Glossary Of Watch Making Terms
Arabic Numbers: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Orginated in India and introduced by the Arabs to Europe in about the. 10th century AD.
Analog: Time indication by hands and dial; means “corresponding”. Originally an electronic term, hich was adopted into watch-making ith the spread of the quartz watch.
Antimagnetic Watch: Watch hose parts are protectd from all but the very strongest magnetism; quartz watches cannot be disturbed by the pehenomenon.
Applied Numerals: Raised metal charecters attached to the dial.
Automatic watch: Mechanical watch with a mainspring that is wound by the wearer’s movements,via a rotor Invented by Abraham Louis perrelet in the 18th centruy; Breguet called his self winders ‘perpetuelle;
Auxiliary Dial: Small dial showing seconds only,up to one minute,usually at the six o’clock position
Back Plate: Furthest from the dial
Back winder:Flat crown set into the back of the case for setting time and winding.
Baguette:Rectangular movement,with a length at least three times its width.popular shape for art deco watches.
Balance:Running regulator of mechanical watch;it oscillates about its axis of rotation,the hair spring making it swing to and fro(‘tick tock’) in equal time parts. balances of modern wristwatches beat up to ten beats per second.
Band:Center ring of wristwatch case into which the movement fits; frond and back bezels are hinged to it.
Barrel:Circular box housing mainspring; teeth attached at edge drive gears; going barrel has great wheel mounted upon it.
Baton numerals:Undecorated non-numerical markers of hours,minutes and second
Bezel:Metal surround frame in which watch glass (crystal) is fitted
Bi-Metallic:Two different metals (eg brass and stell) fused or riveted together to make a single strip with dissimilar coefficients of expansion,for balances; this prevents variations in temperature affecting the watch mechanism.
Breguet Hand:Popular design by breguet; the slightly tapered needle of the hand ends in a pointed head mounted on a circle, which is pierced with a hole.sometimes called a moon hand.
Bridge:Strips of metal that hold pivots or jewels in place in the movement.
Button:Better known as a crown,or winder;sometimes refers to chronograph
Cabochon grown (winder):Grown or winder set with a jewel
Caliber (calibre):Once used only to denote the size in diameter of a watch movement; now often only indicates type (eg men’s,ladies; automatic.generally given with manufacturer’s name ,from latin qua libra (of what weight?),or from arabic kalib (mould,ie circumference, measurement, scale).
Case: The housing for movement,dial and glass.
Center seconds :Second hand rotating at center of dial,concentric with hour and minute hands,indicating seconds at edge of dial.also known as sweep seconds.
Chapter ring:circle of hour divisions indicators
Chronograph:watch which also has an independent stop watch for short interval timing.common types are one-button (using crown,or separete button above it); two button (the most common,the top button stopping and starting the time measuring function and the buttom one resetting it;) 12 hour with moon phase ; split second
Chronometer:Ordinary watch which has passed extremely severe precision and reliability tests in an offical (generally swiss) observatory ( eg Neuchatel)
Complicated watch: watch with functions not related directly to time of day (eg calendars,chronographs, moonphases,perpetual,repeaters,etc).
Crown:Knob,generally knurled and positioned outside the case at three o’clock,for winding, correcting and setting.
Crystal:Glass dial cover (in fact made of glass,plastic, synthetic sapphire or quratz crystal), fitted into bezel. plastic scratches; glass (common in pre-1940s watches) shatters easily; sapphire glass is virtually scratch proff.
Date Aperture: Window showing date in mechanical digital watches
Deployment Buckle:Two strips of hinged metal (curved to the wrist shape) on the watchband; upon closing. one folds over the other to cover it. probably invented by Cartier
Deviation: Time discrepancy from the actual
Dial: Face of watch ,showing hours,minutes and second.other small dials are called subsidiary dials.
Diameter: Dimension used in measuring a watch size
Digital Numbers: Indication of time displayed by number only
Diver’s watch: Water resitant.
Doctor’s Watch :Also known as a duo plan or duo-dial an auxiliary seconds dial is separate from the hour and minute dial; useful for quick reference when taking a pulse count.
