GLOSSARY
‘Swiss made’ watches: conditions revised
The governing body of the Swiss watch industry, la Fédération de l’industrie horlogère suisse (FH), yesterday approved tighter conditions that must be met before a watch may use the ‘Swiss made’ designation. This was done to address concerns that the designation was being devalued.
At the moment, a watch may use the ‘Swiss made’ designation if at least 50 per cent of its constituent parts were made in Switzerland. This figure was revised in yesterday’s meeting. In relation to a mechanical movement, the value of its constituent parts produced in Switzerland must be not less than 80 per cent. For electronic watches, the figure is 60 per cent.
The FH also decided to add a new criterion. In addition to fulfilling the above condition, a mechanical watch may not use the designation ‘Swiss made’ unless at least 80 per cent of its production costs is attributable to operations carried out in Switzerland. The figure for electronic watches is 60 per cent.
There is a transitional period before the changes take effect.
The recommendations are being submitted to the Federal authorities.
Retrograde display: definition
A watch with a retrograde display does not display the time in a circular fashion, as we are used to seeing. Rather, it sets out the time in a linear manner. Instead of the hands going round in a circle, they travel along an arc, and when they get to the end, they jump back to the beginning, and so on.
Here is a picture of a watch we have already featured on this site: the Perrelet Regulator with retrograde hours.
This watch has retrograde hours; this means that the hour hand moves in a linear manner. You can see the hours numbered 1 to 12 in the top part of the dial. The hour hand moves from 1, all the way to 12, and then jumps back to the beginning. In this watch, the minute and second hands both move in a circular manner, and it is only the hour hand that features the retrograde concept.
So what do you think of a watch with retrograde display? I am not all that keen on them. I like the Perrelet Regulator featured in this post, but what caught my eye about it was its general design, and not the retrograde hours concept.
Watch movement: definition
A movement is the complete mechanism of a watch, residing within the case. It can be made up of many parts, depending on how complicated the watch is, whether it is a mechanical or electronic movement, and other factors.
Some watchmakers create their own movements in-house, while others buy in movements from companies that make them.
Sometimes a watchmaker may buy an uncompleted movement, and then do some more work on it to finish it up, perhaps by adding an escapement, a timing system, or other components. Such uncompleted movements are known as ebauches. The word ‘ebauche‘ is of French origin, meaning ‘outline’, or ‘blank’.
Movements of a particular type by a particular manufacturer are given the collective term ‘caliber’. This word is perhaps derived from the Latin expression, qua libra, meaning ‘of what weight’.
Chronometer: definition
The term ‘chronometer’ is derived from the Greek words ’kronos’ (’time’) and ‘metron’ (’measure’). For a watch to be described as a chronometer, it must meet certain precision standards.
In Switzerland, the Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres (COSC) conducts tests and issues certificates to watch movements that meet its standards. A watch containing a movement meeting those standards may use the term ‘chronometer’.
Here is the COSC definition of a chronometer:
‘A 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, by an official neutral body (COSC).’
On granting certification, the COSC issues the chronometer with a certification number.
The COSC tests are applied to watch movements (ie not completed watches) under certain laboratory conditions and for a certain period of time. They are therefore nothing to do with how a watch may then behave or perform when worn. As far as that is concerned, all the test is saying is, ‘having subjected the movement to certain tests over a specified period of time, we are satisfied that the movement passed our tests’.
Tourbillon: definition
In the days when pocket watches were more common than they are today, it was a very real problem to ensure that they kept accurate time despite the effects of gravity.
In order to address that issue, a watch escapement known as the tourbillon (French for ‘whirlwind’) was invented by Abraham-Louis Breguet. It was patented in 1801.
In simple terms, the escapement is mounted in a rotating frame, which by being in constant rotation, neutralises the effects of gravity.
These days, there is no practical need for the tourbillon as advancements in technology mean that accurate timekeeping is a lot easier to achieve. However, because of the skill etc involved in making the tourbillon, it is still used by makers of expensive watches to denote quality and skill.
Chronograph: definition
This is the first in a series of posts explaining the technical terms used by watchmakers.
A chronograph is a watch with features for short to medium interval timing. Basically, this means that a chronograph is a device that, in addition to telling the time, functions as a stop watch.
Chronographs may have either one or two pushers (buttons). In a one-button chronograph, the sole button (which could be the crown, or a specially designated button) performs the start, stop and reset functions. In a two-button chronograph, one button performs the start and stop functions, while the other resets the device.
The word ‘chronograph’ has its roots in the Ancient Greek, ‘χρονογράφος‘ (chronografos) which can be broken down thus: ‘χρόνος‘ ie chronos (time) and ‘γράφω‘ ie grafo (write), so capturing the idea of describing, or writing, time.
