Watch Glossary and Terms with Images

Its function is to suspend the gears; motion at regular intervals and to supply energy to the balance. The main types of watch escapement are: recoil escapements (verge or crown wheel) dead-beat escapements (cylinder, virgule, double virgule) detached escapements (lever, detent) The lever escapement is by far the most common today. Exceptional watches may be fitted with a different kind, often a detent or virgule escapement. In terms of escapements, one can historically speak of the lever and indeed the Swiss lever type, given that the Swiss lever escapement is the most widely used today because it is especially suited to watches and chronometers.EtablissageFrench term for the method of manufacturing watches and/or movements by assembling their various components.Champlevé enamel, Cloisonné enamel, Painting on enamel End of energyThe end of energy in a "mechanical" watch is indicated by the seconds-hand, which jumps every two, three or four seconds.End of lifeThe end of battery life in a "quartz" watch is indicated by the seconds-hand, which jumps every two, three or four seconds.EngageTo set in motion, to connect two mechanical systems by means of a mechanical, electrical or other device. When a watch is set to the right time, the winding stem engages with the sliding pinion and the intermediate wheel to move the hands.EscapementSet of parts (escape wheel, lever, roller) which converts the rotary motion of the train into to-and-fro motion (the balance). This mechanism is fitted between the gears and the regulating organ.

Watch Glossary and Terms with Images

Its function is to suspend the gears; motion at regular intervals and to supply energy to the balance. The main types of watch escapement are: recoil escapements (verge or crown wheel) dead-beat escapements (cylinder, virgule, double virgule) detached escapements (lever, detent) The lever escapement is by far the most common today. Exceptional watches may be fitted with a different kind, often a detent or virgule escapement. In terms of escapements, one can historically speak of the lever and indeed the Swiss lever type, given that the Swiss lever escapement is the most widely used today because it is especially suited to watches and chronometers.EtablissageFrench term for the method of manufacturing watches and/or movements by assembling their various components.Champlevé enamel, Cloisonné enamel, Painting on enamel End of energyThe end of energy in a "mechanical" watch is indicated by the seconds-hand, which jumps every two, three or four seconds.End of lifeThe end of battery life in a "quartz" watch is indicated by the seconds-hand, which jumps every two, three or four seconds.EngageTo set in motion, to connect two mechanical systems by means of a mechanical, electrical or other device. When a watch is set to the right time, the winding stem engages with the sliding pinion and the intermediate wheel to move the hands.EscapementSet of parts (escape wheel, lever, roller) which converts the rotary motion of the train into to-and-fro motion (the balance). This mechanism is fitted between the gears and the regulating organ.

Watch Glossary and Terms with Images

E ImagesEbaucheFrench term (but commonly used in English-speaking countries) for a movement blank, i.e. an incomplete watch movement which is sold as a set of loose parts, comprising the main plate, the bridges, the train, the winding and setting mechanism and the regulator. The timing system, the escapement and the mainspring, however, are not parts of the "ébauche".EnamelA vitreous substance whose main component is silica mixed with oxides (transition metals) that create a vast palette of colours. Enamel is used to decorate metal su***ces, in particular gold, silver and copper. Translucent enamel allows the passage of more or less light, for example the opalescent enamels that give a sought-after milky quality to certain pieces.A regatta dial (see complication) has a countdown function enabling competitors to position themselves as near as possible to the starting line in the minutes leading up to the race. An orienteering dial (see complication) features a hand which, driven by a specific wheel and *** one complete revolution of the dial in 24 hours, shows North when the hour hand is pointed towards the Sun. A diving dial (see complication) indicates su***cing time and possibly also decompression stops and times.Direct-drive(in French: trotteuse) Refers to a seconds-hand, especially a centre seconds-hand, that moves forwards in little jerks.DisplayIndication of time or other data, either by means of hands moving over a dial (analogue display) or by means of numerals appearing in one or more windows (digital or numerical display); these numerals may be completed by alphabetical indications (alphanumerical display) or by signs of any other kind. For example: 12.05 MO 12.3 = 12 hours, 5 minutes, Monday 12th March. Such displays can be obtained by mechanical electronic means.

