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Altimeter - An altimeter is an instrument used to measure the altitude of an object above a fixed level. The measurement of altitude is called altimetry, which is related to the term bathymetry, the measurement of depth underwater.

Atomic Clocks

Atomic clock - An Atomic clock is a type of clock that uses an atomic resonance frequency standard as its timekeeping element. They are the most accurate time and frequency standards known, and are used as primary standards for international time distribution services, and to control the frequency of television broadcasts and GPS satellite signals.
Atomic clocks do not use radioactivity, but rather the precise microwave signal that electrons in atoms emit when they change energy levels. Early atomic clocks were masers with attached equipment. Currently the most accurate atomic clocks are based on absorption spectroscopy of cold atoms in atomic fountains such as the NIST-F1.
Atomic clocks are used to generate standard frequencies. They are installed at sites of time signals, LORAN-C, and Alpha navigation transmitters They are also installed at some longwave and mediumwave broadcasting stations to deliver a very precise carrier frequency, which can also function as standard frequency.
The time calculated by atomic clocks is sent to radio towers.In Germany, the tower is located in Mainflingen near Frankfurt. In Great Britain, the tower can be found in Anthorn. In the USA, the tower is located in Fort Collins. The tower in Japan can be found in Fukushima in the North East and Fukuoka in the South West. The tower for China is located in Shangqiu. The radio tower in Mainflingen reaches a watch with radio technology within a radius of up to 1,500 km depending on the model. A special feature of some CASIO radio watches is that they are equipped to receive signals from all six transmitters.
Atomic clocks are the basis of the GPS navigation system. The GPS master clock is a weighted average of atomic clocks at the ground stations and on-board the GPS satellites, each of which has several atomic clocks.

Automatic Movement - A self-winding or automatic mechanism is one that rewinds the mainspring of a mechanical movement by the natural motions of the wearer's body. The first self-winding mechanism, for pocketwatches, was invented in 1770 by Abraham-Louis Perrelet; but the first "self-winding," or "automatic," wristwatch was the invention of a British watch repairer named John Harwood in 1923. This type of watch allows for a constant winding without special action from the wearer: it works by an eccentric weight, called a winding rotor, which rotates with the movement of the wearer's wrist. The back-and-forth motion of the winding rotor couples to a ratchet to automatically wind the mainspring. Self winding watches usually can also be wound manually so they can be kept running when not worn, or if the wearer's wrist motions don't keep the watch wound.
Some electronic watches are also powered by the movement of the wearer of the watch. Kinetic powered quartz watches make use of the motion of the wearer's arm turning a rotating weight, which turns a generator to supply power to charge a rechargeable battery that runs the watch. The concept is similar to that of self-winding spring movements, except that electrical power is generated instead of mechanical spring tension.

ATS - Automatic Tide System - Rip Curl's patented averaging tide system. Easily set to thousands of beaches worldwide.

Analogue Watch - An analog or analogue signal is any continuous signal for which the time varying feature (variable) of the signal is a representation of some other time varying quantity, i.e analogous to another time varying signal. It differs from a digital signal in that small fluctuations in the signal are meaningful. Analog is usually thought of in an electrical context; however, mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic, and other systems may also convey analog signals.

Bar or Lug - wristwatch-cases, a thin metal rod fixed between the horns, for attaching the wristlet.

Bezel – The bezel is the topmost ring of the watch, surrounding the dial of the watch. A bezel may be fixed or in the case of a diver's watch, rotating. It can either be plain (usually fixed) or can be marked with, for example a 0-60 minute scale in the case of divers' watches. Older rotating bezels were usually bi-directional, modern diving watches are equipped with a unidirectional bezel.

Binary Watch - The binary numeral system, or base-2 number system represents numeric values using two symbols, usually 0 and 1. More specifically, the usual base-2 system is a positional notation with a radix of 2. Owing to its straightforward implementation in digital electronic circuitry using logic gates, the binary system is used internally by all modern computers.01 THE ONE Binary Watches are based on this numeral system.

Case The protective covering surrounding a watch movement. Primarily it is made from base metal, stainless steel, gold,etc., and includes a bezel, back and crystal.

Chronometer - Watch which has undergone a series of precision tests in an official institute. The requirements are very severe: a few seconds per day in the most unfavourable temperature conditions (for mechanical watches) and positions that are ordinarily encountered.

