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Pocket watches were originally only available to the wealthiest in society. This may be unthinkable in modern day where almost everyone walks around with a cell phone, but disposable income was not a reality for the masses during the 16th century.
It was really only the mass industrialization of society alongside warfare that bought pocket watches to everyone. There became a greater need to be able to tell the time for soldiers, workers and anyone else involved in business, which led to the production of affordable pocket watches.
On the whole, pocket watches were not, and still are not as durable compared with regular watches. This is because they are designed to be kept inside a pocket attached to a chain. Compared to what we put watches through in modern day, pocket watches had a relatively easy life and were hidden away until you needed to know the time.
Due to mass production, thankfully in modern day there are a lot of inexpensive pocket watches available which are listed below. Although the best pocket watchmakers are far out of reach for a normal budget, you are still able to buy both Japanese and Swiss made pocket watches for well under $500.
Lastly, it should be noted that pocket watches generally cost more money than regular watches. This is simply because nowhere near as many are made, with pocket watches also tending to use mechanical movements rather than a simple quartz module.
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How Much Are Pocket Watches Worth?
This entirely depends on the brand and is a similar question to “how much is a car worth?”. Of course, this depends on a number of factors such as, does it work? is it damaged? what brand is the pocket watch? and many other more intricate components.
The most expensive luxury pocket watch ever sold is the Patek Philippe Supercomplication, which auctioned for $24 million in 2014 – and would likely sell for a lot more in today’s market.
At the other end of the spectrum, you can pick up a cheap, Chinese made pocket watch on the internet for around $30.
These two extreme examples show the gigantic differences at either end of the market.
Where Can You Buy Pocket Watches?
There are a few places you can buy pocket watches since stores no really longer sell brand new models.
For antique and used pocket watches, either a second hand watch dealer or eBay are your best bets. Obviously, with eBay you are able to look around the entire world and find something you didn’t know existed or is difficult to get hold of in your own country.
The best place to buy brand new pocket watches is Amazon. There are several companies such as Tissot, who still make quality pocket watches alongside regular watches.
What Does Jewels Mean In A Pocket Watch?
The basic definition of jewels in a pocket watch are simply the number of bearings used in the movement. Originally jewels such as sapphire and ruby were used in mechanical pocket watches – however this changed when people realized their true value and synthetic copies were made instead.
Jewels were primarily used in mechanical pocket watches as a pivot for various parts of the movement to move around freely – such as the balance wheel. Due to the large amount of metal parts inside a pocket watch, pieces grinding off one another causes friction and begins to wear down certain parts. Over time this will cause the movement to lose time or break completely.
By using jewels, there is a lot less friction in the pocket watch which meant on a basic level – more jewels meant a better quality watch.
This however is not entirely true. When watchmakers picked up on the public perception of jewels, they started making 100+ jewel movements. These were not any better than a standard 21 jewel movement, as this was 100% a marketing tactic.
Which Country Makes The Best Pocket Watches?
Much like the regular watch industry, Switzerland makes the best pocket watches. This is because the infrastructure needed to make mechanical watches is more or less the same for pocket watches. Although pocket watch movements are usually significantly larger than a normal analog watch, they contain the same functions such as a mainspring and a balance wheel.
Countries such as France also made outstanding pocket watches due to the watchmaker Breguet. Even the USA had decent pocket watch production with brands such as Bulova and Hamilton mass producing timepieces for everyone.
However, no other country really comes close to Switzerland for any kind of watchmaking.
What Are The Best Antique Pocket Watches?
Some of the most valuable pocket watches are from world famous European watchmakers. Whilst the USA and UK did make pocket watches during this time, they were mostly for military or railroad workers – not the aristocracy. Therefore European pocket watches were simply built to a higher standard.
