Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-02-22
THE PESTERED TIMEPIECE
BY Frederic J. Haskin
WY ASHINGTON, D. c., Feb. left you
wv write with pen or pencil for several

on the typewriter you are more apt TO DC
late.
That is, if you wear your watch on your
wrist, as an increasing number Of persons do.
This transfe=~of the timepiece from the pock-
! ct to the forearm, according to watch ex-
perts, has subjected the instrument to new
and trying vcisstudes
watch expert outlined this situation and
then opened large silver watch anu indi-
Gated the balance wheel, whirling two-thirds
of the way around and then whirling back.
That wheel, he explained turns 800 times
minute, normally.
when we test Watches" he said, 1--WE put
them on racks and run them all day face up,
and at night I'VE check up on them. Then we
| test them with the dial down, and with the
pendant up and with the pendant down From
the variation in time in these positions we
regulate the watches, so that they will run at
approximately 800 beats to the min'te. But
when we test the wacth it IS perfectly still. 1t
| is not vibrating, it would be with the
slightest motion of the body, and of course
there is none of tn sudden motion that
comes every time you move your hand
Tipping Retards Works
$50 if the owner writes with pen al day,
and wears the watch on his right wrist. the
jerking of the hand might increase the num-
Der of beats to 325 or even $50. If he writes
on type writer, the beats nigh, be retarded
while he is working to 275.
"The principle is like this: If you stir
stick around in the water, the water swirls
about. If you stir still harder, it will whirl
faster. But if you suddenly stop stirring, and
begin to jerk the stick up and down across
the swirling circles their speed is Immediate
ly lessened by the conflicting motion.
so when you move your arm steadily in a
direction that does not tend to go against the
motion of the balance wheel tie outside vi
bration will make the wheel move faster. But
| if you swing your arm back and forth, as In
a tennis game, across the motion of the
Wheel it's normal rate may be retarded for
the time-being to as low as ESQ BEATS
1t would be impossible, this man says, to
estimate how much the watch of typist or
bricklayer, or violinist would cain or
lose, because individual mannerisms and
habits are too important factor. One man
naturally works or plays with spasmodic mo-
| lions, while another is slower, and less sud-
| den. Then too, WEAKNESS, the degree of skill,
and the emotions all may affect the way a
person moves his hands it different times to;
do the same thing.
The government had tests made With wrist
watches during the war, and accepted for
army use those that varied not more than two
minutes day. jewelers. now quote this gov
eminent standard for wrist watches. Most
wrist watches, they say, keep somewhat bet
ter time than this, and few will vary only
minute a week. but rate of only minute
| a week is very unusual.
To our inquiry as to neither anything cal
| be done regarding ''aTQ lou OIL inc uOu-
ern watch, the expert sadly shook his head. 4
"The wrist watch is convenient. Men are
coming to prefer it. And so long as accurate
| time is not vital, suppose it is just as salts
factory. What man loses in accuracy when
he carries his tlmepiece on his wrist he gains
| in convenience so it really is more than
fashion that popularized the wrist watch"
| He went on to explain that there is no
need to bewail the good old days when a
watch really told the time" In spite of the
way we misirett our watches, we have just
about as good time now as 80 years ago.
Tha is because of improvements in watch
making. The flat hair spring, for instance,
that used to tangle up every time watch got
dropped has been replaced by the Breguet
hair spring that doesn't tangle.
We look upon the wrist watch as recent
innovation and watch set into ring is re-
records the existence of watches like these,
and others more unusual several centuries
back.
Historical Wrist Watches
| Queen Elizabeth received wrist watch as
New Years gift in 1871. Whether it was
a Lpvelty then IS not noted, but the watch Is
described as an ''armlet or shakell " golde,
all over fairely garnished with rubyes and
diamondes, haveing in the closing thearof
cocke." The Earl of Leicester made this gift.
Some years later he presented the queen
with gold chain inset with diamonds and
| with demonstrated 'clocKe' as d
pendant.
| Elizabeth was fond of watches, or clocks as
they were still called t. en-, and had large
collection The Earl of Russell gave her
ring of gold set with small diamonds "and
garnished round about with small rubies and
| two sparks of ophalls and in the same back
side dyal1."
| It is written that Charles also had
watch in one of his rings and that skill in
Matchmaking had so advanced in his day that
very small watches keeping reasonably good
! time were set in heads of walking sticks, in
| bracelets, and pendants and other articles OF
personal adornment.
Men wore their timepieces swinging from
their necks and women hung theirs from
| CIRCLES A watch was rare and costly pos
session in hose days-a sort of mark of gen.
| tility we IRE told.
| By 1910 dandies were wearing two watches
with heavy chains and seals that hung on
each side of their waistcoats. Women or
| fashion also approved this conceit but as
the expense of keeping two gorgeous time
pieces was~too great for most Of them, the
| jewellers began making dummy watch 10
go with the real one on the other side OF the
waist Even these dummies were often Deau-
tiful and expensive, made in odd shapes, with
insets, of Jewels or engraved in elaborate
patterns.
History seems to be repeating itself so far
as watch fashions CO. Watches after the pat
tern of Queen Elizabeth's trinkets are now
used It seems doubtful if we will come
around again 20 the freak of wearing two
timepieces Having to calculate time on two
wrist watches-one going at 80 beats and
the other perhaps tagging along at 40