As we know, most people prefer luxury, sports or casual watches. Different watch styles are available according to your wearing style. It makes all our clothes look trendy. Although it is small, you can see various parts. Assembly is very important as the parts of the watch are very small and require a magnifying glass to assemble. The production of watch parts is also a precision work that requires extremely high precision. Let’s take a quick look at the 14 important watch parts.
Names of Important Watch Parts
- Dial
- Subdial
- Case
- Strap/Band/Bracelet
- Bezel
- Lugs
- Hour Maker
- Hand
- Crown
- Pusher
- Crystal
- Exhibition Caseback
- Movement
- Rotor
Functions of Key Watch Parts
Dial
The part that actually displays the time. In a digital clock, this is the digital representation of the numbers. The dial consists of traditional watch hour markers and hands.
A watch without a dial is like a thermometer without a display. The calculations are still running in the background, but not very useful if you don’t know the final result.
Subdial
A sub-dial is a small dial placed inside the main dial. Its function is to display the date, seconds or chronograph. Depending on the type of watch, there may be one or more.
Case
A watch case is a metal or sometimes plastic or ceramic case that contains all the various parts of the watch. Often called the body, it’s the same skin on our bodies that holds everything in place. If you do, you can greatly increase the value of your watch.
Strap / Band / Bracelet
The function of the strap is to attach the watch to your wrist. Striped designs of various materials such as rubber, leather, nylon, and stainless steel are commercially available.
The strap is attached to the grommets on each side with metal spring bars.
Bezel
A bezel is a metal ring around the dial. The bezel can also be used for other functions called complications. This includes measuring time with chronograph functions such as the Cosmograph, invented by Rolex.
Lugs
The lugs are small metal clasps on either side of the bezel at the 6 and 12 o’clock positions. There are two holes for attaching straps inside.
The function of the lugs is to connect the bracelet to the watch using metal spring bars. Depending on the type and brand of watch, lugs can be decorative or plain.
The distance between two consecutive studs is measured with a vernier caliper. This length is typically 18 to 24 mm.
Hour Maker
The hour markers are labels within the dial ranging from 1 to 12 indices to indicate the actual hour. Arabic and Roman numerals are the most common types of hour markers.
Arabic numerals
The dial displays numbers from 1 to 12. It can be all from 1 to 12, or just 12 and 6, or 3, 6, 9, 12, or just 12, depending on the watch type and design.
Roman numerals
Roman numerals appear on the dial from I, II, III to XII. This type of Roman numeral marking is being phased out and can be found on vintage watches.
Hand
Hands are thin pieces of metal that move with the dial to tell the time. There is usually an hour hand, minute hand and second hand. The hour and minute hands are thicker than the second hand.
However, the hour hand is considerably shorter than the second and minute hands. These hands are designed to enhance the overall aesthetics of the watch. A digital clock has no hands. All timings are displayed in digital format.
Crown
A “small button on the side of the clock” for setting the time. Some watches can also perform additional functions. example: For winding the mainspring of a mechanical watch.
The crown is the command center of the watch. Use it to adjust when something goes wrong.
Pusher
A pusher, also called a pusher or button, resembles a crown. A button on the side of a watch that controls other functions such as the date.
A watch’s crown resembles a thermostat’s main temperature dial, while the pusher resembles a knob that allows you to set a specific temperature schedule. Used for advanced features.
Crystal
Clear dial parts that protect the dial and hands. Crystal can be of plastic, glass, or synthetic sapphire.
A watch crystal is like a window in your home, allowing you to see inside while protecting it from the elements.
Exhibition Caseback
The purpose is to reveal the movement through the crystal on the back of the case, similar to the skeletonized caseback.
Movement
A clockwork can be simply defined as the motor or engine of a clock. There are three main types of watch movements: mechanical, automatic and quartz.
Rotor
This is the oscillating part of an automatic watch that winds the mainspring so that it does not need to be manually wound. It looks like a flat piece of metal that rotates around its pivot point as the wearer’s arm moves.
Summary of Top 14 Important Watch Parts
In this article, We have listed 14 important watch parts and components for beginners! These includes the basic functions of watch parts, from the dial to the rotor.
Looking for something more than the basics? Check out the Gentleman’s Gazette Watch Parts Glossary. They have covered all watch parts from A to Z.
