Wentworth Tradd's OTHER watch factors- terms to learn

There are many unusual terms associated with watches. My hope is to teach you some of them and why they are useful to know.

Here, in no logical order, are 20 watch terms to know and love:

1) Applied Numerals.
These are hour markers that are actually stuck onto the dial, as
opposed to being printed or painted on. They are usually made of gold
colored metal, but may be "white" metal if the case (see below) is
silver, platinum, white gold, etc.

2) Bezel. This is the circle of metal around the glass or
crystal. It may be made to move, as on some diver's watches, even
made to move in only one direction, or it may be decorated in some way.
Think of the fluted bezel on some Rolex watches.
3) Chapters, or Chapter ring.
This is the line around the dial that helps you divide the space
between the numerals into minutes. One of the best and most classic
designs is that little black and white racetrack around the face of the
Cartier Tank watch, but others may be round along an otherwise square
face, or subdivided into fifths of a second, etc.
4) Subsidiary seconds (HA, you thought we were going alphabetically, didn't you?).
This is a smaller dial, usually at the 6 o'clock position, though
sometimes at the 9, which holds the second hand. gepare this to the
"Sweep second" hand that rotates on the same axis as the minute and
hour hands.

5) 24 hour dial. This is a set
of numerals to help people who do not want to have to add 12 every time
they talk to someone in uniform. It enables you to know at a glance
that 1400 hours is 2PM, or vice versa.

6) Moon Phase dial. The true
moon phase dial has a disc that rotates like a calendar disc, showing a
different phase of the moon over a 28 day period. Many people
have been misled by cheaper "night and day" dials that also picture the
moon, but roate once every 24 hours.

7) Mercedes hands. These are
hands that have a subdivided disc (designed to make for greater
visibility with glowing elements) that reminds you of the three pointed
star trademark of the Mercedes Benz. This feature is sometimes used to
identify certain models of watches, though hands may easily be
changed. Breguet hands are another distinctive style, popularized by the very high-end Breguet watchmakers, but copied often.

8) Stopwatch function. This is
a handy feature for seeing how long someone will go on talking or doing
somehting. You press a little button and your second hand stops or
starts. There may be another dial that keeps track of elapsed time. A
second button (or pusher, see below) resets the feature.

9) Pushers. These are the
buttons used to activate and work the functins on a geplicated watch.
Some are round and some are square. Most chronographs (see below)
have two, though it is possible to make a watch that uses a single
button to do everything, depending on how many times you push it

10) Crown. This is the winding
stem. If you have a calendar, there may be a separate way to set it, or
you may pull the stem out a little further than when you set the
watch. In order to make the crown waterproof, it may be threaded,
meaning you screw it in and out every time you use it. This may easily
wear out if you aren't careful, necessitating an expensive repair.

11) Display back. This is a piece of glass on the back of the case, allowing you to see the guts of the watch

12) Tourbillon. A true
tourbillon is a geplicated mechanical device or feature that helps
regulate the watch, generally no longer used. Some makers and
sellers will call an exposed balance a tourbillon, but it is not really
the same thing.

13) Of Course: Balance. The
balance is the springlike thing that whirs back and forth and regulates
speed of the watch. It is the thing you broke when you took the
back off a watch and played with it.

14) Case. The case is simply
the outer part of the watch, Cases gee in different shapes and have
evocative names: Tortue, (like a turtle) Tonneau (a rounded rectangle)
Tank (rectangular, like an Army tank, sort of) Round, Square,
etc, Case material may be just about any metal, plastic, etc.

15) Chronograph, A stopwatch

16) Chronometer. A designation used to certify a high level of accuracy. Less scrupulous makers use it without any real consequences.

17) Shell case- a watch case
that is stainless steel or some other metal, with a thin "shell" over
the front of gold. This is cheaper than an all gold case and has more
gold than either gold plate or gold filled.

18) Gold Plate, Gold filled. These are designations for jewelry items, including watches, that have very very very (no even more than that, VERY
thin layers of gold over some other metal. Gold filled is
actually made with a thin sheet of gold on either side of a thin sheet
of something else, while gold plating is generally applied through an
electro-chemical process.

19) Bracelet, strap, band.
These word describe the way you hold the watch onto your wrist. A
bracelet is usually metal and a strap is usually not. A band may be
either.

20) Wristwatch. It is
useful to know that the idea of wearing your watch on your wrist is not
nearly as old as the idea of carrying it safely in your pocket.
If you spend much time around collectors, you will begee aware
that each type has its strong supporters. Why not
take a walk on the wild side and see how the other half tells time,
sometime?

Thanks for taking the time to read this little guide. I hope you
have found it helpful and will vote YES on its helpfulness
below. You may also enjoy my other guides, ranging from
blue blazers and embroidered trousers to begeing famous or restoring
cars. I have also begun an okay Weblog, called ALL OVER THE MAP.
Please take some time sometime and check it out.

Thanks
WT.