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THE WORLD OF WATCHES
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The World of Watches!
The most comprehensive watch encyclopedia in the English language
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WatchTime magazine, Glossary
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ANALOG TIME DISPLAY
This simply means that the time is indicated by a pair of hands (hour and minute) that move around the dial. With a few notable exceptions, most high-quality wristwatches have returned to the analog time display. (The electronic digital wristwatches of the 1970s seem to have lost their popularity.)
ANCHOR ESCAPEMENT
Today’s most widely used type of escapement, invented around 1714 by English clockmaker George Graham. His escapements came to be called »Graham escapements« in his famous pendulum clocks. His student, Thomas Mudge, further developed the anchor escapement so that, by 1757 or thereabouts, the device could also be used in pocket watches. Various kinds of anchor escapements are found in portable watches. Their names depend on the shape of the anchor, e.g. the English pointed-tooth anchor escapement, the Glashütte anchor escapement, the Swiss anchor escapement and the pin pallet escapement. The Swiss anchor escapement dominates the field among good-quality, modern wristwatches.
ANGLING
A typical feature of better-quality watches are the angled edges on the steel parts. The angling is executed either mechanically with a pantographic engraver or in the traditional manner with a hand-held file. Ideally, the angle on the edges should measure precisely 45 degrees.
ANNUAL CALENDAR
A calendar mechanism that automatically compensates for the fixed but unequal lengths of the 12 months. It must be adjusted once every February. (Compare with Perpetual Calendar.)
ANTIMAGNETIC
Strong magnetism interferes with the accuracy of portable watches because of its negative effects on their oscillation and escapement systems. A watch can be described as antimagnetic if it has been effectively protected against the negative influences of magnetic fields. One way to accomplish this protection is to craft the delicate parts from metals that either cannot be magnetized or are resistant to becoming magnetized (e.g. Elinvar or Nivarox hairsprings used in conjunction with brass, nickel or beryllium bronze balances). In addition, watchmakers make the anchor, escape wheel and impulse roller from nonmagnetic metals. Another method is enclosing the entire movement within a case crafted from a highly conductive alloy, which prevents magnetic fields from building up inside it. A wristwatch can be described as antimagnetic if, within a magnetic field of 4,800 A/m (amperes per meter), it continues to run with a deviation of no more than 30 seconds per day. One symptom that suggests that a wristwatch may have become magnetized is the tendency to run slow. A magnetized watch can be »cured« (i.e. demagnetized) in a watchmaker’s workshop with the help of a choking coil.
APPLIED INDICES (APPLIQUÉ)
Raised metal numbers or batons attached to the dial via adhesion or pegs.
ART DECO
Design style of the 1920s and ‘30s. Most tonneau (barrel) shaped and rectangular watches are inspired by the art deco movement.
AUTOMATIC MOVEMENT
A movement in which the mainspring is wound by means of a built-in rotor or oscillating weight that is activated when the wearer moves his arm.
BALANCE
The balance works with the hairspring to create the mechanism that governs the speed of a movement. The precision of the timepiece depends to a very large degree upon the construction of the balance. In typical movements, the balance oscillates at a rate of 5 swings (or beats) per second, or 18,000 beats per hour. Newer, more accurate wristwatches have balances that oscillate at rates of 19,800, 21,600, 28,800 or even 36,000 beats per hour. Elaborate bimetallic balances were used in precision watches as late as the 1940s
BEAT
The vibration (half-oscillation, or »tick«) of a movement. Most watches beat at a rate of 18,000 or 28,800 vibrations per hour (VpH).
BEZEL
The word »bezel« is frequently used to describe the rotating rings around the perimeter of chronograph and divers’ watch cases. It’s often used to measure the elapsed time or indicate a second time zone.
BREGUET OVERCOIL HAIRSPRING
A precision hairspring with a sharply curved outer end. This terminal curvature improves the spring’s concentric development compared to hairsprings with flat spirals.
BRIDGE
Essentially a metal plate containing at least one hole in which the pivot of a moving part is free to rotate. Both ends of a bridge are screwed to the plate, where the opposite end of the pivot is borne, and holds the pivots or jewels firmly in place.
