Automatic
Watch |
Traditional mechanical watch with
additional mechanism that performs the action of winding the
mainspring usually by means of a oscillating weight,
counter-moving with each movement of the wearers wrist. |
Balance
Wheel |
A
weighted wheel that rotates back and forth, being returned toward
its center position by the hairspring. It is driven by the
escapement, which transforms the rotating motion of the watch gear
train into impulses delivered to the balance wheel. Each swing of
the wheel (called a 'tick' or 'beat') allows the gear train to
advance a set amount, moving the hands forward. The combination of
the mass of the balance wheel and the elasticity of the spring
keep the time between each oscillation or ‘tick’ very
constant, accounting for its near universal use as the timekeeper
in mechanical watches to the present. From its invention in the
14th century until quartz movements became available in the 1970s,
virtually every portable timekeeping device used some form of
balance wheel. |
Case |
The protective housing for the
movement. Their construction materials include almost all metals,
plastic, stone, and even wood. Once very fragile, but modern cases
are at a minium dust proof and are frequently shock proof, or even
water resistant to a depth rating normally shown on the dial. |
Chronograph |
(Chrono = Time, Graph =
Recorder) Standard time watch with the addition of a time
recording feature. Running durations from 15 to 30 minutes are the
standard with some watches recording 1 to 12 hours are available.
Not to be confused as a stopwatch. |
Chronometer |
A watch which is tested and certified
to meet certain precision standards. In Switzerland, only
timepieces certified by the COSC may use the word 'Chronometer' on
them. Unfortunately the average quartz time piece will run more
accurately than a chronometer rated watch. |
Crown |
The knob from which the watch
functions are set. The crown turns the stem, which engages the
setting gears. Crowns are screwed to the stem and must be
tightened if loose. A Screw-down crown, screws to lock against a
threaded tube at the case to offer a superior level of water
resistance |
Dial |
The numbered gage from which the time
is displayed. |
Hairspring |
A fine spiral or helical spring used
in mechanical watches, marine chronometers, and other timekeeping
mechanisms to control the rate of vibration of the balance wheel. |
Hands |
The pointers or indicators from which
the time is read. Frequently their surface receive a luminous
treatment to allow reading in low light conditions. |
Lever
Escapement |
Invented by Thomas Mudge around 1757
and later refined by Breguet, and Massey, the lever escapement is
a key component of the better quality balance wheel watches. It is
a detached escapement, which means that the time- keeping element
runs entirely free of interference from the escapement during a
portion of the operating cycle. |
Lugs |
Attachment point for a wrist strap or
band. Horn or post style are the most common, but others include
articulated, hidden, ring-end, and T-bar. |
Main
Spring |
The steel ribbon, which provides the
power for a mechanical gear train. A main spring rarely breaks as
a result of winding, but rather simply metal fatigue causes most
failures. |
Mechanical
Watch |
Spring driven gear train regulated
with a balance wheel escapement. |
Perpetual
Calendar |
A calendar that is perpetually
correct regardless of the lengths of the various months, the best
even can account for leap years with wheel that only rotates once
in 4 years. The current day, date, and month are often shown. Some
recently developed quartz movements now incorporate this feature. |
Pocket
Watch |
Earliest forms of portable
timekeeping. These watches were secured with a chain to the
gentleman’s clothing (mostly to prevent pick-pockets from
"lifting the watch") and kept in a pocket. Available as
a open-face or the covered styles known as hunting cases. |
Push
Button |
A spring loaded plunger used to
activate features not addressed by the standard stem and crown. |
Regulator |
Lever used to adjust the rate of the
timepiece by lengthening or shortening the balance hairspring or a
pendulums suspension spring by affecting its oscillating period or
frequency. |
Quartz
Watch |
A consistent timing element.
Electricity in induced into a piece of quartz crystal which
vibrates at a specific frequency (32 KHz), these vibrations are
"clipped and divided" to reach the mathematical
increment needed to approximate a second duration, this duration
it then pulsed to a stepping motor and the rest is just the
gearing for the needed ratios. |
Repeater |
A audible striking feature allowing
the time to be recalled by means of a pushbutton. Some times
refereed as a "blind mans watch" This allowed one to get
the time in the dead of night without having to fumble around for
a candle. An hour repeater only repeats the last passed hour, a
quarter repeater will repeat the last passed hour and quarter and
a minute repeater can strike out the time to the last hour,
quarter, and minute passed. |
Spring
Bar |
Cylindrical pin with
spring loaded, sliding end-tips. Available in several diameters
and in a range of sizes from 6 mm to 24 mm lengths. Pins do wear
and the springs can loose their tension with age. Replace pins
when the band is replaced or with each service. |
Tourbillon |
Invented in 1795 by Swiss watchmaker
Abraham-Louis Breguet, the tourbillion (french word for
"whirlwind") is an addition to the mechanics of a watch
escapement. Basically a mechanical means of countering the effects
of gravity by mounting the escapement and balance wheel in a
rotating cage, ostensibly in order to negate the effect of gravity
when the timepiece (and thus the escapement) is rotated. Once a
viable addition to the movement of certain watches or nautical
timepieces, today’s use is simply a demonstration of watchmaking
virtuosity. |