At WatchWarehouse we've pulled together a few of the most interesting watch, Timepiece, related facts for you to impress your friends and family with!...

Well we were impressed!

• The earliest time piece, you couldn't fit on your wrist and everyone could afford was of course the Sun, It answered the caveman's purpose very well. The rising of the sun meant that it was time to get up; his setting brought darkness and the time to go to sleep. It was a simple system, but, then, society in those days was simple and strenuous... can we go back to those days...!
• King George III introduced a government tax on all clocks and watches in 1779. This made timepieces very expensive, so people relied more and more on clocks in public places. Now they tax everything, it's called VAT.
• England had many different time zones before the invention of passenger railways which created the need for GMT Greenwich Mean Time which everyone follows today.
• 'Fall Back and Spring Forward', the rule we all know to make sure we are not early or late for work when we need to change our clocks, but did you know that during WWII the UK put their clocks forward 2 hours to help combat the threat of attack.
• Watches and Clocks are usually shown at 10 to 2 because it looks as though they are smiling. I know I always smile when it reaches 30 to 6, happy home time!
• A Horologists in Latin means Study of Time, or otherwise a Watch Maker
• Watches first appeared in the 15th century having evolved from portable spring driven clocks.
• The first timepieces to be worn, made in 16th century Europe, were transitional in size between clocks and watches. These 'clock-watches' were fastened to clothing or worn on a chain around the neck.
• The early watches movements were so inaccurate; perhaps several hours per day, they were practically useless. They were made as jewellery and novelties for the nobility, valued for their fine ornamentation, unusual shape, or intriguing mechanism, accurate timekeeping was of very little importance.
• When Charles II of England in 1675introduced waistcoats, gentlemen watches evolved from pendants into pocket watches to fit in the waistcoat pocket
• Glass was first used to cover the face beginning around 1610.
• Patek Phillipe created the first wristwatch in 1868
• 1911, the date of Cartier's first production of wristwatches.
• During the First World War soldiers needed access to their watches while their hands were full. They were given wristwatches, called 'trench watches'.
• 1969, the date of the introduction of the first quartz watch.