Watches evolved from portable spring driven clocks, which first appeared in 15th-century Europe. Portable timepieces were made possible by the invention of the mainspring. Nuremberg clockmaker Peter Henlein (or Henle or Hele) (1485-1542) is often credited as the inventor of the watch.He was one of the first German craftsman who made "clock-watches" (taschenuhr), ornamental timepieces worn as pendants which were the first timepieces to be worn on the body. His fame is based on a passage by Johann Cochläus in 1511:[4][5]
