Η 1η προσπάθεια για φωτεινότητα στα ρολόγια, σύμφωνα με κάποια άρθρα, ξεκίνησε κατά τον 1ο Παγκόσμιο πόλεμο.
Πρέπει ( αν δεν υπάρχει ήδη ) , να βάλουμε και την εξέλιξη, από το ρολόϊ τσέπης, στο ρολοϊ χειρός, και τους λόγους.
Βάζω ένα μικρό κομμάτι, ( ο Πέτρος θα το μεταφράσει στα Αγγλικά
).
Wristwatches were first worn by military men towards the end of the nineteenth century, when the importance of synchronizing maneuvres during war without potentially revealing the plan to the enemy through signalling was increasingly recognized. It was clear that using pocket watches while in the heat of battle or while mounted on a horse was impractical, so officers began to strap the watches to their wrist. The Garstin Company of London patented a 'Watch Wristlet' design in 1893, although they were probably producing similar designs from the 1880s. Clearly, a market for men's wristwatches was coming into being at the time. Officers in the British Army began using wristwatches during colonial military campaigns in the 1880s, such as during the Anglo-Burma War of 1885.
During the Boer War, the importance of coordinating troop movements and synchronizing attacks against the highly mobile Boer insurgents was paramount, and the use of wristwatches subsequently became widespread among the officer class. The company Mappin & Webb began production of their successful 'campaign watch' for soldiers during the campaign at the Sudan in 1898 and ramped up production for the Boer War a few years later.
These early models were essentially standard pocketwatches fitted to a leather strap, but by the early 20th century, manufacturers began producing purpose-built wristwatches. The Swiss company, Dimier Frères & Cie patented a wristwatch design with the now standard wire lugs in 1903.
In 1904, Alberto Santos-Dumont, an early aviator, asked his friend, a French watchmaker called Louis Cartier, to design a watch that could be useful during his flights.
Hans Wilsdorf moved to London in 1905 and set up his own business with his brother-in-law Alfred Davis, Wilsdorf & Davis, providing quality timepieces at affordable prices - the company later became Rolex.Wilsdorf was an early convert to the wristwatch, and contracted the Swiss firm Aegler to produce a line of wristwatches. His Rolex wristwatch of 1910 became the first such watch to receive certification as a chronometer in Switzerland and it went on to win an award in 1914 from Kew Observatory in Greenwich.The impact of the First World War dramatically shifted public perceptions on the propriety of the man's wristwatch, and opened up a mass market in the post-war era.
The creeping barrage artillery tactic, developed during the War, required precise synchronization between the artillery gunners and the infantry advancing behind the barrage. Service watches produced during the War were specially designed for the rigours of trench warfare, with luminous dials and unbreakable glass. Wristwatches were also found to be needed in the air as much as on the ground: military pilots found them more convenient than pocket watches for the same reasons as Santos-Dumont had. The British War Department began issuing wristwatches to combatants from 1917.
Φαίνεται λοιπόν εδώ, ( σημείωση με κόκκινο ), η ανάγκη για "φωτεινούς" δείκτες.
Σε περίληψη για τους φίλους που ίσως δεν έχουν την ευχέρεια,
Οι ανάγκες του πολέμου ( πόλεμος χαρακωμάτων ), απαιτούσε ακριβή συγχρονισμό μεταξύ του πυροβολικού και των πεζών τμημάτων που προωθούντο. Τα ρολόγια αυτά, ήταν φτιαγμένα για τις σκληρές συνθήκες του πολέμου των χαρακωμάτων, με άθραυστο κρύσταλο και φωτεινούς δείκτες ( λόγω και των νυκτερινών επιχειρήσεων ).
Τώρα το ότι ήταν και "λίγο" ραδιενεργό, θα το ανακάλυπταν μετά, τις επιπτώσεις δηλαδή, αλλά η ανάγκη ήταν επιτακτική.
Αυτά τα λίγα, για να γίνει κατανοητό, απο αυτούς που δεν έχουν ασχοληθεί, η ανάγκη για φωτεινούς δείκτες που παρέθεσε ο Leon.
( ...και φαίνεται και η ιστορία της Cartier και της Rolex
)