Here are some very valuable examples:
Vacheron Constantin Jumping Hour from 1800 – worth approximately $2.5 million
Patek Philippe Supercomplication – worth at least $24 million
Breguet – made in 1800, worth approximately $9000
A Lange & Sohne – worth approximately $20000
Best Pocket Watches Under $500
Tissot T-Touch
Pretty much the best modern pocket watch, Tissot continues where they left off on the design of their classic outdoors T-Touch wristwatch. This is a unique model since it is one of the only digital pocket watches you can buy that is made by a reputable brand.
The features aren’t just for show either. Whilst you don’t touch the dial as you would with a normal T-touch, there are buttons around the sides of the case that can be pressed to show functions such as the chronograph or an altimeter on the digital display.
Finally, the selling point of this pocket watch is the price. It is actually cheaper than a Tissot T-touch wrist watch, which is very surprising and great value for money.
Sturhling
One of the few modern-day brands which actually bother to make skeleton pocket watches. Stuhrling has a very nicely designed dial layout, albeit a little loud and flamboyant, but obviously a lot of people like this appearance.
Available in gold, silver, and rose gold, the Stuhrling automatic pocket watch uses a modified Chinese movement and has a lot of complications given that this pocket watch costs under $250. For this price you get a skeletal automatic pocket watch, an AM/PM indicator, and a functioning second timezone subdial – not bad at all.
The vertebral chain design is also very nice as it doesn’t allow the chain to tangle, if it does happen to get tangled, it is extremely easy and fast to sort out.
Gotham
Gotham watches are a family owned business that was created in 1985. They make arguably the best pocket watch under $100, as you really can’t get much for this price. Of course, you can go with a cheap Chinese mechanical model, but many of these brands were created only 3 years ago and disappear just as quickly.
As you can see, the aptly named railway classic takes its image from the American railroad industry. This single handedly sparked the pocket watch boom in America and led to mass production. The railway classic uses a standard Japanese quartz movement and also features a date display window at the 3 o’clock position.
Charles-Hubert Paris
Charles-Hubert exclusively makes pocket watches and are pretty much a budget version of Breguet. You can tell this by the overall dial layout, but the giveaway is the blue hands with the circular tips.
This model is a mechanical hand wound skeleton pocket watch that uses a Chinese movement. The movement is not the most accurate in the world, but is at least reliable. When buying a Charles-Hubert pocket watch you’re mostly paying for the eye-catching design. Invicta makes pocket watches to a similar standard for a much cheaper price.
Invicta
Perhaps the best cheap mechanical pocket watch is made by Invicta. You can get cheap Chinese mechanical watches for around $35, although the quality is very questionable. Invicta is by no means a luxury brand, but does at least have a decent reputation within the watch community.
This skeleton dial displays the 2650 Chinese movement which is a hand wound mechanism (as are all classic pocketwatches), since automatic movements were not made until the 20th century. Overall, this model is fair value for money and one of the cheapest non-quartz pocketwatches there is.
Bulova
Once at the forefront of mechanical pocket watches, Bulova is a brand that has largely fallen out of favor with the American public. That is not to say it is a dead company, but it has certainly lost its way.
This attempt at making a classic pocket watch with a more modern design is a decent attempt at making something for the 21st century. It has a smart silver case and comes with a Bulova presentation box. The dial itself is very readable due to the 50mm case being the perfect size.
Sadly, this pocket watch uses a Japanese quartz movement rather than a Swiss mechanical movement that you might have expected. Nonetheless, it is OK value for money.
Mondaine
Using their distinctive Swiss railways design, Mondaine makes a very solid stainless steel pocket watch. Much like any other clock or regular watch made by Mondaine, you can clearly tell the time instantly by glacing at the dial. This is a non-complicated but very clear and original layout with a 48mm case size.
Unfortunately, this is not a mechanical pocket watch, but still uses a Swiss quartz movement, so reliability and accuracy are certainly not concerns. Given that this pocket watch is roughly the same price as a Mondaine wristwatch, I would say that is pretty good value for money. Not necessarily in terms of having fantastic specifications, but because regular watches are usually quite a bit cheaper than pocket watches.
