If you are a member of the National Watch & Clock Collectors (NAWCC), you receive a weekly email from Executive Director Steve Humphrey. Along with information about the Association Humphrey also highlights an object from the NAWCC Museum. This week’s museum object is a Gallet Nurse’s Watch circa 1912.
A nurse’s watch, also known a nun’s watch, was used during World Wars I and II. These watches have a round case, a white enamel dial, large Arabic numbers with a Red Cross mark below the 12 o’clock, and an easily visible sweep seconds hand. The sweep seconds hand, a defining function of the watch, was used to measure a patient’s pulse. Although this watch has a silver case, they were typically made from steel to ensure durability and to save cost. Because Switzerland was neutral during both wars, Gallet would have produced these watches for all belligerents.
In my research I found a moving video about Katherine MacDonald, who served as a Canadian nursing sister in Europe between 1914 and 1918. Through her letters a story unfolds of the bravery and tragedy of her life. No doubt she would have worn one of these watches during her service.