Watch Glossary and Terms with Images

A thirteen-piece dial comprises 12 enamelled cartouches for the hours set around a thirteenth central enamelled piece, often decorated and with the maker;s signature. A calendar dial gives calendar indications such as the day, date, month, year and religious festivals. A multiple time zone dial (see complication) gives the time in two or more zones. A dial with tide gauge (see complication) gives high and low tide times for a given location.They either pass or fail the watch movement. If the watch passes, it is called a chronometer.CrownKnob located on the outside of a watch case and used to wind a mechanical watch mainspring. It is also used for setting the right time and for correcting calendar indications. D ImagesDateOrdinal number referring to a day of the month, for example: the 10th February.Date-watchWatch indicating the date, the month and sometimes the year and the phases of the moon.DeployantThis clasp mechanism found on most high-end watches derives its name from the French adjective Deployant - which means to unfold, unfurl or spread out. Commonly and mistakenly called Deployment, the Deployant clasp is an expanding metal clasp that permits both metal and fabric bracelets to close invisibly around the wrist.DialIndicating "face" or plate of metal or other material, bearing various markings to show, in ordinary watches and clocks, the hours, minutes and seconds. Dials vary in shape, decoration, material, etc. The indications are given by means of numerals, divisions or symbols of various types.An aperture dial has openings (apertures) through which the time indications can be read.

The Best Christmas Gift for Him

The Best Christmas Gift for Sport Lovers:If your man is fond of diving, hiking, camping and other sports the best Christmas gift for him would be sports watch. Choose large watches, with thick, luminous hands and markings. Don't forget water-resistance to some degree.It could be Dive Watches - IWC Aquatimer Chrono-Automatic IW371928 and IW371918 for divers or Pilot Watches - Tissot T-Touch Expert Watch, which is perfectly ok for pilots up in the air. For your honey athlete choose timepieces with a tough titanium case and scratch-resistant dial covers like Omega Classic 18 Mens Watch and Tag Heuer 2000 AquaRacer Chronograph Mens Watch - with its sapphire - scratch resistant crystal as well as Seiko Sport Tech Titanium Chronograph Watch with the titanium case. We hope that our advices will be helpful and your man will get the Best Christmas gift.This masterpiece's mere price is about $550, considering that the bezel is adorned, almost fully, with genuine diamonds. Joe Rodeo Junior Diamond Watch 17.25ct – anotherglamour watch model, but not for a jealous woman. With such watches on his wrist your dandy will be noticed for that special event or night out of town.So as you see watches for a dandy should look fairly unusual, a bit weird like this one Patek Philippe Classic Watch 11 mens watch with the unusual dial decoration though still very stylish.

Review of the Casio Baby

The analog hands just display the primary timezone. This works quite well, though since the digital display is compact you may need to squint a bit to make it out. That also limits the sporting uses, as small digits require that you not be in motion to read.The grey-shaded clear band is flexible and narrow enough to not gather sweat. The transparency is a nice accent and quite fashionable right now.Overall, this one got kudos from the wife, the small girls, and myself, which is pretty amazing, really. It's practical, inexpensive, durable and attractive. If you're in the market for an all-round gift for def that's feminine without being pretentious, then the BGA100-8B might be exactly what you need. Our thanks to Casio PR for the review unit - much appreciated.Up for review today is the Casio Baby-G BGA100-8B. It's a G-Shock for women, if the rhinestone-accented pink dial and heart-shaped window didn't already tip you off. As with the forthcoming mini line, Casio has scaled down the full G-Shock requirements for the Baby-G line:Water resistant to 100m (330ft) vs 200m.Battery powered instead of solar.Manual versus radio-set.Accuracy 30 seconds per month versus 15.The rest of the specifications are equivalent:LED backlight.World time (29 time zones, 27 cities).Four daily alarms and one more with snooze.60-minute countdown timer.60-minute stop watches.Two-year battery life.Clear grey case and band, thorn buckle, steel bezel, mineral crystal.39mm by 13mm, 42g.Casio movement 5059 (PDF of manual).Please read on for more.This is a watch with an interesting character. The highly polished stainless steel bezel seen at left, is a nice decorative and protective accent. If you look closely, you can see the scratches already present, as I used a couple of young girls to test out its toughness. I'm happy to report that a two and four year old combined could not harm it, and both liked the watch and wanted to wear it, despite not being able to read time yet. In fact, Casio PR has kindly agreed to let the older one keep this watch -- a gesture appreciated all around.In the heart-shaped window, there is an animation of LCD hearts that loops. It doesn't add any functionality, but it's cute and might serve as a nice reminder if you buy it as a gift. Around the heart window are rhinestones, which also appear on the calligraphy numerals. The backlight is an orange-yellow LED, located at six o'clock and actuated by the upper right hand button. On the right, you can see it lit up in the picture. It's hard to read the digital displays due to the oblique angle, but the hands are very well illuminated and easy to read.My wife also liked this watch, finding it comfortable and well suited to office wear. Not too sporty, not too large, light weight, easy to read and (for a G-Shock) unobtrusive. The digital window at six o'clock does the heavy lifting for this gift for jewelry: world time, alarms, stopwatch, etc.