CABOCHON
Decorative stone set in a winding crown.
CADRATURE
(ALSO KNOWN AS »UNDER-DIAL WORK«):
CALIBER, OR MOVEMENT
Term used to describe the various types of movements made by watch manufacturers. The caliber’s reference number makes it possible to precisely identify a particular movement, essential when ordering replacement parts. Caliber also denotes the size of the movement, measured in lignes (1 ligne = 2.256 mm). Often used interchangeably with the word »movement.«
CENTER, OR SWEEP SECONDS HAND
A second hand whose fixed end is located at the center of the dial (as opposed to a seconds subdial). In a watch with a central seconds hand, the arbor of the center wheel is hollowed out to make room for the shaft of the second hand. Watchmakers distinguish between direct and indirect central seconds: direct central seconds are within the flow of energy from the wheel train
CHAPTER RING
Circle bearing the hour (and sometimes minute) numerals or indices.
CHRONOGRAPH
A timepiece equipped with an additional function that makes it possible to start, stop and return a second hand to its original position independently of the movement itself. The main time display remains unaffected. Depending on the type of construction, wristwatch chronographs may also have additional hands and subdials to count the full minutes and full hours that have elapsed since the stopwatch function switched on.
COLUMN WHEEL
The upright castle-shaped wheel in a chronograph that acts as a sliding link to operate the various levers that set the chronograph function in motion. Column wheel chronographs are often considered superior because of their sureness of action.
COMPLICATION
An additional mechanism in a watch movement. The most important complications include (but are by no means limited to) automatic winding systems, chronograph mechanisms, perpetual calendars, minute repeating striking works and alarm mechanisms.
CROWN
A knob that is turned to wind the watch’s mainspring, set its hands and/or correct its date display. In water-resistant wristwatches, the crown is frequently screwed into the case.
CRYSTAL
There are three types of crystals for wristwatches. Glass crystals are primarily found on vintage wristwatches. They are scratch resistant, but prone to crack or shatter. Beginning in the early 1940s, glass crystals fell out of fashion and were replaced by synthetic materials, especially Plexiglas. These crystals are unbreakable, but scratch easily. Sapphire registers nine on the Mohs hardness scale and is significantly more scratch-resistant than synthetic crystals, which is why most of today’s top-quality wristwatches have sapphire crystals.
DATE DISPLAY
The date may be indicated either by an analog display on the periphery of the dial, or digitally by a numeral printed on a disk and displayed in a date window somewhere on the dial. The date hand or date disk rotates around its own axis once every 31 days. Every night, around midnight, it is advanced one position forwards to indicate the new date. Analog date displays have the numerals 1 through 31 printed on their dials
DIAL
The face of a watch, showing hours, minutes, and seconds. Other smaller dials are referred to as »subsidiary.«
DIGITAL TIME DISPLAY
The time is indicated by numerals rather than by hands sweeping across a calibrated dial.
ÉBAUCHE
An unassembled movement, without escapement, balance, hairspring or mainspring.
EIGHT-DAY MOVEMENT
A specially constructed movement that only needs to be wound by hand once each week. In the »Hebdomas« wristwatch model, which first appeared on the market circa 1913, the barrel covered the entire surface of the caliber. Models with shaped movements from the 1930s had normally sized barrels, but each movement had two additional wheels added to its train. An eight-day movement is common among pendulum clocks and other larger timepieces.
ESCAPEMENT
This term is used to describe the mechanism that transfers power from the mainspring via the wheel train to the oscillating system of a timepiece. The parts of the escapement are
FINE ADJUSTMENT
A device that makes it possible for the regulator to be operated with the highest possible degree of precision. Various constructions have been devised, e.g. the swan’s neck or eccentric screw.
FLAT JEWEL
Synthetic gemstone, usually a ruby, with a hole drilled through its center. Flat jewels are pressed into corresponding holes in plates, bridges and cocks to reduce the friction to which moving parts are subjected, thus minimizing wear and tear. The rapidly rotating pivots of the wheel train spin within the flat jewels. In the finest watches, the holes drilled in the jewels are »olived,« which means that their inner walls are slightly rounded to reduce the area of friction surfaces. In the past, the jewels in the finest watches were set within chatons, or bushes. These settings were then screwed to the bridges and cocks. This elaborate and costly method of affixing jewels is seldom used today.
