Origins of the Watch making Industry Essay -- Design and Technology

Origins of the Watch making IndustryThe production of influencees was a major industry of Great Britain forhundreds of years. Watch making originated in atomic number 63 in the primal 16thcentury, when coiled springs were first used to force out times. Clockswere powered by weights originally, and so remained stationary.The springs meant that clocks could be locomote for the first time, andsoon, German clock shamrs started to make very small clocks, which areconsidered as the earliest endurees made. Watch making was the mostadvanced line of the clock making industry, which developed whenBlacksmiths started introducing their skills with metal to clockmaking.Watches were being made in Great Britain from around the middle ofElizabeth 1 reign as male monarch of England. (1533 1603) It is likely thatthe success of European Watchmakers encouraged British Watchmakers tostart producing Watches to make sure they werent behind intechnological developments. During this, mark offes wer e extremelyexpensive, and therefore quite rare, they were also quite inaccurate,and only had an hour hand. Most designs for early watches were for thewatches to be worn around the neck, on either a electric cord or ribbon. Thiswas because it was a status symbol to be seen wearing a watch and thewatches were still pretty large, and couldnt fit in the carrier bag veryeasily, if the clothes had pockets, as this was also a rarity.It was in the after-hours 17th century that the watch making industry becamea oft more renowned industry in Britain. Evolution in watch designmeant that watches soon became more accurate, which made them muchmore multipurpose and as a result, the demand increased for British watches.Watch making in Prescot By the 18th century, Prescot was hearty established as the nerve centre ofwatch making in England, and for 100 years after, Prescot would become world famous for its product quality.John Wyke and other famous watch makers started their businesses inPre scot, and at the beginning of Queen Victorias reign in 1837, Watchmaking was renowned in Prescot.The area was already well known for its alsols most importantly files,and metal works, which made it easier for business to thrive. extremely high quality tools and metal were required by watchmakers sothe industries were destine up next to each other to make life simpler.Liverpool became a major c... ... into thePrescot watch making industry in an attempt to admit it competitive, ithad all but gone from prescot by the mid 1880s. A end was made toact, and T.P Hewitt was one of the founding members of the LancashireWatch Company. The building was completed in 1889, and it was based onthe American Factory system of manufacture, where complete watchmovements were made, by machines, under one roof. The factory wasfitted out with machines to produce the watch parts, powered by asteam engine called the Horologer (Horology is the subdue name forthe study and production of clocks and watch es).They made a throw of watches too suit all the poorest of pockets. Itlasted into the twentieth century and had some success, get a majorproducer of watches in Britain. However, foreign competition was toogreat and by that time, very well established. This combined with poormarketing, peculiarly overseas led to the company being forced toclose its doors in 1910. Some small workshops still produced timepieces in Prescot until the middle of the 20th century, but the watchmaking industry in Prescot effectively finish with the closure of theLancashire watch company.