The earliest mention of the watch was in Shakespeares play As You Like It. In the second act of the play one character produces a sun-dial from his pocket and muses about the time. Though at this time in history a true, portable timekeeping piece would have been too much of a hassle. Coming up with a powers source for the watch was impossible at this time. But in the 1500s Peter Henlein from Germany created the first pocket watch. And from that point on portable timekeeping was part of the norm.

In the early 1600s, form watches came into being. Cases shaped like animals and objects and religious themed watches were the most popular. But cheap, portable clockswatchesdidnt really come into wide spread use until 1780 when Abraham Louis Perrelet invented the self winding movement.

Watch making enters its prime period in the years that followed. In 1791, J.F. Bautte founded the watch company that would eventually become Girard-Perregaux. In 1820, Thomas Prest registers a patent for the self-winding watch. In 1833 Antoine LeCoultre started his own watch making business that would eventually become Jaeger-LeCoultre.

Other big names and when they were founded:

Minerva founded in 1858
Heuer founded in 1860
Zenith founded in 1865
Movado founded in 1881
Rolex founded in 1905
Citizen founded in 1918
Seiko founded in 1924

But probably the most innovative and best-selling watch of all time is the Timex. Timex created the Waterbury pocket watch in the 1880s and made affordable timekeeping a mainstay for the average man.

By the turn of the twentieth century, the watch industry’s first and most successful mass marketer, Robert H. Ingersoll, worked with Waterbury Clock, a partner of Timex, to distribute the company’s Yankee pocket watch, the first to cost just one dollar. Twenty years later, with nearly forty million sold, the Yankee became the world’s largest seller and the watch that made the dollar famous. Everyone carried the Yankee: from Mark Twain to miners, from farmers to factory workers, from office clerks to sales clerks. Throughout the rest of the 20th Century, Timex conquered the low-end market selling 500 million watches by the end of the 1970s.

And the watch market has continued to grow and expand in the following years. With the introduction of the digital watch in 1972, watchmakers had brand new roads to explore in the area or portable timekeeping. It is now not so uncommon to find watches that can do everything under the sun from reading the wearers heart rate to playing music. But telling time is still the number-one priority.

So whether youre more interested in the fashion statement your watch makes (Rolex, Heuer, Seiko) or the practicality of your watch (Timex, Casio, Citizen), there will always be numerous choices out there.

Hey, anyone know what time it is? I think Im late.

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Allen Shaw is a successful author who provides tips and information on brand name watches and watches in general. I am the news director at USA News Network and have been working as freelance writer for 2 years. I’ve been published in a few magazines, newspapers and websites and my specialty up to this point has been movie and music reviews.

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Whether you live in a warm climate year round or you are just trying to survive summers heat till autumns cool arrive the following quick and easy professional style tips will keep you cool and have you looking professionally chic in any heat.

Wardrobe

Select fabrics that are natural / man-made blends that consist of at least 51% natural fiber, such has a 55% cotton 45% polyester blend. This will give you the coolness of a natural fabric without the wrinkles. Choose jackets with sleeves. They are cooler than full sleeves and more professional looking than short sleeves. Light and bright colors works well in warm weather but do not use loud bold color combinations and prints. Dress in layers to adjust to the high heat outside / air conditioning inside temperature changes you will experience. A sleeve jacket over a sleeveless shell or a summer twin set is are excellent solutions for temperature changes. A cool alternative to pantyhose are thigh highs they allow air to circulate better then pantyhose and will keep you cooler. Wear slightly larger jewelry it will give you a more polished look. Instead of a simple pendant on a chain try a triple strand of pearls. Avoid plunging necklines, extremely short hemlines, sheer fabrics, cloth handbags and briefcases, open toe shoes, sandals and flip flops.

Make - Up

Opt for a lighter make-up routine. Heavy make-up in high heat can clog pores and lead to breakouts. Before applying your makeup rub an ice cube over your face. It will help makeup last longer and prevent smudging. Use waterproof cosmetics. After applying your makeup brush your face with face powder it will set your makeup and prevent shine.

Hair

Wear your hair in a simple flattering yet professional style. Hair grows faster in warmer months so be sure to have your hair trimmed every 4 to 6 weeks. With hot weather comes limp and frizzy hair. To correct this problem use only hair products designed specifically to treat your hair type and problem. If you pull your hair back be sure to use only quality accessories. Avoid using plastic clips and rubber bands they will detract from your professional image.

Eileen Hammel President of Smarter Image,and Smart Skin Care - Smart Cosmetics by Smarter Image is a Nationally & Internationally Recognized Beauty and Image Expert. http://www.smartskincaresmartcosmetics.com/

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When you get bored of all the options that you have in your wardrobe and want to add some interesting yet smart options to it, purple may be a color worth considering. Even though the first thought that may come to your mind while reading this is that the author is out of his mind, read on and think again. Many people are choosing to adopt the unconventional purple because it makes an elegant and strong fashion statement.

The trick, however, is in the manner you choose the other accessories and how you combine your purple with other colors depending on the shade of purple you decide to wear. Other bright colors are a big no-no with purple. Pinks, oranges and red are color which you should not even give a single glance to while deciding to wear something purple.

If you are in the mood to wear a bright shade of purple, then you should consider dark accessories or a black coat to go along. A black skirt / trouser with a light purple top will make you look like royalty. Dark purple, on the other hand, should be teamed with light neutral colors like beige, cream and off-white. If you dont want to be ousted by your friends and colleagues in a social gathering couple purple only with blacks, brown, cream, beige, white or on the outside a tan color. At no cost should you include any other colors.

If you are not confident about being able to decide the right color mix and are not positive that you can carry off a purple dress but still want to flirt with the color, you could try adding a hint of purple t your attire by using purple accessories. These could be in the form of buttons, earrings, scarves or pins.

But this piece of advice does not mean that you venture out and wear purple socks or shoes to match your purple shirt. It will smack of being cheap and flashy. Avoid purple shoes and any kind of purple dresses which are the same color from top to bottom. Too much of purple makes you look exactly the opposite of what you want to appear as. Purple should be used selectively with a certain angle to give a hint of nattiness without seeming to be flashy.

The color purple is beautiful and men and women alike should use the color but judicious use of the color is essential to get the desires result.

To learn more about fashion and style visit http://www.discover-fashion.com

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