Why are there skeleton watches? The story of the savior of Swiss watches
The history of the skeleton watch begins as early as the 18th century.
Like any other cult item in an established market, skeletonized watches went through an evolution of ups and downs.
But did skeleton watches really save Swiss watches? And when and how could this happen?
By the end of the 1970s, all Swiss watch brands specializing in mechanical luxury watches were doomed. High-quality quartz watches could suddenly be manufactured cheaply in the Far East, and no one wanted to spend a lot of money on an expensive watch anymore. Swiss watch brands began to introduce new, skeletonized, mechanical watches to the market. The ability to show off the handcrafted inner workings to friends and acquaintances led to a resurgence of the "Swiss Made" brand.
How it could come to this and the remains of the history of the skeleton clock I show you now.
The first skeleton watches
The history of skeleton watches begins in 1750, when André Charles Caron wanted to demonstrate his craft in detail to his highly elite clientele. To do so, he unceremoniously omitted the dial from his latest table clock.
These unique pieces sold furiously in France, Germany and Austria. They had to be stored under a glass dome to prevent the movement from getting dusty and breaking something.
The first pocket watch to be skeletonized was No. 160 "Marie Antoinette", commissioned from Abraham Louis Breguet in 1783. 44 years were spent tinkering with this complicated timepiece. By the time it was completed, Marie Antoinette had been dead for 34 years and Mr. Breguet also died four years before it was finished.
After a brief flurry, however, the trend already ebbed and the fascination with skeletonized watches sank for a few years.
Back from oblivion
It took nearly 175 years for the Audemars Piguet skeleton watch to be brought back to life. More precisely, it was the sons of the founders, Paul-Louis Audemars and Paul-Edward Piguet, who took it upon themselves to skeletonize watches.
After skeletonizing pocket watches, they ventured into skeletonizing wristwatches as well. Which is much more challenging since the watch is much smaller than it still is with a pocket watch.
Other watchmakers also took up the challenge, but experimenting with different materials for the movement was much more exciting at the time.
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The quartz crisis
In the middle of the 20th century, watch movements with different materials were diligently developed to find out which one would be best for luxury mechanical watches. The supposed star candidate is quartz.
Quartz watches are much more accurate than automatic watches. They use a quartz crystal that is vibrated using electronic circuitry. These oscillations are then counted and translated to power the watch.
This new invention brought a huge disadvantage: the watches could be produced cheaply in the Far East with the quartz movement and the brand "Swiss Made" lost, rapidly, its value.
The market was flooded with affordable models and the big brands struggled to survive. Various established watch companies in western Switzerland had to close their doors forever.
New skeletonized watches were introduced to the market, at first sporadically, then more and more frequently, because that was the big advantage over the Asian competitors. The traditional companies possessed the craft of skeletonizing their watches by hand. This gave value back to the Swiss luxury watch, as people could show off the mechanics to their friends and acquaintances.
Sales were saved and soon everyone started to include a skeleton watch or two in their assortment.
If you want to know more about this topic, you must read our separate quartz-crisis article here.
Skeleton watches nowadays
After this exciting history of skeleton watches, we naturally wonder what is the situation with these transparent pieces of art today.
By now, you can find some skeletonized products in every brand. Efforts are made to reveal the most decorative elements of the mechanism, such as the tourbillon. It has also become common for watches to be offset with a glass back to allow a behind-the-scenes look.
There are even watch brands that have made it a trademark not to include a dial on any of their watches. We are talking about Richard Mille.
Is your watchknowledge up to date?
Here is our list of must-know watches!
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Conclusion
If you want a timepiece that tells a story of rise and fall, where he stands as a hero at the end, then you need a skeleton watch. It's honest, artistically crafted, and you definitely have enough to tell about it now.
I recommend you to buy a skeleton watch second hand, as well as many others. However, you must be careful to get all the documents to prove its authenticity. If you want to be on the safe side, I recommend Watchfinder&Co.
Q&A
Since when are watches skeletonized?
The first watch was skeletonized in 1750 by simply leaving out the dial. This was the first time you could watch a watch at work.
How did skeleton watches save the brand "Swiss watches"?
After the watch industry had almost ruined itself with quartz movements, it was skeleton watches that proved the quality of Swiss watches. As a result, they were once again considered a cult object that one had to own if one thought anything of oneself.
Who was the first watchmaker to skeletonize a watch?
Mr. André Charles Caron was the first watchmaker to leave out the dial of his watch and thus invented the skeleton watch. He was eager to give his customers a glimpse of his art.
Source cover image: Pexels | edited post
About the author
Benno Büchler
In pursuit of more charmingly atypical watches, the teenage interest developed into a real passion. I strive to find the perfect combination of deviant and ravishing for the wrist.
