomic Time Synchronization from GPS Satellites is one of the best features of this device which have an ultra-Low Power GPS Receiver. This watch is accurate to ±15 Seconds / Month when not automatically synchronizing with the satellites. The Airplane mode is also present to disable automatic synchronization while flying, for frequent flyers.

A yacht timer (also referred to as sailing watches) is a watch specially designed for sailing races. This watch features a 10-minute countdown to be used for preparing for the start of a yacht race. Some yacht timers offer a different color for the 10-minute countdown and the final five-minute countdown.

The most complicated mechanical watch is made by Vacheron Constantin (model 57260). Boasting 57 complications and a wide array of functions, it contains over 2,800 components, each one hand-decorated by one Master Watchmaker using traditional techniques.

Rolex received the very first wristwatch Chronometer awards from the School of Horology in Bienne (1910), and the Class “A” Certificate of Precision from the Kew Observatory in England (1914). To this day, Rolex watches consistently receive more Chronometer Certificates from the Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres (COSC), than every other watch company in the world, combined.

The G-Shock by Casio was the first watch developed and tested to survive a drop from a fourth floor men’s bathroom (ten meter drop). As a consequence of its success many other brands then developed many more watches that resist “extreme” adventures and conditions.

The Omega Speedmaster was a favorite accessory in space! NASA astronauts wore the watch on their mission to the Moon (7 Apollo astronauts), and both American and Russian astronauts wore it for the first craft meeting of Apollo-Soyuz.  

John Harrison (1693 – 1776) was a self-educated English carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought after device for solving the problem of calculating longitude while at sea. His solution revolutionized navigation and greatly increased the safety of long-distance sea travel.

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Source: Wiki,watch facts