This charming portrait of Cosimo I de Medici, Duke of Florence, shows a man about town holding his nice new fancy gold watch. Amazingly, however, this portrait was painted in 1574 which means German or northern watchmakers were plying their wares as far as Italy during this period.

The portrait shows the Duke holding up his single-handed watch – it is more like an alarm clock than a watch – in a pose that would signify his power and wealth.
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It’s a little known fact that watchmakers like to note the time and date of their work on the inside cases of watches. If you ever have something repaired at a watch shop, chances are there’s a little note – “change battery”, “crystal” – in the case. This is fairly common and it’s fun to open an old watch and find notes from long-gone watchmakers secreted inside.
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