FLYBACK
A flyback function allows a chronograph to be reset to zero without having to stop the chronograph first. (A normal chronograph requires that you stop the timing before reset- ting.) A flyback function prevents timing delays when measuring the legs of a journey.
FREQUENCY
The vibrations per hour (VpH) of a mechanical watch, or oscillations per second (Hz) of a quartz one. Most modern mechanical watches vibrate at a frequency of 18,000 or 28,800 VpH.
GENEVA SEAL
Quality seal with the coat of arms of the City of Geneva. According to rules dating from 1886, the Poinçon de Genève may be awarded only to those watches »which official tests have shown to possess all the properties expected of quality workmanship, which run regularly and for a long period of time, and in which a minimum of tasks determined by the testing committee have been performed by artisans who live in the Canton of Geneva.« These regulations were made significantly stricter in 1957 through the specification of 11 quality criteria that watches must fulfil in order to be awarded the Geneva Seal.
GENEVA WAVES
The striped ornamentation that frequently decorates the bridges, cocks and rotors of fine watches. Geneva waves are added to the parts before they are galvanized, but remain visible afterwards.
GMT
The abbreviation for Greenwich Mean Time. All time is calculated from the naval observatory at Greenwich, England, which is zero degrees longitude.
GUILLOCHÉ
»Engine-turned« decoration found on the dials of better watches.
HAIRSPRING, OR BALANCE SPRING
The hairspring can be likened to the »soul« of a mechanical watch. The inner end of the hairspring is attached to the balance staff. The spring’s elasticity ensures that the balance swings back and forth at a regular rate. The active length of the hairspring interacts with the momentum of the balance rim to determine the duration of each beat of the balance. This is why most watches are equipped with a regulator that can be adjusted to vary the active length of the hairspring. Lengthening the spring causes the watch to run more slowly, while shortening the spring causes the watch to run more rapidly. The ultimate precision of a mechanical watch is also determined in no small measure by the shape of the hairspring. In the past, most top-quality timepieces used the so-called Breguet overcoil hairspring. Contrary to the implication inherent in its name, a typical hairspring is actually three to four times thinner than a human hair. Despite its extreme thinness and a weight that seldom exceeds 2/1,000 of a gram (0.002 g), a hairspring can cope with a tension of 600 grams. The remarkably resilient hairspring contracts into a tightly wound spiral and expands into a loosely wound helix more than 200,000,000 times each year.
HALLMARK
A mark punched into the case of a watch to provide information about the degree of purity of the precious metal used, the country (and sometimes city) of origin, the year of manufacture and the identity of the case’s maker. Additional hallmarks may show the trademark of the watch company, a reference number and a serial number.
HAND-WOUND WATCH
A timepiece whose mainspring must be hand-wound by turning the crown.
HOROLOGY
The art and science of timekeeping.
INCABLOC
A brand of shock absorber designed to prevent damage to pinions or jewels.
JEWELS
Precision watches are equipped with jewels to minimize friction on the most important bearings, on the anchor pallets and on the ellipse jewels. A hand-wound precision watch requires at least 15 functional jewels: 10 bearing jewels, two endstones, two pallet jewels for the anchor and one lever jewel (ellipse). An optimal arrangement can be achieved with 18 jewels. More complicated watches (e.g. those with automatic winding, chronograph or repeating striking mechanisms) require a correspondingly larger number of jewels.
KARAT
A unit of weight used to specify the quantity of gold in an alloy. Pure gold is 24 karat. Gold comprises 750 parts per 1,000, or 75%, in 18-karat gold (also referred to as 750 gold)
LCD
Liquid Crystal Display of numerals used in a digital watch.
LED
Light-Emitting Diode was the typically red display of numerals used in early digital quartz watches.
