Watch Terms Glossary

A
Automatic Movement
An "automatic watch", also called a "self-winding" watch, does not work with a battery. That's the great part of it - You never have to change the battery. The mechanism of the watch winds by the movement of the wearer's hand. Most automatic watches have up to 36 hours of power reserve.

B
Band
The band of the watch is also known as the strap of the watch. It's either made of leather, plastic, rubber or any other fabric.

Bezel
The bezel of a watch is the ring around the crystal of the watch. On many elegant watches it may have diamonds and on sporty watches it may have calibrated markings for timing events...
Bi-directional Bezel: A bezel that turns both ways, clockwise and counter clockwise.
Unidirectional Bezel: A bezel that turns only counterclockwise.

Bracelet
The bracelet of the watch is usually made either of stainless steel, gold, ceramic or any combination of such type. The bracelet is made of flexible links that can be sized according to the wearer's wrist by removing the extra links.

C
Case
The case of the watch is the entire body of where the watch shows the time. It includes the dial, crystal, and movement... everything excluding the strap or bracelet.

Chronograph
Chronograph is the feature that a watch can have to measure different time systems. This allows the person to time different time and events either by hours, minutes, or seconds. It can also time speed and distance when used with calibrated markings on the dial. Some watches use sub-dials and yet others operate with a center seconds hand. Still others show elapsed time on a digital display on the dial of the watch.

Chronometer
For a watch to be called a Chronometer it must meet certain high standards set by the Swiss Official Chronometer Control (C.O.S.C.). The watch goes through a series of tests making sure that it is of high quality make.

Crown
The crown of the watch is used to set the correct time on the watch. It is also used to set the day and date. The crown is also known as either stem, pin, knob or button. It is located on the outer right side of the case. A screw in (or screw down) crown actually screws into the case insuring the watch to be more water resistant.

Crystal
The crystal is the clear material directly covering the dial of the watch. It is there to protect the watch from scratches and other damage. It can be made of glass, plastic, or sapphire crystal. Sapphire crystal is the most shatter and scratch resistant crystal.

D
Deployment Clasp
Most quality bracelet watches have a deployment clasp. This is a buckle that connects the two ends of the bracelet thus tightening the watch around the person's wrist. In order to remove or put on the watch, you need to deploy the buckle and then click it tight. All watch manufacturers have there slight variations of how they make it.

Dial
The dial of the watch is where you read the time also known as the face of the watch. Some watches will have sub-dials for counting seconds, minutes, or hours. The dial color adds very much to the look of the watch. Sometimes the sub-dial will be a different color than the big dial color.

G
G.M.T.
This feature (Greenwich Mean Time) shows at least more than one time zone on the watch's dial.

J
Jewels
Jewels are synthetic sapphires or rubies that act as bearings for gears in a mechanical watch. The jewels reduce friction to make the watch more accurate and longer lasting.

L
Links
Links are the separate pieces that are connected (linked) to form the bracelet of a stainless steel or gold watch.

Luminous Hands / Luminous Hour Markers
This feature is there to help you read the time even in the dark. The hands and hour markers are covered with "Glow in the Dark" material.

M
Mechanical Movement
This movement works by winding up the watch manually. Most watches today are operated by a battery (quartz movement) but the mechanical movement watches are becoming more popular today.

P
Power reserve indicator
This feature indicates when the power is low and you will need to either wind up the movement or replace the battery.

Q
Quartz Movement
This movement is powered by a Quartz Crystal that keeps the time very accurate. The Quartz movements are operated by battery that usually lasts 2-3 years.

S
Sapphire Crystal
The crystal is the clear covering over the dial (face) of the watch. Sapphire crystal is made of synthetic material that is the most expensive because of its great quality. It is the most shatter and scratch resistant crystal.

Second Hand
The second hand on a watch is the longest hand that moves every second going around the dial per minute.

Shock Resistant
Shock resistant or shock proof is the amount of high impact a watch can withstand.

Skeleton
Skeleton watches are made of transparent material which allows seeing the movement and other inner parts of the watch.

T
Titanium
Titanium watches are hypo-allergenic. It is a metal that is very strong and yet lighter than stainless steel. Titanium is sometimes used for the bracelet or case of the watch.

U
Unidirectional Bezel
A bezel that turns only counterclockwise.

W
Water Resistant
A watch that is water resistant means that it can withstand splashes of water. If the watch says, water resistant up to 30 meters or up to 1000 meters, it means that this watch can withstand greater depth of water. Most watches are water resistant but not all have the second part to it. You have to check the watch's manual to find out to what, if any, depth you can immerse the watch in.

Winding
Winding is the operation consisting in tightening the mainspring of a watch. This can be done either by winding the crown manually or automatically by means of a rotor, which is caused to swing by the movements of the wearer's arm.