Glossary of Terms
A.
Alarm - A sound will be emitted from the watch at a time set by you.
Altimeter - This is a function that tells you the altitude, this function can be found on the Tissot T-Touch for example.
Analogue -A watch that uses hour and minute hands to display the time.
ATM - This stands for Atmosphere and is a term used when measuring water resistancy. Please see Water resistance section for more information.
Automatic - An automatic movement generates its power from the winding of the internal main spring, this is achieved by the watch being worn and the movement of the wearer, therefore never requiring a battery.
B.
Battery -This is simply the source of energy that powers quartz watches, you would typically expect the battery to last a minimum of 18 months.
Bezel - This the term that is used to describe the outer part of the watch located around the watch dial. On certain sports models the bezel can rotate.
Bracelet -When describing watches the term bracelet is used if the strap is made of metal,the metal can be anything from a base metal to a precious metal such as Gold. Most of these types of Strap can be adjusted to the wearers wrist size.
C.
Calendar -The calendar function on a watch can vary from simply showing the date, to showing the day and date to having a perpetual calendar function, a perpetual calendarhas been programmed so it automatically changes the date at the end of the month for you, e.g. it knows April has 30 days so will automatically go to the 1st at midnight.
Carat - This term can mean two things, firstly it can mean the purity of Gold, most Rotary Gold watches are 9ct Gold whereas All of Tissots Gold watches are 18ct Gold. The second meaning is used when describing the weight of Diamonds, so if a watch has 1.00ct of Diamonds for example. A carat of Diamonds is made up of 100 points, if a watch says it has 0.50ct of Diamonds this means it has Half a carat of Diamonds.
Case - The outer casing of the watch, this protects the movement from any damage.
Chronograph - This is basically another term used for stopwatch, it allows the wearer to stop, start and reset the time. Most Chronographs have three Dials measuring seconds, minutes and hours.
Chronometer - This is a name give to a watch that has passed certain criteria set by Control Officile Suisse de Chronometers or C.O.S.C. They put the watch through certain tests involving temperature and different positions and if passed they will issue the watch with a certificate with its own unique pass reference.
Clasp - This is the feature that fastens the strap or bracelet of the watch
Compass -A feature that gives the wearer an indication of the geographic North. This feature can be found on the Tissot T-Touch range.
Crown - The crown is the small button shaped piece on the right hand side of the case, in non automatic or quartz watches it is known as the winder and is used for winding the watch. In automatic or quartz watches it is simply used for changing the timeor date. In a lot of watches designed for swimming they will have screw down crowns which makes the watch more waterproof. Nearly all of Rotary watches have a screw down crown, this is called there dolphin standard.
Crystal -This is the transparent covering over the dial, it is sometimes referred to as the glass. You can get different crystals but they are typically either Mineral or Sapphire, Sapphire Crystals are the hardest and most durable and these can be found on the entire Tissot range.
D.
Dial - This is the face of the watch which is located directly under the crystal.
Digital Watch - This is a watch that doesn’t have the traditional hand and hour hands but instead displays the time on an lcd or led display, Adidas do a large range of Digital watches.
Divers Logbook - A feature found on the Tissot Sea Touch that allows the wearer to record information on their dive.
Dolphin Standard - A term used solely by Rotary to indicate that their watches are suitable to swim and dive in.
Dual Time - This is a function that allows the wearer to have two different time zones on their watch.
G.
Gold Plating - This is a term used on watches that have been plated with Gold. The Gold will typically be plated on to a Stainless Steel watch. The thickness of the plating is measured in Microns some are 3, 5 or higher. These days another technique is also used called PVD plating which is a method of Plating that actually penetrates the metal resulting in a much more durable and robust plating method.
H.
Hallmark -The mark given by the Assay office to determine the purity of a precious metal.
Hands - The markers that determine the hours and minutes on an analogue watch.
L.
Lap Timer - A function that can be found on Chronograph watches that allows the wearer to time individual segments of a race.
LCD - This stands for Liquid Crystal Display and is found on most Digital watches such assome of the Adidas range.
M.
Mechanical watch - This is a type of watch that requires winding up due to this is commonly known as a wind-up watch.
Meteo - This is a barometer function found on the Tissot T-touch series which shows the weather changes via the hands and the absolute pressure on the digital display.
Movement -This is the type of inner workings a watch has, this can be a Quartz, Automatic,or Mechanical, Quartz are typically the most accurate.
P.
PreciousMetal - A general term used for describing Silver, Gold, or Platinum.
Q.
Quartz -The most common form of movement found in watches which uses the vibrations of a quartz to ensure accurate timings. A Quartz is considered one of the most accurate types of movement, it will require a new battery every 18 months - 3 years.
S.
SapphireGlass - The hardest and most durable Crystal or Glass, this type of crystal is almost completely scratch resistant.
Screw Down Crown - A crown that is literally screwed in and which increases the water tightness of a watch, you will find this on nearly all of the new Rotary watches and on the Tissot PRC200 range.
Stainless Steel - The ideal metal for watches due to its Robustness and its ability to be virtually Rust and corrosion proof.
Stop Watch - A function that allows the wearer to stop and start the watch to record intervals of time, these can be found on most Digital and all Chronograph watches.
Strap - The term used for a non-metal strap, leather for example.
Swiss Made - This term is a sign of quality and great workmanship and means that the watch has to off been assembled and tested in Switzerland, it also means that half the parts in the movement are Swiss. All Tissot watches are Swiss made.
T.
Tachymeter - Used for measuring average speed or units and is found on the Bezel of a watch.
Titanium -A metal that is 50% lighter than steel yet is 30% stronger, it is also hypo allergenic and has a high resistance to salt water corrosion so it makes the ideal material for Divers watches.
W.
Water Resistance - The name used to indicate what depths a watch can be used in without lettingwater in. The depths quoted such as 30 Metres are when a watch is completely still in the water and does not take in to consideration the pressure created when swimming for example. We recommend reading our Water Resistance section to fully understand this term.