Review of the TX 400

TheTX 400 may be a departure from TX's standard aesthetics, but like theirother models, the 400 is designed around usable and handy features. Theentire dial is focused toward the date and time. The hands are largeand the contrast of the black dial makes reading the time easy. Thechapter ring carries the dial markers and surrounds another ring thatoutlines the month as it corresponds with the perpetual calendar. Thequartz movement is powered by a 4-year battery and once set, theperpetual calendar is accurate until the year 2100 and willautomatically adjust for leap years and short months like February. Theorange tipped date/month hand is windowed to show the day of the weekinitial and points directly to the date number in the curved windowswhich shows the dates numbers for the entire week. This bags for gift hascontinued to get wrist time because with a cabinet full of automatics, itwas always set, even on the 1st of the month. The case isalways important on a dress watch because the bags gift online needs to fit wellon your wrist to be worn under sleeves and cuffs. The TX 400 is greatin this area; its thin case and nicely sculpted lugs sit tight with theincluded leather strap. The dial has an embossed design, and the entirelook comes together well *** the 400 easily the most understatedwatch in the TX lineup. The overall design is reminiscent of theHamilton Jazzmaster series as the 400 remains classy but has a modern46mm case. It is light, easy to read, and the perpetual calendar is anice feature that blends into the functionality of this relatively*** looking watch. In a market that is seemingly pushing towardsmore bling, logo's, and shiny bits on every watch, it's nice to see TXlooking back at successful designs of the past and building a look thatis in a completely positive sense. This is a nice watch thatoffers but highly usable quartz movement, an attractive andelegant design, and a competitive price point of $495.00.r It is a rare occasion that I am sent a dress watch amid the bevy ofdivers that swim through my collection. I have had the opportunity toreview two previous TX models and both were multifunction chronographswith busy dials and many duties beyond date and time. The 400 Series isa different piece altogether: an attractive and dress gifts for jewelry that matches its understated look with and functionalperpetual calendar quartz movement. TX supplied a stainless steelversion on a black leather strap. Here are the details:46mm case.German made quartz movement.Perpetual weekly calendar.Sapphire crystal.Separate day/month hand.20mm lugs.Signed butterfly deployment clasp.Water Resistant to 10 ATM (330ft).Available with leather or stainless steel bracelet.