Dome: Second cover inside the back of a watch
Ebauche: French word remaining untranslated and in common use .It describes an uncompleted watch movement delivered to a manufacturer ready for the addition of that manufacturer’s own escapement,timing system and mainspring and signature.
Electric watch: Watch incorporating electric contacts,coils condensers or resisters, in which closed circuits balance impulse.Hamilton and Elgin (USA) elctric watches frist appeared in 1952; Lip in france also make them.
Electronic Watch:Quartz watch with semi conductive elements like transistors.
Escape Wheel :The last wheed in the going train; alternately locked by and gives impulse to the balance.
Escapement: The parts of the movement that convert the rotary motion of the gear train into exact ‘ to-and – fro’ motion.
Form watch: Watch in any very unusual shape
Formed movement: Watch movement that is not round (eg baguette,oval,rectangular).
Frame : Pillars and plates of watch movement.
Frequency: Number,generally expressed as hertz,of cycles,oscillations, periods or vibrations per second.
Gears: Toothed wheels (20-100 teeth,of brass) and pinions (six to 12 teeth, of hardened steel), running together
Gold: Yellow , pink or white,used for cases and bracelets
Great wheel: First and largest in train
Hack features (Balance stopping): Second hand which is stopped to synchronize time,when crown is pulled out
Half Hunter: Glass half covered by hinged case extension.
Hertz: The convention for expressing the number of cycles, oscillatons,periods or vibrations per second ,Abbreviated to Hz,KHz (1,000 Hz) or Mhz (1,000,000 Hz). Named after the german physicist Heinrich rudolf Hertz (1857-94).
Hunter: Glass wholly covered by hinged case extension (often spring loaded). Also known as savonette watches
Integral Bracelet : Designed as a natural extension of atch case
Jewels : Used as bearings at points of greatest friction in movements ;commonly 15 to 18 are used (the quantity is not indicative of either quality , or value of watch ). Formerly,natural rubies and sapphires were used; today most such jewels are synthetic.
Jump Hour: Hour hand which moves forward only once each hour; alternatively hour appears only once each hour in a pierced window
Karat (Carat): The official scale by which the purity of the gold is determined.pure gold is 24 karat; 18 karat is alloy in which 18 parts in 24 are gold; 14 karat contains 14 parts of gold and so on. also used as the unit of weight for precious stones
Lcd: Liquid crystal display in almost all quartz watches
Lepine Caliber:Caliber in which movement has only one plate to which each wheel is supported by a separate cock. Invented by Jean antoine Lepine (1720-1814); perfected by breguet for ultra thin watches.
Lever: Brass or steel escapement part of mechanical watch ,impulsing at each vibration shaped like a ship’s anchor . Invented by thomas mudge (1715-94) in 1754 and now universally used.
Ligne: One inc is one ligne ,or one – twelfth of a french foot (approx 2.256 cm) lignes are commonly used for giving wristwatch movement sizes (diameter, lenght or breadth) the commonest being between 5,5 and 13.
Lug:Part or parts of watch case to which band, bracelet or strap may be attached
Mainspring: Principal spring in watch :a flat spring is coiled in a barrel.
Mean Time: Average length of all solar days in year ;the usual time shown by watches
Minute repeater: Repeating watch that sounds hours ,quarters and minutes.
Month aperture: Pierced window in a mechanical digital watch displaying month,often abbreviated.
Moon phase watch : Watch displaying phase of moon through 29.5 days (correction for extra 44 minutes per month often incorporated.
Motion work: Gear train for moving hour hand.
Movement: Complete mechanism of watch; from 120 to over 600 parts may be incorporated in it.
Oscillation:” To and fro ‘ swing between two extreme positions (see also BALANCE)
Oyster case: Rolex watch with water resitant case.
Pave:Literally ‘paved with’,as in dial with precious stones.
Pallet:Small jewel for locking escape wheels and receiving impulses
Pallet fork:Jewel tipped lever in escapement,in conjunction with balance and escape wheel.
Perpetual:Self winding automatic watch (see also AUTOMATIC WATCH).
Perpetual Calendar: Calendar mechanism with display which automatically corrects for long and short months and leap years. Formula adjust ments for vagaries of the gregorian calendar continue only until february 28,2100 that is not a leap year ,so manuel changes will have to be made to all but the most complicated watches; likewise 2200,2300,2500,2600, and 2700 will not be leap years.
