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| Annual calendar |
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The automatic allowances for the different lengths of each month of a year in
the calendar module of a watch. This type of watch also usually shows the month
and date, and sometimes the day of the week (like this one by Patek Philippe)
and the phases of the moon.
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| Antimagnetic |
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Mechanical movements are easily influenced by the magnetic fields often found
in common everyday places. This problem is generally solved by the use of anti-
or nonmagnetic components in the movement. Some companies, such as Sinn, IWC,
and Bell & Ross, take things a step further and encase movements in
antimagnetic cores such as the one shown here from Sinn's Model 756,
the Duograph. Here the inner core is easily recognizable, as are the dial,
movement holder ring, and second case back. These precautions make the watch
antimagnetic to 80,000 a/M – far exceeding the norms demanded by
DIN and ISO.
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| Antireflection |
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A film created by steaming the crystal to eliminate light reflection and
improve legibility. Antireflection functions best when applied to both sides of
the crystal, but because it scratches, some manufacturers prefer to have it
only on the interior of the crystal. It is mainly used on synthetic sapphire
crystals. Dubey & Schaldenbrand applies antireflection on both sides for
all of the company's wristwatches such as this Aquadyn model.
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IWC's automatic Caliber 50611
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| Automatic winding |
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A rotating weight, set into motion by moving the wrist, winds the spring barrel
via the gear train of a mechanical watch movement. Automatic winding was
invented during the pocket watch era in 1770 by Abraham-Louis Perrelet,
who created a watch with a weight swinging back and forth (that of a pocket
watch usually makes vertical movements contrary to a wristwatch). The first automatic-winding
wristwatches, invented by John Harwood in the 1920s, utilized socalled hammer
winding, whereby a weight swung in an arc between two banking pins. The
breakthrough automatic winding movement via rotor began with the ball bearing
Eterna-Matic in the late 1940s, and the technology hasn't changed
fundamentally since. Today we speak of unidirectional winding and
bidirectionally winding rotors, depending on the type of gear train used.
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| Balance |
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The beating heart of a mechanical watch movement is the balance. Fed by the
energy of the mainspring, a tirelessly oscillating little wheel, just a few
millimeters in diameter and possessing a spiral-shaped balance
spring, sets the rhythm for the escape wheel and pallets with its vibration
frequency. Today the balance is usually made of one piece of antimagnetic
glucydur, an alloy that expands very little when exposed to heat.
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| Bar or cock |
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A metal plate fastened to the base plate at one point, leaving room for a gear
wheel or pinion. The balance is usually attached to a bar called the balance
cock. Glashütte tradition dictates that the balance cock be decoratively
engraved by hand like this one by Glashütte Original.
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| Beveling |
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To uniformly file down the sharp edges of a plate, bridge, or bar and give it a
high polish. Edges are usually beveled at a 45° angle. As the
picture shows, this is painstaking work that needs the skilled hands
and eyes of an experienced watchmaker.
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| Blued screw |
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Traditional Swiss and Glashütte watchmaking dictates that a movement
should contain blued screws for aesthetic reasons. Polished steel screws are
heated (or tempered, as it is known in watch parlance) to 290°C. This
process relaxes the steel, turning it a deep blue in color. Only a few
manufactures still put the tempering process into effect with actual heat,
others preferring the chemically induced version that assures an even color
every time. Jaquet Droz and a few other brands even use blued screws as design
elements on their dials.
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| Bridge |
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A metal plate fastened to the base plate at two points leaving room for a gear
wheel or pinion. This vintage Favre-Leuba movement illustrates the
point with three individual bridges.
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