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Cabachon, Annual Calendar, Gregorian Calendar, Full Calendar, Julian Calender, Perpetual Calender, Caliber, Cannon, Chapter-Ring, Carousel, Carriage Tourbillon, Case, Center-Wheel, Champleve,
Chime, Chronograph, Chronometer, Circular Graining, Cloisonne, Clous De Paris, Column-Wheel, Complication, Corrector, COSC,
Cotes Circulaires, Cotes De Geneve, Counter, Crown, Crown-Wheel
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Cabachon
Any kind of precious stone, such as sapphire, ruby or emerald, uncut and only polished, generally of a half-spherical shape, mainly used as an ornament of the winding crown or certain elements of the case. |
Calendar, Annual
An intermediate complication between a simple calendar and a perpetual calendar. This feature displays all the months with 30 or 31 days correctly, but needs a manual correction at the end of February. Generally, date, day of the week and month, or only day and month are displayed on the dial. |
Calendar, Gregorian
With respect to the Julian Calendar, the calendar reform introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 corrected the slight error of the former calendar by suppressing a leap year numbers are divisible by 400 (this entailed the elimination of the leap years in 1700, 1800 and 1900, but not in 2000 and 2400). In non-Catholic countries this reform was introduced after 1700. |
Calendar, Full
Displaying date, day of the week and month on the dial, but needing a manual correction at the end of a month with less than 31 days. It is often combined with the moonphase |
Calendar, Julian
The calendar established by Julius Caesar was based on the year duration of 365.25 days with a leap year with 366 days every 4 years. In 325 AD, this calendar was adopted by the Church. Due to the slight error (0.0078 day) implied in this time count, the Julian Calendar was later replaced by the Gregorian Calendar. |
Calendar, Perpetual
This is the most complex horology complication related to the calendar feature, as it indicates the date, day, month and leap year and does not need manual corrections until the year 2100 (when the leap year will be ignored). |
Caliber
Originally it indicated only the size (in lines, “‘) of a movement, but now this indication defines a specific movement type and combines it with the constructor's name and identification number. Therefore the caliber identifies the movement. |
Cannon
An element in the shape of a hollow cylinder, sometimes also called pipe or bush, for instance the pipe of the hour wheel bearing the hour hand. |
Chapter-Ring
Hour-circle, i.e. the hour numerals arranged on a dial. |
Carousel
Device similar to the tourbillon, but with the carriage not driven by the fourth wheel, but by the third wheel. |
Carriage or Tourbillon Carriage
Rotating frame of a tourbillon device, carrying the balance and escapement. This structural element is essential for a perfect balance of the whole system and its stability, in spite of its reduced weight. As today's tourbillon carriages make a rotation per minute, errors of rate in the vertical position are eliminated. Because of the wide spread use of transparent dials, carriages became elements of aesthetic attractiveness. |
Case
Container housing and protecting the movement, usually made up of three parts: middle, bezel, and back. |
Center-Wheel
The minute wheel in a going-train. |
Champleve
Hand-made treatment of the dial or case surface. The pattern is obtained by hollowing a metal sheet with a graver and subsequently filling the hollows with enamel. |
Chime
Striking-work equipped with a set of bells that may be capable of playing a complete melody. A watch provided with such a feature is called chiming watch. |
Chronograph
A watch that includes a built-in stopwatch function, i.e. a timer that can be started and stopped to time an event. There are many variations of the chronograph.
From the Greek chronos (time) and graphein (to write). Originally a chronograph literally wrote, inscribing the time elapsed on a piece of paper with the help of a pencil attached to a type of hand. Today this term is used for watches that show not only the time of day, but also certain time intervals via independent hands that may be started or stopped at will. So-called stopwatches differ from chronographs because they do not show the time of day. Not be mistaken for a chronometer. |
Chronometer
A high-precision watch. According to the Swiss law, a manufacture may put the word "chronometer" on a model only after each individual piece has passed a series of tests and obtained a running bulletin and a chronometer certificate by an acknowledged Swiss control authority, such as the COSC.
literally, "measurer of time." As the term is used today, a chronometer denotes an especially accurate watch (one with a deviation of no more than five seconds a day for mechanical movements). Chronometers are usually supplied with an official certificate from an independent office such as the C.O.S.C. |
Circular Graining
Superficial decoration applied to bridges, rotors and pillar-plates in the shape of numerous slightly superposed small grains, obtained by using a plain cutter and abrasives. Also called Pearlage or Pearling. |
Cloisonné
A kind of enamel work— mainly used for the decoration of dials—in which the outlines of the drawing are formed by thin metal wires. The colored enamel fills the hollows formed in this way. After oven firing, the surface is smoothed until the gold threads appear again. |
Clous De Paris
Decoration of metal parts characterized by numerous small pyramids. |
Column-Wheel
Part of chronograph movements, governing the functions of various levers and parts of the chronograph operation, in the shape of a small-toothed steel cylinder. It is controlled by pushers through levers that hold and release it. It is a very precise and usually preferred type of chronograph operation. |
Complication
Additional function with respect to the manual-winding basic movement for the display of hours, minutes and seconds. Today, certain features, such as automatic winding or date, are taken for granted, although they should be defined as complications. The main complications are moonphase, power reserve, GMT, and full calendar. Further functions are performed by the so-called great complications, such as split-second chronograph, perpetual calendar, tourbilon device, and minute repeater. |
Corrector
Pusher positioned on the case side that is normally actuated by a special tool for the quick setting of different indications, such as date, GMT, full or perpetual calendar |
COSC
Abbreviation of "ContrOle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres," the most important Swiss institution responsible for the functioning and precision tests of movements of chronometers. Tests are performed on each individual watch at different temperatures and in different positions before a functioning bulletin and a chronometer certificate are issued, for which a maximum gap of -4/+4 seconds per day is tolerated. |
Cotes Circulaires
Decoration of rotors and bridges of movements, whose pattern consists of a series of concentric ribs. |
Cotes De Geneve
Decoration applied mainly to high-quality movements, appearing as a series of parallel ribs, realized by repeated cuts of a cutter leaving thin stripes.
Also called vogues de Geneve. Surface decoration comprising an even pattern of parallel stripes, applied with a quickly rotating plastic or wooden peg. |
Counter
Additional hand on a chronograph, indicating the time elapsed since the beginning of the measuring. On modern watches the second counter is placed at the center, while minute and hour counters have off-center hands in special zones, also called subdials. |
Crown
Usually positioned on the case middle and allows winding, hand setting and often date or GMT hand setting. As it is linked to the movement through the winding stem passing through a hole in the case. For waterproofing purposes, simple gaskets are used in water-resistant watches, while diving watches adopt screwing systems (screw-down crowns). |
Crown-Wheel
Wheel meshing with the winding pinion and with the ratchet wheel on the barrel-arbor. |
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