Plate: Parallel flat plates in which wheels of train are pivoted.
Platinum: Precious silver white metal,which is heavier than gold.used for cases and bracelets.
Quarter Repeater:Repeating mechanism which sounds hours and quarter hours.
Quartz: Rock crystal (silicon dioxide) that can be made to oscillate by electronic switching maintaining its very constant frequency, in accordance with its cut.synthetic quartz crystals are used today.
Rolled Gold :An extremely thin sheet of hot gold, pressed on to another metal; gold on watch cases is usually double thickness.
Roman numerals:Besides arabic the most common numerals used on watch dials; note IIII instead of IV.
Roskopf watch : Simplified mechanical watch invented in 1867 at La chaux – de – fonds by G.F. Roskopf (1813-89), usually withhout jewels and with an unusual gear train.
Rotor:In automatic watches ,the rotor winds the mainspring; in quartz watches ,it is a per manently rotating magnet in the step switch motor.
Ruby: The ‘rubby’ referred ton in watch making today is, in fact, corundum, a synthetic stone .It is used to reduce wear on certain pivots
Sapphire:Glasses , sold as scratchproof, are made of synhetic sapphire.
Savonette: European term for hunter watch.
Shock resitant watch :A watch is held to be shock resistant if, when dropped on to a hardwood surface from a height of 3ft (1m) it does not stop ,or if its daily rate does not change by more than 60 seconds .
Sidereal Time: Standart of time used by astronomers; the sidereal day is three minutes and 55.5 seconds shorter than a mean solar day.
Signed movement: The signature on a movement of its maker , which is likely not to be the same as that on the dial.
Skeleton watch:The dial of a skeleton watch has a separate chapter ring with the interior cut away, leaving only numerals and exposing the wheels and the interior mechanisms of the movement . the back plate is also cut away and fitted with glass.
Solar time: As shown by a sundial.
Split second chronograph:Chronograph with sweep second hand , independent of chronograph hand.
Stem:Shaft connection between winding mechanism and crown on outside of case.
Stop work : Device controlling number of winding turns,thus preventing overwinding.
Subsidiary Dials: Smaller auxiliary dials,which show elapsed minutes and running seconds.
Sweep seconds (center seconds):Second hand mounted at dial center and extending to chapter ring.
Swiss made: A swiss federal government ordinance dated december 23,1971 decrees that this expression can only be featured on a watch and used in connection with its marketing if (a) at least 50 per cent of the components by value ,excluding costs of assembled in switzerland, (c) it was started up and regulated by its manufacturer in switzerland, and (d) it is continuously subject to the legal obligation of technical inspection in Switzerland.
Tachometer:Speedometer or revolution recorder on bezel.
Tank Case:Today ,the common name for a rectangular case; originally,exclusive name of Cartier wristwatch.
Timepiece: Domestic clock that does not strike or chime.
Tonneau: Case shape with wide center and flat tapered ends.
Tourbillon:Invention Breguet for nullifying vertical position errors by means of a revolving platform which goes through all such positions, so that they neutralize each other.
Train:Wheels and pinions of a watch carrying power from the great (frist) wheel to the escapement. variations in their numbers of teeth affect the running time and number of oscillations.
Tritium:Luminous paint for dials ,hands and numerals
Tuning fork: A transistor continually switching between two small magnets to regulate smooth runningi oscillating 360 times a second.the high frequency gives great precision in time keeping. bulova accutron made the use of the device famous, but then quartz watches usurped its popularity.
Water resistant: Expression for ‘waterpoof’, which is illegal in the USA. water resistant watches ,sold as such,must be able to withstand water pressure at a depth of 1m (3.28ft) for 30 minutes and thereafter for 90 seconds at 20m (65.ft) divers’ watches in fact have much greater resistance.
Wheel Train:In a normal wristwatch ,first (great) wheel , which supplies power; second (center) wheel ,turning once per hour and carrying minute hand; third wheel which sometimes carries second hand; escape wheel.
World time watch: A watch that can be made to depict current time in any chosen city or zone , according to the model.
