Watch Glossary

An Automatic Watch or a Self-Winding Watch is a mechanical watch where the natural motion of the wearer’s wrist provides energy to wind the mainspring. If an automatic watch is being worn by the user frequently then it does not require the manual twisting of the crown by hand and automatically takes its energy from the user’s wrist movement to wind the watch.

An annual calendar timepiece displays the hour, date, day, and month with the first day of the month automatically adjusted following the months of 30 and 31 days.
However, manual correction is needed in the annual calendar movement watches on the first day of March following the 28 days or 29 days in the month of February.
An annual calendar timepiece is less complicated than the perpetual calendar timepiece which does not need any manual adjustments and, therefore, it is less expensive than it as well.

The bezel is the top ring which encircles the watch crystal and holds it in place. They are usually made up of metal but also come in other materials such as ceramic or aluminium. It is one of the parts of the watch case and comes in two forms: fixed or rotating bezel. A fixed or a non-rotating bezel is stationary and features a scale of sorts such as a Tachymeter scale. A rotating bezel is further of two types – a unidirectional rotating bezel and a Bidirectional rotating bezel. The purpose of a rotating bezel is to be able to begin to time an event at any given point in time.

The crystal of a watch refers to the transparent glass that covers and protects the face of the watch. The three main types of crystals used in different watches are sapphire, acrylic, and glass. Amongst the three, the sapphire crystal is most expensive and preferred as it is more scratch resistant as compared to other crystals.

The crown is the little knob on the side of the case of a watch. It is used to set the date and time of a watch. In the case of mechanical watches that are not automatic, the watch is wound manually by twisting the crown, therefore, providing energy to the mainspring

A chronograph is a type of watch which showcases an additional stopwatch function. It measures and displays elapsed time other than displaying conventional time. A basic chronograph has an hour sub-dial and a minute sub-dial. The two sub-dials and the second hand can be operated by the two pushers on the right side of the watch case. The top pusher positioned at two o’clock starts and stops the chronograph while the bottom pusher positioned at four o’clock resets the chronograph. Initially, the chronograph was invented for tracking astronomical objects. It became popular with aviators as it allowed them to make rapid calculations and conduct precise timing. The modern-day use of chronographs involve aircraft piloting, auto racing, driving and submarine manoeuvring.

A complication is any additional feature of a timepiece other than the basic function of displaying time. Common complications of a watch may include the date, day of the week, alarms, chronographs, annual calendar, power reserve, to name a few. Watches with several complications are known as grande complications and these are the most complex achievements of fine watchmaking. These include minute repeater, perpetual calendar, Tourbillon, moon phases and many more.

A calibre is used in reference to the watch manufacturers’ in-house movements. It is the specific internal mechanism of a watch and is also known as a movement. It is used to designate a specific model name for a movement. Many watch manufacturers use their own identification system to name their watch calibres.

The timepieces that have been tested and certified by the Controle Officiel Suisse des Chronometers (COSC) in Switzerland (or any other official governing body in other countries) only can use the term certified chronometer or officially certified chronometer on them. According to COSC, an official certified chronometer is a high-precision watch capable of displaying the seconds and housing a movement that has been tested over several days, in different positions, and at different temperatures. Each movement is individually tested for several consecutive days, in five positions and at three temperatures. They are identified by an officially recorded individual serial number.

Also known as the face of the watch, the dial is a part of the timepiece which displays the time. It comes in different color combinations and features markers, numerals, and hands of the watch. There are mostly three hands in a watch mainly hour hand, minute hand, and second hand. It showcases the time through the fixed numbered digits in the form of Roman, Arabic numbers or indexes along with moving hands. Some of the most popular dials include Mother of Pearl dial, Enamel dial and Guilloche dial

A digital display watch showcases the time in form of characters or numbers instead of showing it through the hands on the dial. These watches usually come with quartz movements and the information is displayed through an LED (Light Emitting Diode) screen or LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) Screen. The LCD screen is most commonly used as it uses less battery power and is more convenient in use. These watches showcase several features like day, date, alarm, compass and GPS, weather, chronometer and many more.

