Watchionary

Incabloc is a brand of shock protection for mechanical watches. This is integrated into their balance wheels and designed to enhance their durability and shock resistance.

This involves a large seconds hand at the centre of the dial, which moves in one-second intervals and can be halted independently without affecting the watch's overall movement.

Jumping seconds refer to a hand on a chronograph that completes a full rotation every second while halting at four, five or even eight intervals to indicate quarters, fifths or eighths of a second. This hand is also known as a foudroyante.

Knurling is a commonly used manufacturing process that involves impressing a pattern of straight, angled or crossed lines on a material, usually carried out on a lathe.

The Lap Timer function in a chronograph watch enables the wearer to measure the intervals of a race or an event. After the completion of each segment, the timer is paused and reset to zero to start timing the subsequent segment.

Mother of Pearl is the iridescent lining of a freshwater mollusc that is frequently employed to embellish watch dials. It is characterised by a range of colours, including but not limited to milky white, blue and pink.

Renowned watch brands employ traditional decorative techniques, known as 'métiers d'art' or 'art professions'. Skilled artisans undergo years of training to become proficient in their respective crafts, with their tools and knowledge often passed down through apprenticeships or within families.

A NATO strap is a singular, continuous material used to secure a watch to the wearer's wrist, distinguishing it from the traditional two-piece watch strap. The majority of NATO straps are crafted from ribbed fabric; they can also be fashioned from other materials, such as leather. NATO straps are commonly found on diver's and sport watches.

The Navette Cut is a style of elongated gemstone cutting that is often used interchangeably with the Marquise Cut. The dial here showcases a navette shape.

A lustrous, white opaque finish with a smooth texture can be achieved by first applying a silver powder coating and then by adding a transparent layer. This process results in a silky appearance termed Opaline-white.

Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) is a method of applying a coating to watches to achieve a coloured finish (mainly black).

A Panda Dial is characterised by a white background with black subdials, whereas a Reverse Panda Dial displays the opposite colour scheme, a black background and white subdials.

A pavé is a collection of gemstones, arranged in close proximity to each other, covering the entire surface.

The pin buckle, alternatively referred to as a tang buckle, is a classic type of loop & pin buckle that is commonly used in straps.

The Poinçon de Genève, also known as the Geneva Seal, is a certification awarded to watches that exhibit exceptional quality and finish. This prestigious distinction is granted by an independent organisation with rigorous standards for provenance, craftsmanship and precision.

A Pulse Scale on a chronograph is a feature designed for measuring heart rate.

Quartz is a type of watch movement that leverages an electronic oscillator, controlled by a quartz crystal for timekeeping. This movement is powered by a battery that transmits an electrical charge through the crystal to generate high-frequency vibrations. These vibrations propel a watch's hands, thereby enabling the piece to keep time with exceptional precision.

The Quick-Date or Quickset Date is a watch mechanism designed to directly set the date, thereby eliminating the need to manually adjust the hands by a full 24-hour cycle.

A rehaut refers to the metal flange found between a watch's dial and its crystal.

Rider Tabs refer to the four markers positioned on the bezel of a watch, serving as reference points to indicate a specific time or duration, such as a departure time or a time to remember.

A slide rule bezel consists of two logarithmic scales: one stationary and the other on a rotating outer ring, enabling multiplication and division by rotating the outer ring. This function can be used for a range of navigational calculations, such as airspeed, rate/time of climb or descent, flight time, distance, fuel consumption and distance unit conversions.

In mechanical watches, a sweeping seconds hand moves continuously around the dial, according to the movement's frequency, in contrast to the typical one-second jumps of a quartz movement's seconds hand, also known as dead seconds.

With its silky lustre and brown background adorned with fibrous yellow highlights, a tiger's eye is a yellowish-brown to reddish-brown gemstone that is used for watch dials, among other things. It is a type of quartz.

It's a hand that measures seconds, which can be placed in the centre of the main dial or in a smaller subdial.

The Winding Crown is, basically, a button, found in various shapes, often knurled or fluted. It is held between the thumb and the forefinger and used to wind a watch.