Quote Originally Posted by Kilted Cole View Post
I'm new to the pocket watch as well...my question is what is the fob for and how does one proporly wear it with the watch? Thank you for setting up this post and thank you everyone else for such informative post as well.
Kilted Cole, the fob simply attaches to the ring over the winding stem and when the watch is placed in a vest pocket it hangs outside the pocket. This allows you to pick up the watch without shoving your hand into the pocket, which being full of watch may not have enough room for you hand also.

Once you have a fob hanging there anyway, it seems a shame not to decorate it, so either the fobs themselves are fancy (gold plated metal mesh is/was popular) or you attach a dangly piece to the end of the fob.

All above is my opinion, of course. Others may wish to present more historical use, or other perspectives.