HISTORY III

When John Evelyn visited Blois in1644, he wrote:"Blois is a town in which the language is spoken correctly; people are very kind; the air is so good that it makes Blois the perfect place for raising the king's children. The people are so ingenious that there is no better place in France for the goldsmith and watchmaking trade.“

In 1462 Bartolomeo Manfredi sent a letter to Marquis Ludovico Gonzaga mentioning an "orologetto", which means there may have been early watch production in Italy. It is not, however, certain that these were watches. On 7 May 1506 Bernardus Bembo wrote to Isabella de Gonzaga, mentioning "very small clocks, made by Pietro Guido, which need mending". It is not certain that these were watches, either. The term horologe, orologio (after the Greek hora= hour + logos = word, speech, term) was usual for all types of clocks so only adiltional information can show whether these were watches. The watch was not a new invention. It was probably developed by decreasing the size of the table and travelling clock, which was shaped as a shallow cylinder (barrel). When the dimensions were reduced to a diameter of about 6 cm and the height to about 2 to 3 cm, a bow was added so the watch could be hung on a chain and carried in that way. In the middle of 16th century it was feshionable for men to wear striking watches in cylindrical cases on a chain or band around their necks. The illustrated manuscript Das Trachtenbuch des Veit Konrad Schwarz says that Vaid Konrad received a watch of this kind when he visited Venice: "So hett ich aine kleine schlagende ur am hals hangen, die schanckt mir mein lieber vatter im 1557, weil ich nock zue Venedig was." ("I have such a small striking watch hanging around my neck, which was given to me by my beloved father in 1557 while I was still in Venice.").