Watch Glossary: M to Z

Memory in a watch refers to the records in which certain information the watch is able to store is kept. It's a feature typical of digital watches.

One type of memory can be the alarm, but the term is more commonly used to describe the lap-time memory of a stopwatch, which stores the split times taken, for example, to complete a full lap of a circuit, so that once the race is over these times can be retrieved for later analysis.

Other well-known watches with a memory function are Casio's DataBank models, some of which can store, for the entire useful life of the watch — and often, if done correctly, even after a battery change — relevant information such as a good number of phone numbers and/or dates.

A watch is an instrument capable of measuring natural time (days, years, moon phases, etc.) in conventional units (hours, minutes, or seconds), primarily allowing you to know the current time, although it may have other functions, such as measuring the duration of an event, triggering a signal at a specific time, or alerting us to an upcoming event such as the tides or moon phases.

See Analog:

This term describes a watch that uses hands or discs (such as the date disc) exclusively to display the value of all of its functions. Even though there are ANA-DIGI watches, or a combination of analog and digital means of showing the time and its functions, if a watch isn't fully analog then it isn't an analog watch. Consequently, it could be said that the classification is essentially "binary" (analog or digital), although the ana-digi or dual designation is still useful for understanding the type of dial a watch has.

See Automatic:

An automatic watch is a self-winding mechanical watch. These watches are traditional mechanical watches and can almost always be wound using the crown, just like manual mechanical watches, with the difference that they incorporate a self-winding system which, through an oscillating weight along with clutch and rotor mechanisms, winds the watch automatically as the wearer moves.

While the first modern timepieces were marine chronometers and tower clocks, followed later by wall clocks and mantel clocks, the first watches designed for personal use were pocket watches.

A pocket watch is a watch without lugs, meant to sit inside a pocket — typically in a suit jacket or waistcoat — until its wearer wants to check the time. They're usually fitted with a chain for easy access and, quite obviously, for security reasons. The small watch pocket found in trousers was specifically designed to hold a pocket watch, since it wasn't until World War I that wristwatches began to become popular.

See Quartz:

This term describes an electronic watch whose oscillator is made of quartz. These are the most popular and affordable watches, while also being highly accurate.

A typically wall-mounted mechanical clock, most commonly weight-driven (though electromechanical versions also exist), that announces the hours through a figure — usually a cuckoo bird — that pops out of a small door and calls out the hours.

More elaborate versions exist, often featuring intricately carved wooden cases.

They are traditional to the Black Forest region, both on the German and the Swiss sides.

A tabletop clock typically placed on a dresser or bedside table for its alarm function. It sounds at a preset time. The sound can be mechanical, through a bell, or electronic, through a buzzer, although more elaborate versions also exist that vibrate or flash a light. The alarm function refers to the ability to snooze it temporarily using a button — usually on top, for obvious convenience — so it sounds again after 5 minutes, or to turn it off completely using a switch that's harder to reach.

Alarm clocks that emit an electronic acoustic signal usually include a progressive alarm feature, which causes the sound to start off moderate and gradually increase in volume.

Another highly sought-after feature in today's alarm clocks is the sweeping seconds hand, which makes the seconds hand move smoothly instead of ticking forward in discrete steps each second. This eliminates the ticking sound, which is almost imperceptible during the day but can be very bothersome in the silence of the night.

Lastly, given the general everyday use of these clocks, they're usually designed with simple hour markers or Arabic numerals, generously coated in luminous paint on both the markers and hands for easy reading in the dark, along with simple, easy-to-read dial designs.

See Digital:

This term describes a watch that has one or more digital displays, such as LCD screens or LED matrices, to show all or some of its functions. Binary watches are a subcategory of digital watches. All digital watches are quartz watches.

An electronic watch is a watch whose timekeeping base is electronic or electromechanical, and therefore requires a source of electrical power, whether a cell or battery, a rechargeable accumulator, or an electrical current.

Quartz watches are a subdivision of electronic watches in which the oscillator is made of quartz, although other technologies exist — usually older and now obsolete — such as tuning-fork or membrane systems.

A skeleton watch is one in which all or a significant part of the dial is made of a transparent material, usually crystal, or has no dial at all, and where the case back must likewise feature a crystal window, making it possible to observe the watch's own mechanism as it runs.

While skeleton watches have become enormously popular in recent years, this is actually a fairly old and highly visual watchmaking style, although it's typically only true watch enthusiasts who fully appreciate this small complication.

