Glossary
ATM (atmosphere)
Unit of pressure used in watch making to indicate water resistance.
CALIBER
Describes the dimensions and configuration of the movement.
CASE
The metal housing of a watch's parts, including movement, dial and
crystal.
CHRONOGRAPH
A watch that includes a built-in stopwatch function. Most chronographs
have two or three sub-dials for measuring hours, minutes and seconds. The
timer counting seconds that can be started and stopped to precisely time
an event.
CHRONOMETER
A very high-precision watch. According to the Swiss law, a manufacturer
may only put the word "chronometer" on a model if the watch meets very
high standards, and after each individual piece has passed a series of
tests and obtained a running bulletin and a chronometer certificate by an
acknowledged Swiss control authority, such as the COSC.
CLASP
The attachment used to connect the two ends of the watch strap or bracelet
around the wrist.
CROWN
The knob, or button, on the outside of the watch case that is used to set
the time and date. It is also called a stem or pin. In a mechanical watch
the crown winds the mainspring. A screw-in (or screw-down) crown is used
to make a watch more water resistant.
CRYSTAL
The protective cover over the watch face. Could be acrylic crystal,
mineral crystal or sapphire crystal. Acrylic crystal is plastic and
scratches easily. Mineral crystal is comprised of several elements,
heat-treated for hardness and extra durability. Sapphire crystal is the
most durable and most expensive.
DIAL
Face of a watch, on which time and further functions are displayed by
markers, hands, discs or through windows.
DIGITAL WATCH
A watch that shows the time through digits, rather than a dial and hands.
DIVERS WATCH
A watch that is water resistant to 200M, has a one-way rotating bezel and
a screw-on crown and back, has a metal bracelet or rubber strap.
DUAL TIME ZONE
A watch that displays two time zones, to simultaneously keep track of
local time and time in another country.
FLYBACK CHRONOGRAPH
A feature combined with chronograph functions that allows for a new
measurement starting from zero by pressing down a single pusher, without
stopping, zeroing and restarting the whole mechanism.
FOLD-OVER CLASP
Hinged and jointed element, normally of the same material as the one used
for the case. It allows easy fastening of the bracelet on the wrist.
GMT
Greenwich Mean Time. As a feature of watches, it means that two or more
time zones are displayed.
GUILLOCHE
Decoration of dials, rotors or case parts consisting of patterns made by
hand or engine-turned. By the thin pattern of the resulting engravings &
consisting of crossing or interlaced lines.
HAND
Indicator for the analog visualization of hours, minutes, and seconds as
well as other functions.
HELIUM VALVE
Valve inserted in the case of some professional diving watches to
discharge the helium contained in the air mixture inhaled by divers.
HOROLOGY
The science of time measurement, including the art of designing and
constructing timepieces.
JEWELS
Synthetic sapphires or rubies that are used as bearings for gears in a
mechanical watch. The jewels reduce friction to make the watch more
accurate and longer lasting.
JUMPING HOUR
Feature concerning the digital display of time in a window. The indication
changes almost instantaneously at every hour.
LUG
Double extension of the case middle by which a strap or bracelet is
attached.
LUMINESCENT
Materials applied on hour markers or hands, emitting the luminous energy
previously absorbed as electromagnetic light rays.
MAINSPRING
Together with the barrel, makes up the driving element of a movement. It
stores and transmits the power force needed for its functioning.
MANUAL MOVEMENT
A mechanical in which winding is performed by hand. The motion transmitted
from the user's fingers to the crown is forwarded to the movement through
the winding stem to the barrel, through a series of gears to the
mainspring.
MARKERS
Elements printed or applied on the dial, sometimes they are luminescent,
used as reference points for the hands to indicate hours and minute
intervals.
MECHANICAL MOVEMENT
A movement powered by a mainspring, working in conjunction with a balance
wheel.
MINERAL CRYSTAL
Mineral crystal is comprised of several elements, heat-treated for
hardness and extra durability.
MINUTE REPEATER
Mechanism indicating time by acoustic sounds. Contrary to the watches
provided with en-passant sonnerie devices that strike the number of hours
automatically, repeaters work on demand by actuating a slide or pusher
positioned on the case side. Repeaters typically have two hammers and two
gongs, one for minutes and one for hours. Quarters are indicated by the
simultaneous strike of both hammers.
MOON PHASE
An indicator that keeps track of the phases of the moon. A regular
rotation of the moon around the earth is once every 29 days, 12 hours and
44 minutes.
MOVEMENT
The entire mechanism of a watch. Movements are either quartz or mechanical
manual or automatic winding devices.
OSCILLATION
The travel of the balance wheel from one extreme to another, and back
again.
POWER RESERVE
The time a watch will run with a fully-charged power supply. Duration in
hours of the residual functioning autonomy of a movement after it has
reached the winding peak. The duration value is displayed by either an
analog or digital instantaneous indicator. The related mechanism is made
up of a series of gears linking the winding barrel and hand.
PUSHER
Mechanical element mounted on a case for the control of specific
functions.
QUARTZ MOVEMENT
A movement powered by a quartz crystal that keeps very accurate time.
RETROGRADE
Used to describe a pointer hand on a watch dial, which returns to zero at
the end of a defined period.
ROTATING BEZEL
A bezel that can be turned, sometimes both clockwise and counterclockwise.
ROTOR
In automatic winding mechanical movements the rotor is the part that by
its complete or partial revolutions and the movements of the arm, allows
the winding of the mainspring.
SAPPHIRE CRYSTAL
Sapphire crystal is the most durable, most scratch-proof and most
expensive.
SCREW-IN or SCREW-DOWN CROWN
A crown used to make a watch more water resistant. The seal is achieved by
matching a threaded pipe in the case with the crown's internal threads and
creating a gasket while twisting the crown to lock it in place.
SHOCKPROOF or SHOCK-RESISTANT
A watch with the ability to withstand a high impact.
SKELETON
Watches whose bridges and pillar plates are cut out in a decorative
manner, thus revealing all the parts of the movement.
SPLIT-SECOND CHRONOGRAPH
Additional hand superimposed on the chronograph hand, used for timing
simultaneous events that begin at the same time and end at different
times.
STOPWATCH
A watch with a second hand that measures intervals of time. When a
stopwatch is incorporated into a standard watch, it is referred to as a
chronograph.
SUBDIAL
A small additional dial or indicator that may be positioned or placed
off-center on the main dial, used for the display of various functions.
SWEEP SECOND HAND
A center second hand mounted on the center of the main dial.
TACHOMETER or TACHYMETER
Function that measures the speed at which the wearer has traveled over a
given distance. The scale is calibrated to show the speed of a moving
object over a known distance. The standard length on which the calibration
is based is shown on the dial - ex: 100, 200 or 1,000 meters.
TONNEAU
Barrel shaped watch case with straight, shorter, horizontal sides and
curved, longer, vertical sides.
TOURBILLION
The function that equalizes position errors due to changing positions of a
watch, and related effects of gravity, to ensure accuracy. The round
carriage of the tourbillion holds the mechanisms that rotate the wheels,
and thus the hands of the watch, at a continuous rate of once per minute.
WATER RESISTANT or WATERPROOF
A watch whose case is designed to resist infiltration by water.
WINDING STEM
Element transmitting motion from the crown to the gears governing manual
winding and setting.
WORLD TIMER
Additional feature of a watch with GMT function, displaying the 24 time
zones on the dial or bezel, each referenced by a city name, providing
instantaneous reading of the time in any country.
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