Alarm Watches

Early History

There are individual alarm pocket watches dating back to the 17th Century and water clocks going back even further but it wasn't until 1899 when the Durrstein brothers patented the first mass-produced movement with an alarm complication. The large size of a pocket watch caliber allowed the brothers the freedom to use an extra large main spring that could power both the timekeeping of the watch and the alarm complication, which at full charge could chime for thirty seconds.