The first watches on the moon were a pair of Omega Speedmasters that NASA had selected owing to their success in tests including exposure to extreme temperatures, vacuums, pressure, acceleration, vibration and loud noise. Despite popular belief, however, Neil Armstrong did not wear his Speedmaster while taking the historic first steps on the moon on July 21, 1969. After the lunar module touched down on the moon, Armstrong's co-pilot, Buzz Aldrin, noticed that the module's clock had stopped. So Armstrong left his watch on board as a backup for Aldrin's own Speedmaster. Both watches, needless to say, were still working perfectly.

According to the Guinness Book of Records, the largest sum of money to change hands in the sale of a clock was B#1,926,500. The clock in question was a Louis XVI ormolu-mounted, ebony grande sonnerie Astronomical Perpetual Calendar Regulateur de Parquet. A long case clock, it indicates hours, minutes, seconds, the time of sunrise and sunset, the phases of the moon, the date and day of the week, and the position of the sun in the zodiac. It was sold by Christie's in London on July 8, 1999.

Children's watches don't have to be expensive but if you want to get your hands on one of the first, and probably the most collectable, of watches designed specifically for children, be prepared to dig deep into your pocket. The first Mickey Mouse watches were made in 1933 by Ingersoll. Both wrist watches and pocket watches were made, and although at the time they retailed for just two or three dollars, today you would have to expect to pay as much as $600 for a watch in good condition.

The prices you have to pay for designer watches are probably beyond most people's purses, and consequently, if we want to put on a bit of a razzle, most of us are content to be seen in replica watches that - from ten feet away - look sufficiently like the real thing. That is not the case for glamorous British actress Liz Hurley, however. When told that she'd have to wear a replica Rolex in one film, the former Mrs Hugh Grant cut up rough, saying her fans would be able to tell if she wore a fake watch. Eventually the studio relented and hired a real Rolex for the shoot, for a price that was reported to have topped $9,000.

Ever wondered how BBC weather presenters know when to stop rabbiting on? It seems there is a sheet of glass just in front of the camera lens, similar to an autocue, which shows a picture of the presenter with a countdown clock superimposed. The weather presenter starts forecasting when his or her image appears on the glass and stops when the countdown clock reaches zero.

Some of the first wrist watches were bulky because watch movements intended for pocket watches - sometimes for ladies' watches, which were slightly smaller than men's watches - had been used instead of specially-made movements.