Chronograph - A chronograph is a timepiece or watch with both timekeeping and stopwatch functions. Pocket watch chronographs were produced as early as the 18th century but did not become popular until the 1820s.

Crown - Knurled knob located on the outside of a watch case and used for winding the mainspring. It is also used for setting the hands to the right time and for correcting the calendar indications.

Dial - The face of a watch.

Display - Indication of time or other data, either by means of hands moving over a dial (analogue display) or by means of numerals appearing in one or more windows (digital or numerical display); these numerals may be completed by alphabetical indications (alphanumerical display) or by signs of any other kind. Example: 12.05 MO 12.3 = 12 hours, 5 minutes, Monday 12th March. Such displays can be obtained by mechanical or electronic means.

Digital watches -Since the advent of electronic watches that incorporate small computers, digital displays have also been available. A digital display simply shows the time as a number, e.g., 12:40 instead of a short hand pointing towards the number 12 and a long hand pointing towards the number 8 on a dial. Some watches, such as the Timex Datalink USB, feature dot matrix displays. The first digital watch, a Pulsar prototype in 1970, was invented by bulgarian Peter Petroff and developed jointly by Hamilton Watch Company and Electro-Data. John Bergey, the head of Hamilton's Pulsar division, said that he was inspired to make a digital timepiece by the then-futuristic digital clock that Hamilton themselves made for the 1968 science fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey. On April 4, 1972 the Pulsar was finally ready, made in 18-carat gold and sold for $2,100 at retail. It had a red light-emitting diode (LED) display. Another early digital watch innovator, Roger Riehl's Synchronar Mark 1, provided an LED display and used solar cells to power the internal nicad batteries.

Diving Watch - A Diving watch is a watch designed for underwater diving that features, as a minimum, a water resistance greater than 10 ATM, the equivalent of 100 meters (330 ft). The typical diver's watch will have a water resistance of around 200 - 300 meters (660 - 990 feet), though modern technology allows the creation of diving watches that can go much deeper. A true diver's watch is in accordance with ISO 6425, which defines test standards and features for watches suitable for diving with underwater breathing apparatus in depths of 100 m or more. Watches conforming to ISO 6425 are marked with the word DIVER'S to distinguish diving watches from look alike watches that are not suitable for actual scuba diving.

Dot Matrix - A dot matrix is a 2-dimensional array of dots used to generate characters, symbols and images. A dot matrix display is a display device used to display information on machines, clocks, railway departure indicators and many and other devices requiring a simple display device of limited resolution. The display consists of a matrix of lights or mechanical indicators arranged in a rectangular configuration (other shapes are also possible, although not common) such that by switching on or off selected lights, text or graphics can be displayed. A dot matrix controller converts instructions from a processor into signals which turns on or off lights in the matrix so that the required display is produced.

ETA - ETA SA is a Swiss producer of mechanical and quartz watch movements. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Swatch Group.

Hand - Indicator, usually made of a thin, light piece of metal, very variable in form, which moves over a graduated dial or scale. Watches usually have three hands showing the hours, minutes and seconds.

Jeweled movement – Also called a jewel bearing is a bearing in which a metal spindle turns in a jewel-lined pivot hole. The hole is typically shaped like a torus and is slightly larger than the shaft diameter. In operation, the shaft tilts slightly so as to contact the jewel pivot hole at two opposite points. The shaft rolls inside the bearing rather than sliding. As the shaft rolls, the center precesses. Jewel bearings were invented in 1704 for use in watches by Nicolas Fatio de Duillier, Peter Debaufre and Jacob Debaufre who received an English patent for the idea. Originally natural jewels were used, such as sapphire, ruby, and garnet. In 1902 a process to make synthetic sapphire and ruby (crystalline aluminum oxide also known as corundum) was invented by Auguste Verneuil, making jewelled bearings much less expensive. Today most jewelled bearings are synthetic sapphire. The advantages of jewel bearings include high accuracy, very small size and weight, low and predictable friction including good temperature stability, ability to operate without lubrication and in corrosive environments

LCD Display -A liquid crystal display (LCD) is an electronically-modulated optical device shaped into a thin, flat panel made up of any number of color or monochrome pixels filled with liquid crystals and arrayed in front of a light source (backlight) or reflector. It is often utilized in battery-powered electronic devices because it uses very small amounts of electric power.

