Style curiosity: why the watch is worn on the left wrist

Fashion has always conditioned the lives of all of us even without us realising it. This is demonstrated by actions that we perform spontaneously without thinking about it or habits that we have always considered as such but which, in reality, have very precise origins and motivations.

For example: have you ever wondered why it is common to wear your watch on your left wrist? Although the tradition is centuries old, although even etiquette indicates it as a highly recommended norm and for some it has even become a superstitious attitude, the reason for this choice of style is due to a much more practical historical reason.

The first wristwatch was in fact invented in 1812 when the Queen of Naples, Caroline Murat, Napoleon‘s sister, commissioned Abrahm-Louis Breguet to make a bracelet that could indicate the passing of time. Wristwatches, made as we understand them on a par with those we also admire from the dreamy windows of the prestigious jewellers in Galleria Cavour such as Jaeger Le-Coultre or Bartorelli, were only created at the beginning of the 20th century, when the well-known French watchmaker Louis Cartier made a model for the aviator Alberto Santos Dumont, who needed to check the time without ever taking his hands off the controls of his airship.

The idea also appeared practical to the armies of the First World War: the officers saw for themselves how much more practical it was to take a fleeting glance at their wrists instead of pulling out the classic pocket watches, which until then had been much more in vogue in the male fashion of the time. Watchmaking innovations, initially adopted in the military or sporting fields, thus began to be appreciated by civilian customers as well, as demonstrated by the success of companies such as Omega, Breitling or Longines, which quickly became leaders and pioneers in the sector.

Later, thanks to mass production and the economic boom that spread to so many nations, many workers began to use typewriters and, since most of them were right-handed, the habit of wearing their watches on their left wrists became widespread. In addition to this, it should be remembered that the watch on the left wrist allowed it to be wound and adjusted with the right hand, just as happens today with the touch screen of digital models. This is also why it often happens that left-handed people break the rule and wear it, for the same reasons listed above, on their right wrist.