A Short History of the Wristwatch

Over the centuries clocks have been used as a status symbol by those who wear them. Their precision, elegance and convenience are just some of the attributes that clocks and watches represent. Often they are bought purely for their aesthetic looks. and at other times they are bought because of their technical attributes like being precise to the last second or even millisecond. This is what makes clocks and watches so collectible and in some cases they can command high sums of money.

Whether you collect the new high precision watches or ones that come from a past era, the fact is that over the years this hobby has become a high turnover business. And collecting watches is in a lot of circles regarded as a wise form of investing.

At the start of the last century the clocks that were available for men or women were firstly pocket clocks, and then clocks that held by a pendant attached to the lining of jackets or corsets. The advent of war, industrialization, and the development of the sport activities, brought over new trends which extended to not only the way we dressed, but also how we carried our clocks.

It is said that it was a nanny who invented wrist watches at around the end of the 19th century, who fixed a clock around her wrist by using a silk band. The first watches to be made were in fact smaller models of pocket clocks that were fitted with a leather strap. Once this product hit the market newer designs started to be produced based around this same concept.

It was Louis Cartier who first made the kind of watches we see today when he created a watch for a flying pioneer hero by the name Santos Dumont. By 1911 this same type of watch was on general sale. That same type of watch became the blueprint of what wrist watches look like to this day.

Soon after the design of wrist “clocks” began to diversify away from the classical round shape that had been in vogue up until that time. From the Cartier classical wrist watch other makes of watch started to emerge which were characterized by their shape. Movado is the perfect example of these new designs when it came out with the “Polyplan” shaped watch. Then came the famously and cryptically called “clock reference n. 1593″ by Patek Philippe which was a rectangular shaped watch.

From 1913 onwards more and more watches started to be developed in all shapes and styles. From the “gondola” watch of Patek Phillipe to Louis Cartiers’ “Tank”; named thus because it was inspired by the shape of English armored cars of the time. These are watches which are very much sought after. There were other numerous watch makers like Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin who along with Patek Philippe and Cartier came out with many other designs which added other features to the watches like lunar phases, month and day most of which are found in modern watches now.

Of course we could not mention wrist watches without mentioning the most famous of them all: the Rolex watch. In the 1920s Rolex debuted in the world of wrist watches with the elegant Rolex Prince and its revolutionary “dual time” feature made famous for having the “seconds sector” larger than that of the minutes. At the same time Jaeger Le Coultre produced an even more advanced piece called the “Reverse”, also very revolutionary in that it could be turn 180 degrees within its case, thus protecting the crystal and dial. It became incredibly popular and was only prevented from achieving even greater success by the recession of the 1930s and the advent of world war 2.

These early watches of the 1910s to 1930s are what define all the makes of watches that we see and wear today. This short article has only scratched the surface of what is a very vast subject which has many more watch makers with diverse and revolutionary designs. However it is makers like Rolex, Cartier, Jaeger Le Coultre and the others mentioned that are amongst the most valuable and collectible, and should you ever be so lucky to get one then make sure you hang on to it – preferably to your wrist.

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A Woman’s New Best Friend

Imagine walking into a restaurant and having all eyes on you. Like most women, I love attention, but recently I got more attention and compliments than I knew how to handle.

During a casual dinner with friends, my sparkling white gold two-carat Moissanite earrings stole the show.

One dinner companion whispered, “Those are the most beautiful diamond earrings I’ve ever seen.” I explained they weren’t diamonds but a new jewel: Moissanite.

Before I knew it, I was the talk of the table. People had questions and comments like “What is Moissanite?” “They’re so brilliant, they must have cost a fortune!” “Are they rare?” and “I have to have them.”

Well ladies, if you want to know my secret, read on.

Moissanite is giving women the opportunity to own quality, eye-catching jewelry at affordable prices.

What is the story behind this jewel? In 1893, Dr. Henri Moissan, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist began studying fragments of a 50,000-year-old meteorite. In these fragments, Moissan believed he discovered diamonds from space possessing superior fire and brilliance. After extensive research, it was concluded that Moissan discovered a new mineral. In 1905, it was named Moissanite in his honor.

During the late 1980s, inspired by Moissan’s discovery and by the fact that natural Moissanite is incredibly rare, Charles & Colvard (Nasdaq: CTHR) developed a proprietary process for producing large crystals of Moissanite.

By 1995, Charles & Colvard were the sole source for Moissanite jewels, possessing two worldwide patents.

“Moissanite’s superior diamond-like appearance is incredible,” said Nat Hyman, president of Landau, the nation’s largest accessory boutique with more than 70 stores. “The customer is getting so much more for the money.”

“But once they leave the store, are they going to tell even their best friends?” asked Nick Baxevane, also of Landau. “Moissanite looks like what a beautiful diamond should look like, so what they tell their friends is their decision. They can have the million dollar look without the million dollar price tag.”

Moissanite is available at Landau nationwide in upscale malls, hotels, casinos and airports.

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Payday Loans Empower to Get Instant Finance

It’s known that our rapidly transient life urges us to act immediately; therefore possessing the ability to get speedy payday loan funds is the best alternative. Quick wherewithal is today indeed simple to obtain if you understand the payday loan operation. With possessing nice service in handing essential quantity of finance to customers who need it, payday loans become more available at present. This grants the ability to obtain money once you fill out the incipient petition. Clients even make light of extra costs since they want their wherewithal once possible. That and the condition that there aren’t many various credits that might be arranged and pay out so quickly.

Whilst exploiting the WWW for filling in petition and operating all processes of bargain consumers realize that it’s also the reason of popularity. If once utilize the service of payday loan consumers will always recommend it to their family and friends. Payday loans do not force you to delve into lots of documents. The fastest admission to the applications is though using the WWW. One of the major causes people wish payday loans is to help out when faced with abrupt expenses. And it isn’t only when you face difficulties but as well there are much more possibilities with UK payday loans.

Bargains with payday loan service are effortless also the procedure of receiving wherewithal is rather foolproof. Creditors are not going to perform credit review when you need credit. This circumstance enables to hasten the entire process of giving out wherewithal. The payday loan notion was designed for the necessity for instant finance eluding any extra bar. Remember that these credits are created just for short period of time and they exact big rate of interest. This type of loan will not assist you with prolonged needs. But in case you use it for short period of time it can be a certain life preserver for you.

You may obtain payday loans at once nowadays as the solution and approval is provided almost instantly upon the formal request. Exploit the WWW for more details considering payday loans online. As with any loan you should always learn all the specifications and consider the small footnote before you decide. If you want instant money now and family and acquaintances can’t help then you have to take a closer look at payday loans. In any complicated circumstances you need to understand that payday loan is the best opportunity to aid you.

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