Watch
From Domicella's wikiStyle
The ubiquity of mobile phones has perhaps decreased the practical need for watches as instruments to tell time. Nonetheless, watches can be a stylish addition to one's ensemble, especially in more formal attire.
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Anatomy of a Watch
- The Case - The watch case is the housing for the watch and all its various parts. It can be made of stainless steel or other materials, some cheaper (including plastic) and some far more expensive (including gold and platinum).
- The Case Back - The case back, protecting the watch's inner materials, needs to be removed to replace batteries, make repairs, etc. It can sometimes be a clear crystal on certain luxury models.
- The Crystal - This is the "glass" through which you view your watch. This can be made of plastic, glass or more expensive materials.
- The Bezel - This is the outer ring of the watch face, holding the crystal in place.[1] A unidirectional bezel is a bezel that rotates one direction, and can be used for measuring elapsed time or viewing time in another time zone. A unidirectional bezel has less potential for being bumped and moved. This is especially useful when measuring critical elapsed time underwater while diving.[2]
- The Crown - The small knob you use to set time or wind your watch. It's also called a stem or pin.[1]
- The Display - Indication of time or other data, either by means of hands moving over a dial (analogue display) or by means of numerals appearing in one or more windows (digital or numerical display); these numerals may be completed by alphabetical indications (alphanumerical display) or by signs of any other kind. Example: 12.05 MO 12.3 = 12 hours, 5 minutes, Monday 12th March. Such displays can be obtained by mechanicalor electronic means.
- The Dial - Indicating "face" or plate of metal or other material, bearing various markings to show, in ordinary watches and clocks, the hours, minutes and seconds. Dials vary very much in shape, decoration, material, etc. The indications are given by means of numerals, divisions or symbols of various types.
- The Band - A bracelet usually indicates metal (including precious metals) while a strap usually indicates leather, animal hide, rubber or plastic.
- The Clasp - The metal device that holds the band in place.
- The Movement - A movement is the completed, finished individual mechanism contained inside the case of the watch, not including the case or dial itself, which is responsible for keeping time. An ebauche is typically understood to mean a "raw" or unassembled, unfinished movement, including the major structural components (plates, bridges) and sometimes parts of the wheel train and other moving parts. A caliber is the collective name given to a series of movements of the same design.[4]
Mechanical vs. Quartz
- Quartz - In an analog quartz watch, the heart of the watch is the integrated circuit, made up of a large number of electronic components grouped together on a base of only a few square millimeters. The source of energy consists of a miniature battery which lasts several years. The time is divided by a quartz oscillator which is made to vibrate by the energy supplied by the battery. Quartz watches are extremely accurate thanks to their high frequency of vibrations (32 kHz); their annual variation is only about one minute per year, equivalent to less than a second a day. In this field there are two main kinds of products:
- Watches with an analog display (hands),
- Watches with digital display; this is fitted with liquid crystals which receive, directly from the integrated circuit, the impulses needed to display the time. So there is no mechanical transmission.
- Mechanical - The traditional mechanical watch is made up of about 130 parts assembled in the three main parts which are the source of energy, the regulating parts and the display. The number of component parts is much higher in so-called complicated watches (date, phases of moon, fly-back hand, etc.). The "ébauche" (about 60 parts) fitted with the regulating and certain other parts, forms the movement, in other words the internal mechanism of the watch, which makes it possible to maintain a constant tension in the spring once it has been wound manually or automatically (by movements of the wrist) and to regulate the display by means of the hands (hours, minutes, seconds). A watch is said to be finished when the movement has been fitted with a dial, hands, and case.
Accuracy
Quartz watches are extremely accurate thanks to their high frequency of vibrations (32 kHz). The frequencies of oscillations (number of one-way movements of the regulating organ per hour) mainly used in mechanical watches range from 21,600 Ah (3 Hz) to 28,800 Ah (4Hz)[3]
A good mechanical watch can typically be made no more accurate than 2-3 seconds per day. Your typical inexpensive quartz is usually good to 0.5 seconds per day or better.[4]
Again, a function of a watch can be more than just accurate time keeping, especially with the ubiquity of mobile phones. It can be an important statement of style and fine watches can even passed down to future generations as an heirloom.
Higher grade watches have traditionally used jeweled movements, which means that jewels (originally natural ruby, now synthetic ruby) were actually used in the movement. These jewels are functional - they are used as the bearings for the wheel trains and in high wear parts such as the escape lever and impulse jewel.
