Anti-magnetic watches

Watches that continue to operate (with deviations under particular limits) when exposed to the influence of magnetic fields of a certain strength may be called anti-magnetic according to DIN.

Automatic winding

A watch whose mainspring is wound by harnessing the movement of the wearers’ arm/wrist. These movements cause the rotor (an oscillating weight) to rotate and wind
the mainspring.

Balance

The balance works in combination with the balance-spring to regulate the rate of a mechanical watch. The balance usually comes in the form of a three-spoke wheel whose oscillations are translated into the movement of the pallets via a small ruby pin (the impulse pin). In classical watch movements, the balance oscillates at a rate of 5 beats per second (bph), the equivalent to 18,000bph. To improve the precision, modern wristwatches have an increased rate of 19,800, 21,600, 28,800 or sometimes 36,000bph. In quality

wristwatches, the balance is made of an alloy called glycidur, a mixture of copper and beryllium, which has a hardness of 380 Vickers, allowing it to be carefully regulated and riveted in position. Temperature also has very little effect on this alloy.

Balance Spring

A spiral of ribbon-shaped metal, coiled 12 to 15 times, that ensures that the balance oscillates at a regular rate. The balance spring is securely fastened to the balance’s axis of rotation and delivers the braking and acceleration energies required to keep the balance rotating. Nivarox is the special alloy used for quality springs. Nivarox is an alloy that doesn’t rust, and is immune to magnetism and temperature.

B-EBE2000

All Bremont watches are treated for hardness with
B-EBE2000 technology. This special stage in the case production, in which the metal is bombarded with electrons, gives the stainless steel a dramatically increased hardness and scratch resistance. On the Vickers scale of hardness, B-EBE2000 produces a watchcase with a value of 2000,

which is approximately nine times that of the normal stainless steel used for watchcases.

Calibre

A term used to describe the form and/or size of a movement and often specifying the type of movement.

Chronograph

A watch with a stopwatch mechanism.

Chronometer

Movements whose accuracy has been tested and passed by an official 15-day series of tests by the C.O.S.C., over a range of temperatures and five physical positions.

The average daily deviation rate of the movement must be between –4 and +6 seconds and only then does the movement earn the right to be designated as a chronometer and receive a certificate issued by the C.O.S.C.

C.O.S.C

Controle Officiel des Chronométres is an independent non-profit testing organisation based in Switzerland.

Domed Crystal

A convex pane of clear glass-like material (usually artificial sapphire) covering a watch’s dial.

Escapement

Energy from the mainspring is restrained by the escapement to help control the gear train. At the same time the escapement provides further energy to the balance spring where unavoidable losses due to friction are compensated. Modern wristwatches usually contain the pallet escapement, which consists of the escape wheel and its pinion. 

Incabloc

A shock absorption system used in pocket and wristwatches.

Index (Adjustment)

A device, which can be used to set the rate of a watch by changing the effective length of the balance spring in the oscillation system.

Jewels

To minimise friction in the most important bearings, jewels

are fixed to the anchor pallets and ellipse. A movement with a large number of jewels does not necessarily mean that the movement is of particularly high quality.

Mechanical watches

Watches that are powered by a mainspring whose oscillating system runs purely on a mechanical basis, e.g. balance or pendulum.

Mohs hardness scale

This scale was devised to divide the whole spectrum of harness using a scale of 1 to 10. “1” stands for a very soft material (talcum) and “10” for the hardest material (diamond). 

Power reserve

The maximum amount of time over which a mechanical movement can continue to run after its mainspring has been fully wound.

PVD (Physical Vapour Deposition)

Special processes used for the application of thin hard-material coatings. The main advantage of PVD coatings is its

low precipitation temperature, which allows it to be used on many different material types. The surface hardness of the PVD coatings vary from 2000 to 3000 HV.

Rotor

The oscillating mass which moves and turns freely about its axis in an automatic watch. The rotor winds up the mainspring as it swings. A clutch prevents the rotor from over-winding the mainspring.

Sapphire Crystal

Sapphire crystal is the favoured material for watch crystal due to its exceptional hardness (9 on the Mohs scale). Using sapphire crystal is far more expensive to produce than mineral or acrylic crystals. Domed crystals are also far more expensive and difficult to produce than
flat crystals.

Using sapphire crystal is far more expensive to produce than mineral or acrylic crystals. Domed crystals are also far more expensive and difficult to produce than
flat crystals.

Shock absorption

A system used to protect the very fragile pivots of the balance staff against breakage. The jewels for the pivots of the balance staff are elastically fitted to the main plate. In response to a severe shock, they give first. A watch with shock absorption properties should be able to meet the demands of DIN 8308-A. The testing includes the watch being hit by a hammer at 4.4m m/s (equivalent of the watch being dropped from a one metre height onto a solid wooden floor). The watch must then not show a rate deviation of more than +/- 60 seconds a day.

Stainless Steel

An alloy of steel, nickel and chrome. Although difficult to work with, it is resistant to rust, extremely tough and antimagnetic.

SuperLumiNova®

An luminous paint used on the dials of watches that does not display any radioactive properties. The luminous effect is based on the principle of phosphorescence. SuperLumiNova® therefore needs to be charged by an

external light source. As many as 15 to 20 coats of SuperLumiNova® paint are applied to quality dials in very small measures, to ensure that luminous dials are effective whilst not encroaching on the aesthetic qualities of the dial.

Trip-Tick® Construction

All Bremont watch cases use Trip-Tick® construction consisting of three parts:
• the hardened steel bezel element containing the sapphire   crystal.
• the central body section consisting of a PVD-treated middle   barrel or titanium.
• the sapphire crystal back.
For both durability and aesthetics, the separate middle section allows our case designers to use differing metals, e.g. titanium, to alter the watch’s weight, while PVD allows Bremont to employ contrasting colours to distinguish between the various models.

UTC

UTC stands for ‘Universal Time Coordinated’ and allows the wearer to display local time together with the official world

time standard – UTC, or Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), or Zulu time (Z). UTC (replacing GMT in 1972) is therefore used as the standard clock of choice for international reference time in communications, military, aviation, maritime and other activities that cross time zones.

Vickers Hardness

A common scale used to determine the hardness of a material (using effect of a diamond being pushed against the object under test). The impression created by the diamond on the surface is measured and the hardness calculated. Stainless steel, for example, ranges from 200 to 240 HV, titanium 210 HV, sapphire crystal 2000 HV and diamond 4500 to 10,000 HV.

Water resistance

A pressure resistance of at least 10 Bar is guaranteed for every BREMONT watch. This corresponds to the pressure of water at a depth of 100 metres. Gaskets wear through external factors, and therefore water resistance should be checked annually to preserve a watch’s permeability to water.