Skeleton watches can actually look quite unattractive when this design approach is applied to "ordinary" movements, and aesthetically stunning when the watch features high-quality movements that have been modified and/or decorated to achieve superior visual beauty.

One of the most beautiful skeleton watches in the affordable range of Swiss mechanical watches, and an incredibly popular one, has been the Tissot T-Complication Squelette, with the Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Squelette being an entry-level option among manufacture watches — though most skeleton watches sit at the very high end, and a skeleton Bovet, highly sought after among luxury buyers, can cost anywhere from €100,000 to €200,000.

Naturally, driven by the recent surge in demand for this type of watch, Asian brands have emerged trying to imitate these pieces, but their quality is dismal — they're purely ornamental items that also tend to look quite unattractive to the connoisseur or true watch lover.

A mechanical watch is one whose main source of energy is purely mechanical, or one that measures time through a series of gears that regulate the speed of the hands, keeping pace with real time.

In mechanical wall or mantel clocks, the main power sources are weights that need to be raised periodically as they release their potential energy to power the clock's movement, or a mainspring that must be wound with a key to tension the spring.
In mechanical pocket watches or wristwatches, manually wound models are powered in a similar way to manually wound wall clocks, but using the watch's own crown, with no separate winding key required.
And finally, automatic mechanical watches — or automatic watches for short — can be wound manually (for example, to give them an initial charge if they've been left unused for a while and have stopped completely), but they also incorporate a self-winding system that uses an oscillating weight to wind the watch automatically, hence the name, as the wearer moves and the watch changes position (see automatic watch)

Although called "solar," this term refers to any watch that charges using light sources. While gradually becoming more popular, the most widespread solar technologies are:

• Solar: The first solar watch was manufactured by Seiko together with the German brand Junghans
• Eco-Drive: Citizen wanted to take things a step further and guarantees that any light source can power its watches, which is why it doesn't use the term "SOLAR," instead calling the set of technologies that let any kind of light power its watches "Eco-Drive." This formula has proven so successful that nearly all of its watches now feature it. Very few still run on batteries, and only a small number for the obvious reason that a mechanical watch can't be solar-powered.
• Tough Solar: This is the equivalent technology to Eco-Drive, but from Casio

1. Its movement is Swiss
2. The movement is cased in Switzerland
3. The manufacturer carries out the final inspection in Switzerland, and the watch meets certain requirements for accuracy, reliability, and resistance to water and vibrations

Similarly, a movement or caliber is considered Swiss if and only if:

1. The movement has been assembled in Switzerland
2. It has been inspected against Swiss quality criteria by its assembler and/or manufacturer
3. More than 50% of the component cost, not including assembly or other costs, comes from parts manufactured in Switzerland

As you can see, the rules are somewhat lenient, though in any case they aim to uphold the tradition and quality that consumers expect from a Swiss watch, while still allowing for competition and innovation in an increasingly globalized world. That said, the trend has been toward tightening these requirements.

The case back is the rear part of the watch. It may or may not feature a crystal window for viewing the movement, though this window is usually only found on mechanical watches, especially skeleton models.
Depending on how they close the case, case backs can be:

• Snap-on: These case backs close by applying pressure to them, and stay closed thanks to that same pressure. They're the least secure type, and at most you'll find them on watches with a water resistance of up to 50m
• Screwed: These case backs are secured in place with screws, usually four of them. This is very common in many Casio watches as well as in high-end, ultra-thin Swiss watches.
• Screw-down: This is the most common and most secure type, almost essential for dive watches or Diver's watches. It closes using a special tool, and although the tool needed is usually a standard one that any watchmaker can use, the most exclusive brands such as Rolex or Breitling use their own proprietary tools to ensure that only specialized workshops can service their watches, requiring relatively expensive tools or "case openers."

The tourbillon (translated from the French for "whirlwind") is a system designed in 1795 and patented in 1801 by the French watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet.

It's a mechanism that rotates the balance wheel's axis and the escapement, usually once per minute, in such a way that it compensates for the variation caused by the Earth's rotational movement, although it was originally designed to minimize the impact of friction on the axis. Today, that friction is minimized as much as possible through the use of synthetic rubies.

The tourbillon is considered the ultimate mechanical complication in watchmaking, and even the most affordable Swiss tourbillon watches typically cost upwards of ten thousand euros.