Pocket watches started becoming common around the 1830s, as invention of the "anchor escapement" made them more accurate and less vulnerable to shock damage from rough handling. However, they remained very much a luxury item until well into the 1860s, at which point most well-to-do men would own one. One of the major drivers of affordable pocket-watches was the railroads, which purchased them in great numbers so that all their conductors and engineers could have one, to prevent accidents and help trains be on time. By the 1890s pocket watches were inexpensive enough that a successful working-class American man might own one, but still expensive enough that they were often pawned when a man needed money.

This is based on recollections of reading Alexis McCrossen's book Marking Time.