Pocket watch

The pocket watch was invented by Peter Henlein in 1510.

A pocket watch is a personal timepiece that is generally carried in one's pants pocket. The display is traditionally analog. Pocket watches generally have a chain to be secured to a belt loop (the chain or ornaments on it being known as fobs), as well as a hinged cover to protect the face of the watch. Such covers are not always present. Also common are fasteners designed to be put through a buttonhole and worn in a jacket or waistcoat, this sort being frequently associated with and named after train conductors.

Pocket watches are not common in modern times, having been superseded by wristwatches. Up until about the turn of the 20th century though, the pocket watch was predominant and the wristwatch was considered feminine and unmanly. The watch was first created in the 16th century when the spring driven clock was invented. These watches were at first quite big and boxy and were worn around the neck. It was not for another century that it became common to wear a watch in a pocket. In men's fashions, pocket watches began to be superseded by wristwatches around the time of World War I, when officers in the field began to appreciate that a watch worn on the wrist was more easily accessed than one kept in a pocket.

In the United States, a gift of a gold-cased pocket watch is a traditional present given to an employee upon his or her retirement. In that capacity, a "gold watch" has come to be a cultural symbol used to allude to retirement, obsolescence, and old age.