(References: “The Classic Watch Magazine”)
Analog: Time indication by hands and dial; means “corresponding”. Originally an electronic term, hich was adopted into watch-making ith the spread of the quartz watch.
Antimagnetic Watch: Watch hose parts are protectd from all but the very strongest magnetism; quartz watches cannot be disturbed by the pehenomenon.
Applied Numerals: Raised metal charecters attached to the dial.
Automatic watch: Mechanical watch with a mainspring that is wound by the wearer’s movements,via a rotor Invented by Abraham Louis perrelet in the 18th centruy; Breguet called his self winders ‘perpetuelle;
Auxiliary Dial: Small dial showing seconds only,up to one minute,usually at the six o’clock position
Back Plate: Furthest from the dial
Back winder:Flat crown set into the back of the case for setting time and winding.
Baguette:Rectangular movement,with a length at least three times its width.popular shape for art deco watches.
Balance:Running regulator of mechanical watch;it oscillates about its axis of rotation,the hair spring making it swing to and fro(‘tick tock’) in equal time parts. balances of modern wristwatches beat up to ten beats per second.
Band:Center ring of wristwatch case into which the movement fits; frond and back bezels are hinged to it.
Barrel:Circular box housing mainspring; teeth attached at edge drive gears; going barrel has great wheel mounted upon it.
Baton numerals:Undecorated non-numerical markers of hours,minutes and second
Bezel:Metal surround frame in which watch glass (crystal) is fitted
Bi-Metallic:Two different metals (eg brass and stell) fused or riveted together to make a single strip with dissimilar coefficients of expansion,for balances; this prevents variations in temperature affecting the watch mechanism.
Breguet Hand:Popular design by breguet; the slightly tapered needle of the hand ends in a pointed head mounted on a circle, which is pierced with a hole.sometimes called a moon hand.
Bridge:Strips of metal that hold pivots or jewels in place in the movement.
Button:Better known as a crown,or winder;sometimes refers to chronograph
Cabochon grown (winder):Grown or winder set with a jewel
Caliber (calibre):Once used only to denote the size in diameter of a watch movement; now often only indicates type (eg men’s,ladies; automatic.generally given with manufacturer’s name ,from latin qua libra (of what weight?),or from arabic kalib (mould,ie circumference, measurement, scale).
Case: The housing for movement,dial and glass.
Center seconds :Second hand rotating at center of dial,concentric with hour and minute hands,indicating seconds at edge of dial.also known as sweep seconds.
Chapter ring:circle of hour divisions indicators
Chronograph:watch which also has an independent stop watch for short interval timing.common types are one-button (using crown,or separete button above it); two button (the most common,the top button stopping and starting the time measuring function and the buttom one resetting it;) 12 hour with moon phase ; split second
Chronometer:Ordinary watch which has passed extremely severe precision and reliability tests in an offical (generally swiss) observatory ( eg Neuchatel)
Complicated watch: watch with functions not related directly to time of day (eg calendars,chronographs, moonphases,perpetual,repeaters,etc).
Crown:Knob,generally knurled and positioned outside the case at three o’clock,for winding, correcting and setting.
Crystal:Glass dial cover (in fact made of glass,plastic, synthetic sapphire or quratz crystal), fitted into bezel. plastic scratches; glass (common in pre-1940s watches) shatters easily; sapphire glass is virtually scratch proff.
Date Aperture: Window showing date in mechanical digital watches
Deployment Buckle:Two strips of hinged metal (curved to the wrist shape) on the watchband; upon closing. one folds over the other to cover it. probably invented by Cartier
Deviation: Time discrepancy from the actual
Dial: Face of watch ,showing hours,minutes and second.other small dials are called subsidiary dials.
Diameter: Dimension used in measuring a watch size
Digital Numbers: Indication of time displayed by number only
Diver’s watch: Water resitant.
Doctor’s Watch :Also known as a duo plan or duo-dial an auxiliary seconds dial is separate from the hour and minute dial; useful for quick reference when taking a pulse count.
Dome: Second cover inside the back of a watch
Ebauche: French word remaining untranslated and in common use .It describes an uncompleted watch movement delivered to a manufacturer ready for the addition of that manufacturer’s own escapement,timing system and mainspring and signature.
