Cigar cutter watch fob explained

A cigar cutter watch fob is a decorative and utilitarian pendant that is attached to the opposite side of a chain as a pocket watch. It is used to cleanly cut the end of a cigar so it burns evenly.  

Pocket watches were the most common type of portable timepiece from their invention in the 1500s[1] [2] right up until the advent of the wristwatch after World War I.[3] The first wristwatches were modified pocket watches with flanges attached to their sides to which a band was attached. Pocket watches typically were connected to a fob or a chain, and as the popularity and production of the timepieces increased, so did the production of various types of decorative watch fobs. In the 19th and 20th centuries over 500 million pocket watches of various types and qualities were produced in America.[4] This number was far surpassed by watch production in Europe, with an estimated 400,000 pocket watches produced each year.[5] [6] With the standardization of time, men and women of all classes throughout the world used these time keeping devices.[7]

Both men's and women's watches were commonly attached to decorative fobs. However, because women were discouraged from smoking in public,[8] it was primarily men who wore the cigar cutter variety. The men's pocket watch was most ordinarily carried in a watch pocket (still seen today in some suit vests and most jeans[9]). It was almost always attached to a chain to secure the pocket watch against falling or theft while still having it readily available. Fobs at the ends of these chains became prevalent for various reasons, one of which was to hold a cigar cutter for men to prepare their cigars for smoking.[10] The cigar cutter trimmed the end of the cigar with a knife blade, scissors or slicer and/or poked a hole with a sharp needle-like piercer.[11]

The watch fob version of the cigar cutter falls into similar categories as those of the larger handheld or countertop cigar cutters.

What separates cigar cutter watch fobs from any other cigar cutters are their size. First, it must fit on the end of chain or leather strap and second, it needs to have a ring or small hole to attach it to that chain or strap. The fob was ordinarily left to dangle on the outside of the vest or trouser pocket to be worn as a status symbol[12] and/or to make it easier to grasp and retrieve the watch.

As pocket watches proliferated, cigar cutter watch fobs frequently became a status symbol. Elaborate workmanship with intricate carvings, precious gems, and a wide diversity of design categories, gives them a miniaturized and mechanized beauty that outweighs their function. Many of these fobs have a sense of whimsy and are considered fine art pieces created to showcase the craftsman's imagination and ingenuity.[13]  They were made of range from fine metals like gold, silver and platinum, while more affordable versions were forged of baser metals like brass, copper and steel.[14]

The use of pocket watches has all but disappeared but there is still a lively marketplace for discerning collectors. As an adjunct endeavor there are also a number of discriminating collectors of cigar cutter watch fobs.

Notes and References

  1. Perez, Carlos. "Artifacts of the Golden Age, part 1". Carlos's Journal. TimeZone. 16 July 2001. Accessed 3 May 2018.
  2. Betts, Jonathan D. “Watch: Timekeeping Device. Encyclopedia Britannica. 28 April 2017. Encyclopedia Britannica, inc. Accessed 6 May 2018
  3. Belcher, David. "Wrist Watches: From Battlefield to Fashion Accessory". The New York Times. The New York Times Company; 22 Oct. 2013. Web. 3 May 2018.
  4. Douglas, Stuart. “American Watch Manufacturers: Production Summary”. Renaissance Watch Repair. Accessed 4 May 2018. www.pocketwatchrepair.com/histories/us-watch-production.php
  5. Grant, Roger Mathew. Beating Time & Measuring Music in the Early Modern Era. Oxford University Press, 2018. P 129.
  6. Vincent, Clare, et al. European Clocks and Watches in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum Of Art, 2015. P 15.
  7. Ferguson, Trish. Victorian Time: Technologies, Standardizations, Catastrophes. Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
  8. Sullivan M. “Our Times: The United States 1900-1925.” Pre-War America, vol. 3. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1930. Accessed 3 May 2018.
  9. Sullivan, James. Jeans : a cultural history of an American icon. New York: Gotham Books, 2006. Print.
  10. Foster-Harris, E., Curro, W., & Curro, Evelyn. The look of the old West. New York, N.Y.: Bonanza Books, 1960. Web. 3 May 2018.
  11. "Patent Issued for Cigar Cutter (USPTO 9883694)." Journal of Engineering, 19 Feb. 2018, p. 2800. Academic OneFile. Accessed 4 May 2018.
  12. Fairholt, Frederick William.  Tobacco: Its History and Associations.  London: Chapman and Hall, 1859.  Pp. 223-224.
  13. Mallalieu, Huon.  "Happiness is hoarding cigar accessories; Collecting." Times, 16 Apr. 2016, p. 75. Academic OneFile.  Accessed 4 May 2018.
  14. Grauer, Neil. “Making The Cut: Cigar Cutters.”  May–June 1997. Cigar Aficionado. Web. May 5, 2018.

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