LED01 THE ONE Binary LED Watches -A light-emitting diode (LED) is an electronic light source. The LED was discovered in the early 20th century, and introduced as a practical electronic component in 1962. All early devices emitted low-intensity red light, but modern LEDs are available across the visible, ultraviolet and infra red wavelengths, with very high brightness. LEDs are based on the semiconductor diode. When the diode is forward biased (switched on), electrons are able to recombine with holes and energy is released in the form of light. This effect is called electroluminescence and the color of the light is determined by the energy gap of the semiconductor. The LED is usually small in area (less than 1 mm2) with integrated optical components to shape its radiation pattern and assist in reflection.[2] LEDs present many advantages over traditional light sources including lower energy consumption, longer lifetime, improved robustness, smaller size and faster switching. However, they are relatively expensive and require more precise current and heat management than traditional light sources. Applications of LEDs are diverse. They are used as low-energy replacements for traditional light sources in well-established applications such as indicators and automotive lighting. The compact size of LEDs has allowed new text and video displays and sensors to be developed, while their high switching rates are useful in communications technology.

Movement - A movement in watchmaking is the mechanism that measures the passage of time and displays the current time (and possibly other information including date, month and day). Movements may be entirely mechanical, entirely electronic (potentially with no moving parts), or a blend of the two. Most watches intended mainly for timekeeping today have electronic (Quartz Analogue, LED or Digital)movements, with mechanical hands on the face of the watch indicating the time.

Mineral Glass - Mineral glass is ordinary tempered glass made from silica. It is more scratch resistant than Plexiglass which is a plastic also used for watch crystals.

Perpetual Calender - The calendar mechanism or function on a watch can consist of a date only showing in a window through to a triple calendar, showing the date, day and month. A combination of dial cut outs and pointer hands may be used. The most complicated calendar mechanisms may be mechanically programmed to show the year, and months including those with less that 31 days; leap years can also be mechanically allowed for.

Polyurethane - Commonly abbreviated PU, is any polymer consisting of a chain of organic units joined by urethane (carbamate) links. Polyurethane polymers are formed by reacting a monomer containing at least two isocyanate functional groups with another monomer containing at least two alcohol groups in the presence of a catalyst.

Saphirre Crystal - Scratch resistant glass with a hardness of 9. Mineral glass has a hardness of 5.

Solar Powered Watch - A solar powered watch is a watch that is powered entirely or partly by a solar panel. Some of the early solar watches of the 1970s had innovative and unique designs to accommodate the array of solar cells needed to power them (Synchronar, Nepro, Sicura and some models by Cristalonic, Alba, Seiko and Citizen). In the 1990s, Citizen started to sell light powered watches under the Eco-Drive series name. They have developed the technology such that solar powered watches are now a major part of their range of watches. Several other watch manufacturers offer similar watches or are developing such technology. These other watch manufacturers include (amongst others) Junghans, Casio G-shock and Casio Oceanus. Typically, sunlight and artificial light are absorbed by a solar panel behind the crystal. The dial is either on a layer above or actually on the solar panel. This solar panel converts the light into electrical energy to power the watch. The watch will usually store energy in a rechargeable cell to power itself during the night or when covered such as by a person's sleeve. Citizen's watches use lithium-ion rechargeable cell to store sufficient energy to power the watch for several months/years of darkness. However, this figure assumes that the watch enters a power-saving mode during which the seconds hand stops until the watch is re-exposed to light.

Stopwatch - Timekeeping instrument which can be used for measuring intervals of time. When this is done, the time display is partly or wholly lost until the hands are reset.

Tachometer - Instrument for measuring speed. In watchmaking, a timer or chronograph with a graduated dial on which speed can be read off in kilometres per hour or some other unit (see timer).

Timer - Instrument used for registering intervals of time (durations, brief times), without any indication of the time of day.

Water Resistant Watch – Water Resistant is a common mark stamped on the back of wrist watches to indicate how well a watch is sealed against ingress of water. It is usually accompanied by an indication of the static test pressure that a sample of newly manufactured watches was exposed to in a leakage test. The test pressure can be indicated either directly in bars, or (more commonly) as an equivalent water depth in meters (in the United States sometimes also in feet).