Pocket gadgets were all the rage in Adam Smith's day. Their popularity inspired one of the most paradoxical, charming, and insightful passages in his work.
The best known are watches. A pocket timepiece was an 18th century man's must-have fashion accessory, its presence indicated by a ribbon or bright steel chain hanging from the owner's waist, bedecked with seals and a watch key. Contemporary art depicts not just affluent people but sailors and farm workers sporting watch chains. One sailor even wears two. "It had been the pride of my life, ever since pride commenced, to wear a watch," wrote a journeyman stocking maker about acquiring his first in 1747.
