Time is a great mystery. A changeable element, which expands or vanishes, but that appears concrete as it is marked by the passing of seconds, minutes, hours, days, and years. The path toward the capture of minutes and seconds coincided with the phases of scientific evolution that allowed man to manufacture watches that are increasingly reliable, but that are also in tune with changes in customs, social needs, and aesthetic canons. This book covers the art of watch manufactory as well as 60 great models, covering both their technical evolution and style trends. In each chapter in-depth studies will guide the reader to the history of the most important manufacturers, the personalities linked to the models treated, technical innovations, styles of the period, or records achieved by the wristwatches: from the watch that helped Charles Lindbergh during the first transatlantic solo flight, to the one worn by Sir Edmund Hillary on the top of Mount Everest, the most iconic models will be discussed in detail. AUTHOR: Mara Cappelletti is a journalist and author of several titles about watches, jewellery, and ethnic jewel traditions. She's a professor of a laboratory at the University of Milan, teaching the history of jewellery, and she is the president of the association Stile e Storia (Style and History) focused on the valuation of historic treasures. SELLING POINTS: . The book covers the details and technical wonders of 60 wristwatch models that went down in history for their innovation in shapes, materials, and production methods . A style icon is linked to each decade the book covers, with the decade's preferred and most famous model decade after decade, the reader will become immersed in the world of watches from the early years of the 20th century, to the various technical innovations that revolutionised the creation of watches, up to the most modern - yet already iconic - models 150 colour illustrations