Electric watch: Watch incorporating electric contacts,coils condensers or resisters, in which closed circuits balance impulse.Hamilton and Elgin (USA) elctric watches frist appeared in 1952; Lip in france also make them.
Electronic Watch:Quartz watch with semi conductive elements like transistors.
Escape Wheel :The last wheed in the going train; alternately locked by and gives impulse to the balance.
Escapement: The parts of the movement that convert the rotary motion of the gear train into exact ‘ to-and – fro’ motion.
Form watch: Watch in any very unusual shape
Formed movement: Watch movement that is not round (eg baguette,oval,rectangular).
Frame : Pillars and plates of watch movement.
Frequency: Number,generally expressed as hertz,of cycles,oscillations, periods or vibrations per second.
Gears: Toothed wheels (20-100 teeth,of brass) and pinions (six to 12 teeth, of hardened steel), running together
Gold: Yellow , pink or white,used for cases and bracelets
Great wheel: First and largest in train
Hack features (Balance stopping): Second hand which is stopped to synchronize time,when crown is pulled out
Half Hunter: Glass half covered by hinged case extension.
Hertz: The convention for expressing the number of cycles, oscillatons,periods or vibrations per second ,Abbreviated to Hz,KHz (1,000 Hz) or Mhz (1,000,000 Hz). Named after the german physicist Heinrich rudolf Hertz (1857-94).
Hunter: Glass wholly covered by hinged case extension (often spring loaded). Also known as savonette watches
Integral Bracelet : Designed as a natural extension of atch case
Jewels : Used as bearings at points of greatest friction in movements ;commonly 15 to 18 are used (the quantity is not indicative of either quality , or value of watch ). Formerly,natural rubies and sapphires were used; today most such jewels are synthetic.
Jump Hour: Hour hand which moves forward only once each hour; alternatively hour appears only once each hour in a pierced window
Karat (Carat): The official scale by which the purity of the gold is determined.pure gold is 24 karat; 18 karat is alloy in which 18 parts in 24 are gold; 14 karat contains 14 parts of gold and so on. also used as the unit of weight for precious stones
Lcd: Liquid crystal display in almost all quartz watches
Lepine Caliber:Caliber in which movement has only one plate to which each wheel is supported by a separate cock. Invented by Jean antoine Lepine (1720-1814); perfected by breguet for ultra thin watches.
Lever: Brass or steel escapement part of mechanical watch ,impulsing at each vibration shaped like a ship’s anchor . Invented by thomas mudge (1715-94) in 1754 and now universally used.
Ligne: One inc is one ligne ,or one – twelfth of a french foot (approx 2.256 cm) lignes are commonly used for giving wristwatch movement sizes (diameter, lenght or breadth) the commonest being between 5,5 and 13.
Lug:Part or parts of watch case to which band, bracelet or strap may be attached
Mainspring: Principal spring in watch :a flat spring is coiled in a barrel.
Mean Time: Average length of all solar days in year ;the usual time shown by watches
Minute repeater: Repeating watch that sounds hours ,quarters and minutes.
Month aperture: Pierced window in a mechanical digital watch displaying month,often abbreviated.
Moon phase watch : Watch displaying phase of moon through 29.5 days (correction for extra 44 minutes per month often incorporated.
Motion work: Gear train for moving hour hand.
Movement: Complete mechanism of watch; from 120 to over 600 parts may be incorporated in it.
Oscillation:” To and fro ‘ swing between two extreme positions (see also BALANCE)
Oyster case: Rolex watch with water resitant case.
Pave:Literally ‘paved with’,as in dial with precious stones.
Pallet:Small jewel for locking escape wheels and receiving impulses
Pallet fork:Jewel tipped lever in escapement,in conjunction with balance and escape wheel.
Perpetual:Self winding automatic watch (see also AUTOMATIC WATCH).
Perpetual Calendar: Calendar mechanism with display which automatically corrects for long and short months and leap years. Formula adjust ments for vagaries of the gregorian calendar continue only until february 28,2100 that is not a leap year ,so manuel changes will have to be made to all but the most complicated watches; likewise 2200,2300,2500,2600, and 2700 will not be leap years.