LIGNE
A traditional unit of measurement used to measure the diameter of watch movements. The ligne is derived from the pied du roi, the French foot. One ligne (1’") is equal to 2.256 millimeters, or 1/12 of a »French inch.«
LIMITED-EDITION WATCH
A watch produced in a strictly limited quantity and usually numbered to show its sequence in the series.
LUGS
The parts of the case to which a watchband or bracelet is attached. Also known as the horns.
MAINSPRING
Mainsprings are long, elastic, spirally wound strips of steel, which have been used since the 15th century as a reservoir of power for mechanical timepieces. Fully enclosed within the barrel, the mainspring attains its greatest torque when fully wound. As the tension in the spring gradually declines, the amount of torque decreases, and this diminution affects the running of the watch. In wristwatches with automatic winding systems, the mainspring is repeatedly rewound whenever the watch is moved: this nearly continuous rewinding keeps the mainspring’s torque level relatively constant, which translates into a regular running rate. The mainsprings of most wristwatches are made of Nivaflex, a special alloy that is elastic and relatively resistant to breakage.
MANUFACTURE
A watch factory that makes the components of and assembles at least one complete caliber. A manufacture produces the parts of the raw movement (also known as the »ébauche«) and then assembles it into a functional state. The word »manufacture« stems from the Latin word »manu,« meaning hand.
MECHANICAL TIMEPIECES
Clocks or watches that derive their motive force from a mainspring. Their running is regulated, for example, by a balance with a hairspring or by a pendulum. May be hand-wound or automatic.
MICRO-ROTOR
A small rotor that is integrated into the plane of the movement and used on automatically winding wristwatches. This principle of construction makes it possible to build extremely thin calibers.
MINUTE REPEATER
A watch that sounds (»repeats«) the hours, quarter hours and minutes at the press of a button or slide. Depending on the details of the striking mechanism, watchmakers distinguish between timepieces with quarter-hour, 1/8-hour (7 1/2-minute), 5-minute or minute repeating. The most complicated, most precise and most costly of these mechanisms is the last mentioned of the four: the minute-repeater mechanism strikes either (or both) of two sounding springs to produce an audible signal that corresponds to the current time (hour, quarter hour and minute). To produce this sound, the striking mechanism needs energy, which it acquires when a slide or push-piece in the edge of the case is activated. This activation also triggers the striking mechanism.
MOON-PHASE DISPLAY
An indicator that indicates how many days have elapsed since the last new moon. Each lunation period is precisely 29 days, 12 hours and 44 minutes in duration. A moon-phase display consists of a disk with two full moons printed opposite one another on its surface
MOTION WORK
Located between the plate and the dial, the motion work is a wheel train that transfers the rotary motion of the center wheel arbor to the hour hand. In collaboration with the hand-setting system, the motion work also makes it possible to precisely set the positions of the hour and minute hands when the crown is pulled upwards and rotated.
MOVEMENT, OR CALIBER
The complete inner mechanism of a watch.
OSCILLATION
The regular movement of a body, such as a balance wheel or pendulum, between two given points from one extreme to the other and back again. Anything that oscillates with regularity can be used as a timekeeper.
PALLET
The small pins in an escapement that mesh with the teeth of the escape wheel and transmit an impulse to the balance.
PERPETUAL CALENDAR
A calendar mechanism that automatically compensates for the fixed but unequal lengths of the 11 months and for the two different lengths of February (which, of course, is one day longer in leap years than in ordinary years). The mechanical perpetual calendar is made from approximately 100 component parts, most of which are mounted on their own plate, which is customarily affixed to the front of a normal clockwork. It will maintain the date until February 28, 2100.
PLATE (ALSO KNOWN AS »MOVEMENT PLATE«)
A flat piece of metal that bears the bridges, cocks and other parts of a movement. The motion work is generally found on its underside. The bridges and cocks are affixed to its upper surface. The plate has threaded holes to accommodate screws as well as smooth holes for the jewels that bear the wheel train’s pivots.
POWER RESERVE
The running time remaining after a mechanical movement has been fully wound, measured in hours.
POWER-RESERVE DISPLAY
An indicator that shows how much power remains to keep a mechanical movement running.
