Linda Rodriguez writing for Boing Boing:

“The problem with the pocket watch is that you have to hold it,” explained Doyle. That wasn’t going to work for the officer at the Western Front – when an officer lead his men “over the top”, leaving the relative safety of the trenches for the pock-marked no man’s land in between and very possible death, he had his gun in one hand and his whistle in the other. “You haven’t got another hand in which to hold your watch.”

I came across similar histories to this piece when researching my “Smartwatch through History” article for GOOD Magazine. Rodriguez offers a great, conciese refresher on the history of the wristwatch.

We’re on the precipice of another wave of wristwatch innovation. Hopefully it won’t take another war to push the state of the art forward.