Each year close to 500,000 gold watches are made, most of them in Switzerland; the watch cases and their bracelets consume close to 30 tonnes (almost one million troy ounces) of gold. The gold case-makers follow a tradition going back centuries. A famous inventory of the jewellery of Queen Elizabeth I of England, drawn up around 1600, includes: "Item: a litle watche of gold enamled with sundry colours on both sides alike. Item: a litle watche of christall slightly garnished with golde, with her Ma'ties picture on it".

From the first development of watches soon after 1500, when suitable springs to drive them were devised, gold was regularly used. They were as much an adornment as a timepiece. Indeed, to begin with most watches did not keep time accurately and it was not until a Dutch physicist, Christiaan Huygens, invented the balance wheel and the hairspring in 1675 that they became really reliable.

Meanwhile, watchmakers sought to dazzle their wealthy patrons. As the historian David Landes observed in his book Revolution in Time, "the development of the timepiece, especially the watch, as ornament or jewel … absorbed the energies and imagination of some of the finest artists (art in the sense of 'arts and crafts')(1)".

Actually, gold had already been used in the clock towers of churches and monasteries across Europe from the late 13th century, with gold leaf used to coat the numerals and hands, but watches offered a new challenge. As David Landes adds, "Primacy [was] given to the container rather than the contents". Your watch might not be precise in time but it looked wonderful. Gold cases were adorned with diamonds, rubies, pearls and semi-precious stones. The British Museum in London has an amazing collection of 17th century English, French and Swiss watches. An early English example has a delicate case of thin gold filigree, another an outer case of horn inlaid with gold and an inner case of gold decorated with a design as the sun shining on a castle gate. A French watch came with a neat gold crucifix housing the movement, while another's gold case was covered with pictures of Amazon warriors.

The early watchmakers were mostly in Paris and Blois in France, in London and, increasingly, in Geneva in Switzerland. But a real turning point came after 1675 with Huygen's invention of the balance wheel and hair spring. "The precision of watches gained an order of magnitude," notes science writer Lucien Trueb. "They now became instruments, not just beautiful pieces of jewellery giving the approximate time.(2)" Although watches were less ornate, the role of gold was enhanced because a gold case complemented the quality of the movement within. Moreover, gold's resistance to tarnishing recommended it to watchmaker and buyer. The technical improvement also meant that watches, which had previously often looked like a drum or an onion, became slim and elegant (though they were still for the pocket or locket and not worn on the wrist). The 'onion' of 1700 with a thickness of nearly 40mm (1.56 inches) gave way to a case only 15mm (0.6 inches) by 1790 and a mere 3mm (0.12 inches) by 1830, reports Lucien Trueb. Swiss case-makers soon made thin gold plates that were only 0.15mm (0.006 inches) thick to house the new movements.

This Swiss ingenuity won them an increasing share of the growing market for gold watches because they were cheaper with less gold used in each. The Swiss watch industry, evolving not just in Geneva but around La Chaux-de-Fonds and Neuchatel, was gaining its world superiority. The precious metals specialists Metalor began as the gold smelters and watch case makers Martin de Pury & Cie in 1852, and still serve the local industry.

Today, 90 per cent of the world's gold watches are made in Switzerland and most gold bracelets are made there or in Italy. Fifteen Swiss companies make gold watch cases, several of them also producing bracelets. The famous names include Girard-Perregaux, Patek Philippe, Michel Parmigiani and Rolex. Some still work as true craftsmen, turning out a few hundred or thousand gold watches a year; Rolex, by contrast, produces over 200,000 gold watches annually. The majority of gold cases are 18 carat, although 14 carat cases are made for Britain, Germany and the United States. Gold cases may weigh as little as eight grams (0.26 troy ounce) for women's watches, but Rolex cases (which account for a significant amount of the gold consumption) weigh usually 40 grams (1.29 troy ounces).

Watch cases featuring gold coins and small bars have long intrigued watchmakers. The oldest known coin watch, on show at the Girard-Perregaux Museum at La Chaux-de-Fonds is a double ducat from Florence hollowed out to take an 1820 Lépine gold watch. Corum, also from La Chaux-de-Fonds, has featured an American Double Eagle on its 'Monnaie' watch. Pamp SA has pioneered the bullion watch with a Fortuna medal of 31.15 grams (one troy ounce) as the face and an 18 carat gold case; the price fluctuates daily according to the international gold price.

The history of the watch can be studied in several museums and collections. In Switzerland, visit the Musée de l'Horlogerie et de l'Emaillerie in Geneva or the Musée International d'Horlogerie (l'Homme et le Temps) at La Chaux-de-Fonds. Also, see the Patek Philippe Collection in Geneva and the Girard-Perregaux Museum, La Chaux-de-Fonds. In London, the British Museum has a collection of over 4,200 watches, one of the most comprehensive in the world; there is a fine display of beautiful gold, silver and other ornate watches covering over 400 years, alongside a fascinating technical display of the evolution of the watch.

See also gold library/history.

1 David Landes, Revolution in Time, Harvard University Press, 1983, pp. 98-99. See library/history.
2 Lucien F. Trueb, 'Gold in Watchmaking', Gold Bulletin 2000, 33(1), World Gold Council, London.