My granddad used a fob chain to attach his pocket watch to his clothing. His chain had a bar on one end that passed through his waistcoat buttonhole. The chains attached to the bar had a clasp on it that clipped onto his watch, which then went into the fob pocket of his waistcoat. He had a religious medal that hung from the chain.
I think these may be called Albert chains in the UK. This article is very interesting, and is the source of the three photographs below.
This is a double fob chain
My local thrift store always has the most amazing watch chains. I use a double one as a necklace and a single one as a bracelet. They are both made in rolled gold by the German Company Amerikaner.
There is also a user on Reddit, themixtape28, who has the most amazing vintage fob chains and charms. She posts regularly in the jewellery subreddit.
What an incredible coincidence! We were watching The Untouchables with Kevin Costner and Sean Connery and Sean Connery’s character had a chain like that with a couple of charms like that and I completely fell in love with it! I had a couple of old pocket watches and started playing with them. Unfortunately, there are no charity shops at all in my area, so no chance of finding any treasures like these. What a very inspired idea to use them as bracelets!… Wow! I have so much online sleuthing to do! Thank you (as always) for the very positive inspiration!!!
I used to have a pocket watch that I could open and stand on the table when I taught. That allowed me to see the time without looking at my watch, which makes people think you are impatient. It was a mechanical one which was not worth repairing when it broke, so I donated it to a watchmaker who was always looking for parts.
This particular charity shop seems to specialise in old cameras, antique watches and related accessories. I am still kicking myself for not buying a beautiful long watch chain a few months ago. They tend to go for about $10, but I have been on a no-buy!
Do not confuse an ‘Albert chain’ with a ‘Prince Albert’, even if they do have the same apocryphal origin…
In the UK, a ‘Prince Albert’ is vernacular for a type of intimate male body piercing…
Oooh yes I remember now!!! That must have been a Freudian slip!