Just in time: Pocket watches are back in style!

Assorted pocket watches from our family's collection, mounted and ready to display. . . almost.

This month, pocket watches aren’t just hanging in our front hallway — they’re making headlines. At BTS we follow trends, but, in this case, did we actually foresee the resurgence of this vintage accessory?

Dare I say, time will tell?

This week a pocket watch with combined Gilded Age/Titanic provenance made headlines. As noted in several news outlets, including the Chicago-Sun Times, a Tiffany gold pocket watch worn by John Jacob Astor IV on board the Titanic sold at auction yesterday for $800,000.

Of course, its owner and brand contributed to the price tag, but the timing dovetails neatly with another spotlight on pocket watches: last month’s release of the long‑awaited Peaky Blinders spinoff.

According to Elite Traveler’s April 10, 2026 article, “The Pocket Watch Comeback You Didn’t See Coming,” interest has surged in the period style associated with Birmingham gangster Tommy Shelby (played by Cillian Murphy). Shelby’s signature look — close‑cropped sides with a shaggy top, a sharp three‑piece suit, and, front and center, an elegant pocket watch with its chain looped through his vest — has clearly struck a chord.

Rob hanging now trendy pocket watches in our front hall.

Google reported a 100 percent increase in searches for Shelby's watch. But, does that translate to the pocket watch being the must-have accessory for 2026? One industry specialist suggests the trend is more ripple than tidal wave.

Nicholas Bowman‑Scargill, managing director of Fears Watch Company, told the magazine that while pocket watches may never be fully “mainstream” again, there is a “gentle, but notable interest” in them. She attributes the appeal to a growing appreciation for objects that feel “more considered, more mechanical, more real.”

For years, we've been accumulating collections from parents and grandparents and, among them, a small assortment of pocket watches. Last year, I gathered up five of the time pieces from long tucked away tins and boxes filled with vintage medals, buttons, odd coins and costume jewelry. I dusted off my newly found treasures and hung them in decorative shadow boxes. I set them aside, until I found the perfect place to display them - which, sadly, was mostly in the upstairs hall closet.

Six pocket watches on full display - one vintage piece still going strong.

That is until last month, when my husband, Chris, was doing more decluttering in the basement. He found a pocket watch that I believe belonged to my dad's dad - and here's the ticker kicker, it was still working!

Now with my collection of six, I ordered new shadowboxes, vowing to show these watches off. With the aid of my son, Rob, we hung them in front hallway, right next to our mounted pendulum clock. 

They do bring me joy and a sense of connection every time I walk by.  (and, may I add, an admiration for the craftmanship - it's true, they don't make things like they used to).

Did I know when we finally got these antique gems out in the open that they'd be trending? 

Perhaps a bit of serendipity. But, undeniably, the time for the pocket watch has come.