THE WATCH SNOB’S DICTIONARY

For true aficionados, owning a watch is nothing if you can’t speak watch. Know your escapement from your tourbillon with our glossary

C

Chronograph noun. A timepiece with a built-in stopwatch, controlled by button pushers; one of the least-used functions, but nevertheless considered an essential part of any watch snob’s quiver.

Chronometer noun. A watch that has been rigorously assessed by the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute to ensure you’re never out by more than -4/+6 (for mechanical watches) or ±0.07 (for quartz) seconds per day.

Crystal noun, adj. The clear covering over the dial of a watch, made from acrylic, glass or synthetic sapphire. Although sapphire is significantly more scratch-resistant, the vintage allure of acrylic is often hard for a horologist to resist.

D

Dive watch noun. A watch designed to be worn underwater, with a minimum water resistance of 100m. Of course, a true snob would never wear anything rated less than 300m, just as he would never dream of actually wearing it in water.

E

Escapement noun. The ticking component that meters-out the energy ‘escaping’ from the mainspring into the gear train, moving the hands at the correct speed. It’s the beating heart of every mechanical watch.

G

Gérald Genta noun. Legendary designer who created some of the world’s most iconic watches. Until you own a ‘Genta-designed’ piece, you’re an amateur. George Daniels noun. The renowned British horologist, who died in 2011, was responsible for the ‘co-axial escapement’ – a development which revolutionised mechanical watch performance. Kudos.

H

Haute Horlogerie noun. A French term meaning ‘high watchmaking’, this is the name given to the upper echelons of the craft. If ‘horology’ is expensive watchmaking, haute horlogerie is very expensive watchmaking.

Helium Escape Valve/hev noun. A one-way valve that relieves the overpressure of helium that seeps into dive watches on saturation dives. That they’re only of use to deep-sea divers somehow serves to make them more covetable.

M

Moonphase noun.

An old-school complication that displays the phases of the moon, making it as superfluous to the modern man’s needs as the HEV ( above). But, yes, you do want one. Movement noun. A watch’s ‘engine’, these can be quartz (battery) or mechanical. Mechanical watches are favoured because not only are they vastly harder to make, they also possess more of a ‘soul’ (not yet a recognised watch-part).

P

Perpetual calendar noun. A complication that takes different month lengths into account, even during leap years, and displays at least the date and month. It’s the only ‘smartwatch’ a snob will confess to owning.

R

Rattrapante noun. A type of chronograph with an additional seconds hand, thus allowing two times to be recorded at once. Twice the prestige. Retrograde noun, adj. An indicator on the dial that moves across a semi-circle or arc before snapping back to the start, at which point it’s likely to elicit a carnal grunt from even the most righteous watch boffin.

T

The Holy Trinity noun. The name given to Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin and Patek Philippe. These Swiss brands are coveted because of

their history, exclusivity, and the fact they’ve never strayed into downmarket (read: more affordable) territory.

Tourbillon noun. A rotating cage that houses the escapement, to counter the effects of gravity. It’s both a show of expertise and a way to add a few zeroes to the price tag.

W

Worldtimer noun. A watch with a dial that can be adjusted to display the time in 24 time zones. Jet-setting aficionados enjoy having the world at their fingertips. Even with an iphone in their pocket.