A lower-end movement from before 1970 would typically use 5 or 7 jewels; this end of the market has pretty much been taken over by quartz. Nowadays, most manual wind watches will have a standard complement of 17 jewels, which are:
- 1: Impulse jewel (the part of the balance wheel assembly which receives a kick from the escape lever)
- 2-5: Balance staff pivot bearings (two pairs - in combinations of one pivot jewel (i.e. jewel with a hole to receive the axle (pivot) of the wheel) and one cap jewel (i.e. jewel without a hole outboard of the pivot jewel, to prevent excessive movement of the balance staff), usually shock protected)
- 6-7: Escape lever pallets (one pair)
- 8-9: Escape lever pivot bearings (one pair)
- 10-11: Escape wheel pivot bearings (one pair)
- 12-13: Fourth wheel pivot bearings (one pair)
- 14-15: Third wheel pivot bearings (one pair)
- 16-17: Center wheel pivot bearings (one pair)
Note that automatic winding movements, and movements with additional functions such as chronographs and calendars, can up the total number of jewels tremendously.
Chronograph vs. Chronometer
A chronometer is a watch which has passed a test given by the Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronometres, or COSC. The COSC is an official Swiss government agency which tests watches to ensure that they fit within a narrow-but-usually-obtainable window of acceptable error (i.e., the rate in all positions falls into the range of -4 seconds/day to +6 seconds/day). While some watch companies tout their products as having a COSC certificate, it really is not that difficult to pass the test, and over 95% of the watches submitted pass. Another factor to consider is that the COSC does not test watches as they are sold in the store, but movements fitted with a temporary case, dial and hands. In addition, the COSC certificate cannot say anything about how the movement was handled after testing. For more information on COSC testing and the meaning of the results reported on the COSC certificate, see Mike Disher's article "Reading and Understanding a COSC Certificate". Several watch manufacturers actually put more stringent tests than the COSC procedures on all of their watch production (the JLC Master Control 1000-Hour series is probably the most well known.) Paul Schliesser has written an essay on how COSC testing is performed.
A chronograph is a watch that tells the time of day and also allows the user to time events of short-to-medium durations (i.e. from a few seconds to a few hours, typically). This is usually done in a mechanical watch through the central seconds hand, and one or more subdials (the regular, or continuous seconds, is also located on a dial). Chronographs are of varying usefulness, and are an interesting complication to put on a watch, as they often give the watch a sporty image. In addition to elapsed time, chronographs are often fitted with several scales designed to measure other things, such as pulse rate or units manufactured per hour. Mike Margolis has written a short discourse on chronograph scales.
Style
For casual occasions, almost any wrist watch can be appropriate. It is important to consider the ratio of the watch's case to your wrist size and/or hand size. If you have smaller wrists and/or hands, a watch with a big case can accentuate the sizes of both, making a potentially awkward look. Hence, even in casual occasions, a fine but large diver's watch with a large case might not be the best fit.
For formalwear and formal occasions, consider watches that are not activity oriented watches (e.g. dive, sports, etc.). A watch with either a strap or bracelet with a analog date and time display can be a simple yet elegant statement of formal style. You can choose the amount of decorative jewelry (non-movement jewelry), if any, to further personalize your style. There are also a wide variety of fine (and expensive) watches suitable for formal occassions that do not have any jewelry. Most formal watches would not be suitable for wear during vigorous physical activity since they were not built for activity based durability.
Traditionally, pocket watches were the custom time accessory with tuxedos or three-piece suits although that is not the case today.
Maintenance
Mechanical and automatic watches should be cleaned and serviced every three years to ensure trouble-free time keeping. The moving parts of quartz watches also need maintenance, as they are not under tension and any small, foreign particle is sufficient stop them.
Where fitted, the battery needs to be changed when drained. This is the time for routine maintenance. Apart from changing the battery, digital quartz watch need no routine maintenance. Where water resistant seals are fitted, cleaning is required less often, however seals must be changed whenever the case back is removed. Otherwise they should be changed annually and resistancy checked using pressure equipment, through the manufacturers' agent.
It is worthwhile remembering that regular exposure to chemicals, or sea water, can damage straps, plated cases and bracelets and a solid metal or specially constructed material is recommended if regularly used in these conditions. Cosmetics and perfumes can also cause damage if directly applied to plated dials and straps.