An exhibition case back is also known as a display case back which showcases the movement of the watch. It is a transparent crystal replacing the metal plate at the backside of the watch showing the inner workings of the movement. The main purpose of an exhibition case back is to showcase the intricate craftsmanship and the beauty of the movement

A GMT watch allows the users to track the time in two different time zones at one time. It can accommodate multiple time zones using the 24-hour rotating bezel. Initially, it was first made by Rolex for pilots in the 1950s and has its history linked to aviation. Having the information of two time zones at the same time helped the pilots not only tell the time in their current city but also in their destination city. Nowadays, it serves many other purposes other than just helping in the aviation industry and also enjoys the reputation of an adventurer watch and is the best go to option for any traveller out there.

In mechanical movement, the timepieces need to be manually wound in order to provide energy to the mainspring to power the watch. All mechanical watches have five parts namely, the mainspring, gear train, balance wheel, escapement mechanism, and an indicating dial. These timepieces also feature certain complications such as chronograph, alarm, moon phase dial, calendar, tourbillon, and many more. Mechanical watches are less precise as compared to quartz watches and require periodic cleaning and maintenance of the timepieces. Mechanical movements have dominated the watch industry for several years until the quartz revolution in 1970. The quartz watches are battery-powered and more affordable but the luxurious timepieces still have mechanical movements representing intricate watchmaking skills. Mechanical watches mostly come under a high-end product category and are well known for their aesthetic and luxury values and high durability.

A moon phase timepiece displays the different phases of the moon through the sub-dial on the watch. It is a rotating disc on the dial that indicates the position of the moon as the moon travels across the night sky. The moon phases gradually change over a period of 29.53 days and it passes through eight different phases which are new moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning gibbous, last quarter, and waning crescent. A moon phase is considered a watch complication as it showcases an additional feature on the watch other than just displaying conventional time.

Perpetual calendar in watches describes a calendar mechanism which accurately displays the date on the watch on a perpetual basis, taking into account the different lengths of the months as well as leap years. It is a complication showing day, date, and month for years, therefore, ruling out any need for adjustments. Some perpetual calendar timepieces also feature years and the moon phase complication. A perpetual calendar movement is a grande complication that showcases the evolution of watchmaking and fine craftsmanship skills.

A Power Reserve, also known as Reserve de Marche is found in mechanical watches and indicates the remaining energy stored in a watch’s mainspring. As and when the watch is used, the spring starts to lose its energy and unwinds itself until all the energy is used. It is one of the most essential and useful features of a mechanical watch. It helps the user in keeping the track of the amount of time left before the watch needs to be wound again. A fully wound watch usually possesses between 40 and 50 hours of energy before it needs to be wound again. Some watches even possess the energy that could last for several days without having the need to wind it.

Watches with quartz movements are timepieces that use an electronic oscillator regulated by a quartz crystal to keep time. In standard-quality quartz watches, the crystal resonator or oscillator is in the shape of a small tuning fork, laser-trimmed, or precision lapped to vibrate at 32,768 Hz. Usually, the time displayed in quartz watches is in the numeral format and displays the time with the help of hour, minute, and second hand. Quartz watches are battery-powered, provide high precision, and require minimal maintenance thereby making them the world’s most affordable and widely used timepieces.

A watch with a skeleton dial showcases all the moving parts of the movement through the front or the back of the watch. It displays the inner workings of the movement thereby adding an aesthetic appeal to the watch. A skeleton dial includes the removal of any non-essential metal on the bridge, plate, or any other mechanical part of the watch, thereby, leaving only the minimalist skeleton of the movement required for the functioning of the watch. Skeleton watch dials are usually found in mechanical watches but in some watches, it is available with quartz movements as well.

A tachymeter is a scale that is generally engraved on the bezel and is a feature of chronograph watches. It can be used to measure average speed over a known or a predefined distance. It is basically a means of converting elapsed time (in seconds per unit) to rate (in units per hour). It can also be used to measure the frequency of any event in unit per hour. When the user wants to measure the average speed, the chronograph can be started at a starting marker and stopped after reaching the finish point. The point on the scale adjacent to the second hand indicates the speed of travel between the two points. The tachymeter scales that are on a rotating bezel provides additional usage such as it can be aligned with the free-running second hand and can also be used to measure the speed over long distances.