Complete Guide to the Parts of a Luxury Watch.

If you want to learn how to describe a luxury watch like an expert, then you should handle all the basic terms and especially know each of its parts.

From Adeler Joyeros we leave you a guide so that you know all the fundamental parts of high-end watches.

How to describe a Luxury Watch?

When you go to the official website of Rolex or Cartier luxury watches , for example, you will find quite sophisticated descriptions…

As well as the description of the Rolex Air King: “With straight flanks and crown guards, its redesigned case features a subtle light line… etc.”

Or the description of the fantastic Audemar Piguet Royal Oak Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Limited Edition 300 luxury watch which notes the following:

“Pink “salmon” dial with “Evolutive Tapisserie” motifs, applied indexes and Royal Oak white gold hands with luminescent coating.”

As you will see each brand makes an effort to give specific details of each of the parts of the watches and this is what can make the difference when buying a luxury watch.

What are the Parts of a Luxury Watch?

The high-end watches feature varied designs and some of them even display distinctive brand hallmarks.

But some of its parts are invariable, i.e. they may change in shape, characteristics and materials, but they must be present in every watch.

What is the case of a high-end watch?

The watch case is a fundamental part and possibly among the most important because it is the one that supports the structure of the watch.

It contains all the internal parts of the watch and, together with the glass, protects the movement from external damage.

This element is the one that gives part of the external aspect that personalizes a watch and in fact can guarantee to a great extent the water-resistance.

The seals must be watertight both at the back and at the junction with the glass. It should be noted that there are press-fitted, threaded or screwed boxes.

An important detail to consider is that the flatter it is, the greater the airtightness.

Materials of a high-end watch case.

The cases of an ordinary watch can be made of plastic, brass or other cheap material, but the cases of luxury watches are always made of precious or resistant metals.

Many of them havecases made of gold, silver, platinum, palladium, rhodium or even titanium or ceramic material.

Throughout watchmaking history, different materials have been used to experiment and innovate in the field.

From iron, steel, ivory, porcelain, enamel, metal alloys, brass, nickel silver, silver, yellow gold, white gold, rose gold, platinum to metal alloys with special characteristics.

The material and technology used to manufacture the case has a great impact on the final price of a watch.

2.Bottom or cover.

This part of the watch is conditioned by the case, there can be oval, round, asymmetrical, rectangular and even square covers.

3. The Dial of a Luxury Watch.

This is one of the parts of a luxury watch that attracts the most attention, because they usually have a careful design and it is the “face of the watch”.

In fact, in other articles we have already dedicated a few lines to watch faces with information that you may find interesting.

This is the flat surface behind the glass, too, and it is the one on which the numbers that indicate the time and the hands of a watch rest.

They can have different styles, colors and are made of different materials; some of the most common styles are:

• Enameled Spheres.
• Dial Tapisserie or tapestry style.
• Sight Type Dial.
• Skeleton Sphere.

4.Bezel of a watch.

The bezel of a watch is an outer ring that may or may not have a functional character, in which numbers and indicators appear, in some very luxurious ones they have inlays of precious stones or they could simply be completely smooth.

There are rotating and fixed bezels, which generally help to ensure that the watch crystal fits correctly.

Among the most common bezel models are:

• Bezel with tachymeter.
• Countdown.
• Dual or GMT bezel.
• Diving bezel.

 

5.Crown of the mechanical or quartz watch.

It is the knob located on the side of the watch; its function is to wind your watch if it is a mechanical watch and if it is a quartz watch, the crown allows you to stop the watch.

Another of its functions is to allow the configuration of the time and date, for example.

The crown is commonly knurled for better grip, usually placed next to the number three, but may be in another position.

6. Glass.

Some people consider the crystal to be part of the crown, but specifically it is the protection that exists outside the dial.

There is talk of glass, but this screen can actually be made of other materials such as sapphire, which in fact sapphire is very resistant to scratches and will raise the price of the luxury watch.

7.Hands or needles.

They are the ones that allow the reading of time in analog clocks, because these rods present on the dial are the ones that indicate the hour markers.

Traditionally the hour hand is shorter than the minute hand and the second hand is usually the thinnest.

As for the design of the hands, these can be quite varied, each brand imprints its particular style; the watches usually consist of three hands, which indicate the hours, minutes and seconds.

8. Markers.

Perhaps it should not be considered specifically as “a part” because it is linked to the dial or face of the watch, but it is important to make reference to these,

Hour markers are lines or numbering that are on the watch face and allow the reading of the time when the hands point to them.

The markers can have different designs and formats, being the most common ones:

• Arabic numbering; common in western countries generally goes from 1 to 12, some models use all the numbers while others only use some positions such as 3, 6, 9, and 12.
• Roman numbering; it is less used than the previous numbering but some brands still opt for it.
• Diamond or other stone markers; it consists of replacing the numbers with precious stones to give it an air of sophistication.

9. Handles of a Luxury Watch.

Also called lugs, these are attached to the watch case and are the element that allows the watch case to be joined to the straps.

10. The Straps

The straps of a watch give it the final touch of personality, depending on the material: leather, metal etc., as well as its design can give the ultimate style to the watch.

They are usually removable and some models even have interchangeable straps to vary the style.

 

Movement, carrura and other terms

Those previously mentioned are the basic parts of a luxury watch, but there is a fundamental part which is the movement that we do not talk about.

The movement is the mechanism that drives a watch, i.e. it is the vital organ in the body of a watch.

This is really a separate and complex topic that deserves an exclusive guide that we will work on to complement the present one.

It is also possible to come across other more specific terms such as “the middle part of the case of a watch.

While you hear talk of “subdials” keep in mind that these are small circumferences that are on the dial of the watch.

Do you want to Buy or Sell a Luxury Watch?

Now that you know all this, you can handle yourself much better when buying or selling a used luxury watch.

If you need expert advice you can count on Adeler Joyeros because we carry out free appraisals of your second-hand watches in a totally professional manner.

And if you want to buy a piece, don’t forget to take a look at the models we have available in here

Contact us!