Plate: Parallel flat plates in which wheels of train are pivoted.
Platinum: Precious silver white metal,which is heavier than gold.used for cases and bracelets.
Quarter Repeater:Repeating mechanism which sounds hours and quarter hours.
Quartz: Rock crystal (silicon dioxide) that can be made to oscillate by electronic switching maintaining its very constant frequency, in accordance with its cut.synthetic quartz crystals are used today.
Rolled Gold :An extremely thin sheet of hot gold, pressed on to another metal; gold on watch cases is usually double thickness.
Roman numerals:Besides arabic the most common numerals used on watch dials; note IIII instead of IV.
Roskopf watch : Simplified mechanical watch invented in 1867 at La chaux – de – fonds by G.F. Roskopf (1813-89), usually withhout jewels and with an unusual gear train.
Rotor:In automatic watches ,the rotor winds the mainspring; in quartz watches ,it is a per manently rotating magnet in the step switch motor.
Ruby: The ‘rubby’ referred ton in watch making today is, in fact, corundum, a synthetic stone .It is used to reduce wear on certain pivots
Sapphire:Glasses , sold as scratchproof, are made of synhetic sapphire.
Savonette: European term for hunter watch.
Shock resitant watch :A watch is held to be shock resistant if, when dropped on to a hardwood surface from a height of 3ft (1m) it does not stop ,or if its daily rate does not change by more than 60 seconds .
Sidereal Time: Standart of time used by astronomers; the sidereal day is three minutes and 55.5 seconds shorter than a mean solar day.
Signed movement: The signature on a movement of its maker , which is likely not to be the same as that on the dial.
Skeleton watch:The dial of a skeleton watch has a separate chapter ring with the interior cut away, leaving only numerals and exposing the wheels and the interior mechanisms of the movement . the back plate is also cut away and fitted with glass.
Solar time: As shown by a sundial.
Split second chronograph:Chronograph with sweep second hand , independent of chronograph hand.
Stem:Shaft connection between winding mechanism and crown on outside of case.
Stop work : Device controlling number of winding turns,thus preventing overwinding.
Subsidiary Dials: Smaller auxiliary dials,which show elapsed minutes and running seconds.
Sweep seconds (center seconds):Second hand mounted at dial center and extending to chapter ring.
Swiss made: A swiss federal government ordinance dated december 23,1971 decrees that this expression can only be featured on a watch and used in connection with its marketing if (a) at least 50 per cent of the components by value ,excluding costs of assembled in switzerland, (c) it was started up and regulated by its manufacturer in switzerland, and (d) it is continuously subject to the legal obligation of technical inspection in Switzerland.
Tachometer:Speedometer or revolution recorder on bezel.
Tank Case:Today ,the common name for a rectangular case; originally,exclusive name of Cartier wristwatch.
Timepiece: Domestic clock that does not strike or chime.
Tonneau: Case shape with wide center and flat tapered ends.
Tourbillon:Invention Breguet for nullifying vertical position errors by means of a revolving platform which goes through all such positions, so that they neutralize each other.
Train:Wheels and pinions of a watch carrying power from the great (frist) wheel to the escapement. variations in their numbers of teeth affect the running time and number of oscillations.
Tritium:Luminous paint for dials ,hands and numerals
Tuning fork: A transistor continually switching between two small magnets to regulate smooth runningi oscillating 360 times a second.the high frequency gives great precision in time keeping. bulova accutron made the use of the device famous, but then quartz watches usurped its popularity.
Water resistant: Expression for ‘waterpoof’, which is illegal in the USA. water resistant watches ,sold as such,must be able to withstand water pressure at a depth of 1m (3.28ft) for 30 minutes and thereafter for 90 seconds at 20m (65.ft) divers’ watches in fact have much greater resistance.
Wheel Train:In a normal wristwatch ,first (great) wheel , which supplies power; second (center) wheel ,turning once per hour and carrying minute hand; third wheel which sometimes carries second hand; escape wheel.
World time watch: A watch that can be made to depict current time in any chosen city or zone , according to the model.
(References: “The Classic Watch Magazine”)
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