Watch Glossary

Hour numeral jumps to the next hour at midnight rather than rotating smoothly, often used with retrograde minutes.

Rotating cage carrying escapement and balance wheel, precursor to tourbillon design.

Chronograph clutch mechanism engaging laterally to connect or disconnect the seconds wheel.

Indicator showing lunar month cycles, typically 29.5 days, advancing with gearing system.

Multi-axis magnetometer detecting geomagnetic orientation for compass functionality

Mechanism that chimes the time in hours, quarter hours, and minutes when a slide or pusher is activated.

Chronograph operated by single pusher button for start, stop, and reset functions.

Mechanical display showing lunar phases through rotating disk behind aperture on dial.

Aperture showing the current lunar phase, cycling every 29.5 days with rotating disc mechanism.

Complication displaying lunar phases with rotating disc showing moon's illumination cycle.

Near-field communication chip enabling contactless payments and data exchange

Pivoting pinion in chronograph that engages and disengages the motion work smoothly.

Mechanism that automatically adjusts for months with different numbers of days without manual correction until year 2100.

Simplified striking complication that chimes hours and quarters but only on demand.

Rotatable star chart on watch dial showing constellations visible from any date and time.

Display showing remaining energy stored in the mainspring, indicating when rewinding is necessary.

French term for perpetual calendar requiring no adjustment until the year 2100.

Split-seconds chronograph with two independent stopwatch hands that can be separated and recombined.

Split-seconds chronograph where the second hand can be stopped independently to measure intermediate times.

Chronograph with countdown mechanism and acoustic signal for yacht race starting procedures.

Complicated watch striking hours, quarters, or minutes audibly when activated by pusher.

Two balance wheels oscillating together to improve stability and accuracy through mutual synchronization.

Paired balance wheels vibrating in resonance to improve chronometric stability and precision.

Complication with hand sweeping across arc then jumping back to start, indicating time passage.

Hand jumps back to start position instead of rotating continuously, creating dramatic visual effect.

Chronograph optimized for maritime use with specific timing functions for nautical operations.

French term for dead beat or jumping seconds hand mechanism with stepped advancement.

Time measured by the Earth's rotation relative to stars rather than the sun.

Advanced accelerometer differentiating REM, light, and deep sleep phases

Chiming mechanism that strikes the hours and sometimes quarters automatically at set times.

Chronograph with two independent hands allowing measurement of two simultaneous time intervals.

Watch dial depicting the night sky map with stars and constellations for a specific latitude.

Biometric algorithm analyzing heart rate variability to assess psychological tension

Complication using hammers and gongs to audibly announce time or trigger alarms at predetermined intervals.

Smaller dials within the main dial displaying specific functions like chronograph elapsed time or subdued seconds.

Complication displaying the times of sunrise and sunset for the wearer's location or selected city.

Mechanical display showing the times of sunrise and sunset for a specific geographic location.

Complication displaying precise times of solar rise and set for specific geographic location.

Integrated scale displaying ambient temperature, typically placed on the dial edge or subsidiary dial.

Minute repeater chiming hours, quarter hours, and minutes when respective pushers are activated individually.

Displays tidal information based on lunar cycles, useful for maritime and sailing activities.

Seconds hand that advances in one-second jumps at specific intervals, also called dead beat.

High-precision positioning technology enabling spatial awareness and proximity detection

Chronograph clutch mechanism engaging vertically, also called cam-follower or friction clutch.

Moving hour numeral circling dial rather than traditional rotating hand mechanism.

Complication where hours appear in a rotating disc window, moving horizontally across the dial.

Displays 24 or more time zones simultaneously, often with city names on the dial or bezel.

Annual calendar display indicating astrological zodiac signs rather than traditional month names.

Dial complication showing the current zodiacal sign based on the calendar date.

Rotating dial or hand showing current zodiacal position based on calendar date.