We create our own path.”The OriginsThe path of form watches began at least 500 years ago. “There are records from approximately 1500 with watches made in different shapes,” said Simon Bull, a watch historian and consultant in England. “Basically, form watches start with watches in a ball shape, in a pomander shape, made in metal with piercings.”Nathalie Marielloni, vice curator at the Musée International d’Horlogerie in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, said that, in addition to a watch, the pomander would include some perfume. There also were watches in the form of religious objects, he said. “You get watches in the shape of crosses, you get skulls, memento mori, due to the paranoia that people had about going to heaven or hell.”

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Persons: “, ”, Simon Bull, Nathalie Marielloni, Timepieces, Bull, Pierre, Martin Scheult Organizations: Fonds, Metropolitan Museum of Art Locations: England, La Chaux, Switzerland, New York City