PRECISION
A mechanical watch that deviates by 30 seconds per day (86,400 seconds) errs by only 0.035%. Or, to express its precision in positive terms, it is 99.965% accurate – a degree of accuracy that far exceeds that achieved by the vast majority of mechanical machines.
QUARTZ WRISTWATCHES
Electronic wristwatches in which the oscillations of a quartz crystal are used to regulate the running. Modern quartz wristwatches generally have a frequency of 32,768 Hz. Older quartz movements made around 1970 usually have frequencies of about 10,000 Hz. (For example, the quartz inside the Swiss caliber Beta 21, which went into serial production in 1969, oscillates at a frequency of 8,192 Hz.) Most modern quartz wristwatches operate with a degree of accuracy that deviates by no more than one minute per year. Today’s quartz wristwatches fall into two fundamentally different categories, depending on whether they display the time in an analog or digital fashion.
RADIO CONTROLLED
Quartz watches and clocks that are regulated by a radio signal transmitted from a cesium atomic clock.
RATTRAPANTE
The addition of a second hand significantly increases the spectrum of potential uses for chronographs. For example, it makes possible split times or timing simultaneous events of unequal duration. To accomplish these desired functions, an auxiliary second hand, the rattrapante hand, is added either above or below the main chronograph hand. The rattrapante hand can only be started and returned to zero simultaneously with the principal chronograph hand, but a special push-piece and an additional mechanism make it possible for the rattrapante hand to be repeatedly stopped (so that split times can be read) and then instantly brought into renewed synchrony with the principal chronograph hand. All this occurs without affecting the motion of the principal chronograph hand.
RAW MOVEMENT
The heart of a watch, frequently referred to as the ébauche. It’s a modular unit without escapement, balance, hairspring, mainspring, dial or hands. Raw movements are available with various degrees of finishing. The watch firms that purchase them subsequently modify the ébauches to various levels of decoration and finish. The manufacture of raw movements requires very elaborate machinery, which explains why they’re developed and made by only a few, highly specialized manufacturers.
REGULATION (OR »ADJUSTMENT«)
The regulation of a movement involves observing and, if necessary, optimizing the daily running of a movement at various temperatures and in various positions. Depending on the movement’s quality and on the degree of precision desired of it, various kinds of regulation may be performed. The typical regulation of a good wristwatch is conducted in two positions (dial up and crown up). Running deviations between these two positions generally do not exceed 30 seconds per day. For precision regulation in conformance with official criteria, a movement must be regulated in at least five different positions and at three different temperatures (usually 4, 20 and 36° C). If the testing is performed by an officially recognized institution and if the movement achieves or surpasses certain predetermined minimum values, then the timepiece earns itself the right to bear the designation »officially certified chronometer.«
RETROGRADE DISPLAY
A hand moves across a numbered arc or dial segment (usually calibrated from 1 to 12 or from 1 to 31) to indicate the time of day or the date. When the hand reaches the end of the arc, it instantly returns to its starting position.
ROTOR
A pivoted eccentric weight in an automatic watch that winds the mainspring when the wearer moves his arm.
SCREWED-DOWN CROWN
A threaded winding crown that screws tightly into the case. It assures resistance to water and dust penetration.
SELF-COMPENSATING HAIRSPRING
Variations in ambient temperature cause corresponding changes in the elasticity of balance springs made of steel. Intensive metallurgical research during the 1930s paved the way for an innovative hairspring that, thanks to the various metals combined in its alloy, was able to automatically compensate for changes in temperature. These self-compensating hairsprings were first marketed in 1933 under the name »Nivarox.« Their excellent characteristics rapidly won them widespread popularity, and by the 1940s the elaborately constructed bimetallic balances of yesteryear were rendered superfluous. Today, Nivarox hairsprings and Glucydur balances are used in all top-quality wristwatches.
SHOCK ABSORPTION
A system to protect the delicate, fragile pivots on the balance staff against breakage. To accomplish this, the flat jewel and endstone are spring-loaded, respectively, in the main plate and balance cock. When the watch is subjected to a strong blow, these bearings »give« laterally and/or axially. Even after falling from a height of one meter onto an oak floor, a wristwatch with a shock-absorption system should survive undamaged and emerge from the ordeal without suffering any significant deviations in accuracy. Wristwatches with shock-absorption systems were first marketed in the 1930s. The best-known and undoubtedly the most common shock-absorption system is called »Incabloc.« It is easily recognized by the distinctively lyre-shaped spring that holds it in place.