Review of the Orient CDD00001W0 Pocket Watch

The face is simply stunning. Orient, often quite good at well-balanced and classical designs, has outdone themselves this time. Blued Breguet hands, guilloche dial, applied hour markers, blue minute markers, upright Arabic numerals in a retro font, and the unobtrusive yet very useful power reserve subdial. Look at the hour markers in the close-up: they're pointed cones, and the minute marks are blue. Lovely! Orient has done some upgrades to the classic design that enormously help its practicality. First off, the case is stainless steel: quite durable, and actually water resistant to 30m. It's not going to go swimming (which would be odd for a pocket watch), but if you get rained on, it'll survive. Secondly, the crystal is sapphire, which means it will be unscathed if it ends up in the same pocket as your keys or cell phone. This one is a key innovation, and simply wasn't possible until recently. Thirdly, the jewels are shock protected by Parashock, *** for a vastly more durable watch in daily use. Vintage pocketwatches often have broken balance staffs from jarring or drops, and just aren't as durable as you might expect. If you add all of these up, I'd expect that with maintenance every 5-10 years, this is a watches gift you could pass on in fine condition to your grandchildren. In actual use, there are two more tangible improvements that increase its usefulness: the power reserve meter is a very useful reminder of when to wind, critical for those of us unused to hand-winding movements. The hacking seconds are also very nice for setting the correct time - just because its a pocket watch doesn't mean its inaccurate! So what's it like to actually wear a pocket my chinese gift in 2009? Without exaggeration, I can say that it changes your perception of time when you have to pull your watch out of your pocket to check it.In a first for Watch Report, today's review is of the Orient CDD00001W0 pocket watch. As in the kind that you wear in your pocket, and have to wind every day. Updated with modern materials and movement, this is a new take on an old standard. Let's see how they did. First, the specifications:In-house mechanical movement, Orient 48C40, made in Japan, 21 jewels, 21,600 vph.Hacking center seconds (very unusual in a pocket watch).40-hour power reserve with power reserve complication at 9 o'clock.Stainless steel case and sapphire crystals, front and rear.Shock-protected movement. (Balance staff and other key jewels have springs on them, unlike vintage movements.)40mm by 11.5mm case, waterproof to 30m (100ft).Stainless steel chain with belt clip included.Please read on for more.This bags gift really surprised a lot of people when it appeared, myself included. Orient does very few pocket watches, and has never shipped a handwind-only movement before (given that a pocket watch is determinedly retro, an automatic seems less appropriate). From the looks of the perlage-decorated movement, Orient took one of their better automatics and removed the rotor, reversers, and winding bridge, simplifying a bit to produce the 3/4 plate design seen here. It's a nice looking movement. When you first open the presentation case, a "wow" may well be the first reaction.

Casio G

We somehow missed this Basel announcement for a line of new aviator-targeted G-Shocks: the 'Gravity Defier' series. (Pictured at right is the GW-2500.) Designed to be easy to use by pilots even under extreme G-loads, they have several attributes that work in a cockpit:Non-reflective su***ces and flat black face.Big, well-lumed hands.6/12 hour markers for rapid orientation.Large buttons.As you'd expect from a G-shock, it's loaded with features:Six-band radio receiver.Tough solar power.Waterproof to 200m (660ft).bell & ross watches (not clear if this is just for the LED displays or not).Simultaneous display of three times at once -- nice for flying where you need local, destination, and UTC.Stop web chanel watches, countdown timer, five alarms, and world time.Seems to be reasonable in size at 47mmx15.8mm, and 66g.Also annouced was the analog-only GW-2000 model (shown here at right). Seems to also have the same design: black plated stainless steel bracelet, and lovely hands. Like the GS-1200, these should be readable at a glance, and I like the looks of the bracelets, too. Overall, these look classier and more versatile than the normal G-Shock.Gravity Defier is the name of a new line of G-Shocks for pilots, and we can't wait to see more!  They're promoting them in concert with the Red Bull Air Race, so more information should be forthcoming.List price for the bell & ross is a very reasonable $200 USD.

JS Watch Co and the Frisland 42mm

The Frisland 42mm was named after an island that started showing up on maps in the 1500's off of Iceland's south coast despite not existing in real life. The island proved to be fictional and still poses an interesting mystery as to why it was fabricated in the first place. Luckily for us, the Frisland 42mm is real.42mm German stainless steel case.Black dial.Curved Sapphire Crystal (anti-reflective coating on the inside).Sapphire display back.ETA 2836-2 automatic movement decorated by JS Watch Co.Separate day and date windows.50m water resistance.Alligator or ostrich strap with signed deploymentchanel ceramic Report is working tirelessly to get a model for review (and to find out the price, which is not listed on the website). Hopefully we will have a full review in the coming months. Until then, take a look at the JS Watch Co. website to see all of their models, and read up on their history and the design of their watches.Thanks Bjarni for the tip!Last week, Watch Report received an email from a very kind reader in Iceland who wrote to inform us of the JS Watch Co brand based in Reykjavik, Iceland. JS chanel online Co is certainly worth a look on style and attitude alone. The small company only produces 5 models but takes the manufacture and quality of each seriously. This is a line taken from their website, "We say that we produce our watches 50 years ago when workmanship and personal attention of the watch chanel watches online maker was the standard in the high end wristwatch trade". Given that the company opened its doors in 2005, that is quite the statement. Their watches have been seen on the wrists of celebrities like Quentin Tarantino and Jude Law, and this past June the Dalai Lama was presented a timepiece from the small manufacturer.I instantly took a liking to the Frisland 42mm, with is lines, italian style numerals, and polished case.