SKELETONIZED MOVEMENT
Movement whose plate, bridges, cocks, barrel and rotor (if present) have been pierced so that only metal that is absolutely indispensable for each part’s function remains. Skeletonized parts make it possible to look into (and through) the movement. The finest wristwatches are skeletonized by hand
STAINLESS STEEL
An alloy made of steel, nickel and chrome. This material is immune to rust, extremely robust and antimagnetic, but challenging to work with.
STOP-SECONDS HAND
A mechanism that temporarily suspends the motion of the movement and second hand so that the time can be set with split-second precision. To accomplish this, the crown is drawn upwards the instant the second hand reaches the »12.« When the exact time is determined, the crown is immediately pressed downwards and the second hand instantly resumes its forward motion.
SUBSIDIARY DIAL
Small dial on the main dial that shows additional information, esp. in chronographs.
SWISS MADE
A term dictated by Swiss law that can only be applied to timepieces that meet the following requirements: 50% of the parts must be Swiss made, and they must be assembled, finished and inspected in Switzerland.
TACHYMETER (TACHOMETER)
A measuring system on the outer bezel that can be used to calculate speed in miles or kilometers per hour.
TOURBILLON
Invented in 1795 by Abraham-Louis Breguet and patented in 1801, this construction compensates for errors in the center of gravity of the oscillating system (balance and hairspring) in mechanical watches. A tourbillon (French for »whirlwind«) encloses the entire oscillating and escapement system within a cage, which is kept as light in weight as pos-sible. This cage rotates once around its own axis during a predetermined interval of time (usually defined as one minute in duration). This constant rotation compensates for the effects of gravity when the watch is in a vertical position and thus improves the accuracy of the timepiece. The tourbillon has no effect on the accuracy when the watch is in a horizontal position.
TRAIN (ALSO KNOWN AS »HEEL TRAIN«)
The train in typical hand-wound wristwatches is comprised of five pairs, each of which contains a wheel (with teeth) and a pinion gear (with leaves). The teeth on the main wheel (integral to the mainspring barrel) mesh with the leaves on the center wheel’s pinion gear. The same pinion also bears the center wheel, whose teeth mesh with the leaves on the pinion gear of the intermediate (or third) wheel. The intermediate wheel’s teeth mesh with the leaves on the pinion gear of the second wheel. The teeth of the second wheel mesh with the leaves on the pinion gear of the escape wheel. The energy of the mainspring is thus transferred through the wheel train to the escape wheel, whose impulse surfaces further transfer this energy to the other parts of the escapement system and ultimately to the balance, which is thereby kept in motion for as long as sufficient torque remains in the mainspring.
TRIPLE DATE
Calendar watches that contain the month, day and date. They must be manually advanced at the end of each (short) month.
TRITIUM
Luminous paint used on dials, indices and hands. It’s very slightly radioactive and is being replaced by safer materials like Super-Luminova.
VIBRATION
The beat (half-oscillation, or »tick«) of a movement. Most watches beat at a rate of 28,800 vibrations per hour (VpH).
WATER RESISTANT
This phrase describes wristwatches whose cases, in their original states, resist penetration by water up to a particular depth. In accord with currently valid norms, a wristwatch can be described as »water resistant« when it resists perspiration, sprayed water and rain and when it can be submerged to a depth of one meter for 30 minutes without allowing water to penetrate. Wristwatches that are even more resistant to penetration by moisture are usually engraved on their cases with the depth (in meters) to which they can be submerged in water or the number of atmospheres (atm) of pressure that they can resist. For example, a watch that is water resistant to three ATM can withstand a pressure of three kg/cm2 or immersion to a depth of 30 meters. Stricter regulations apply to divers’ watches: their construction must enable them to remain water resistant even when submerged to 100 meters in depth for one hour every day.
WORLD TIME WATCH
A watch that can display the current time in any time zone throughout the world.
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