One of the most complex components in mechanical clocks, pallets are shaped like a ship's anchor, hence the French name "ancre." Usually made of brass or steel, pallets consist of several components, including the lever, the pallet staff, the pallet stones, and the arrow or protective pin. The purpose of the pallets is twofold: it conveys energy from the gear train to the scale, keeping the latter in oscillation and prevents the gear train from running ahead and quickly exhausting the energy available to it from the barrel.

In a pallet escapement, the role that would otherwise be played by the pallet stones is played by steel pivots that rise vertically from the pallet plane. These pins engage with the teeth of the escape wheel.

An automatic winding system using an oscillating mass which, like the oscillating mass in a pedometer, oscillates back and forth when the person wearing the watch walks. A gear train transmits the kinetic energy to the mainspring. The winding of the pedometer is considered to have been invented by Abraham-Louis Perrelet of Le Locle, Switzerland, in 1770. The first wristwatches with this type of winding system were marketed in the 1920s, for example by Léon Leroy (1922) and John Harwood (1924) . The winding of the pedometer was still used in some wristwatches until the 1950s.

A synonym for automatic winding or self-winding. The word is used, for example, in the name of the "Rolex Perpetual."

A calendar mechanism that automatically takes into account the varying lengths of the months and will not require manual adjustment until midnight on 28 February 2100.

Thin layer of gold galvanically applied to the surfaces of watch cases that are made of non-precious metals. See also doublé.

Sometimes called a "movement plate," this term designates a metal plate that carries the bridges (bars), cocks and other components of a watch movement. The dial (movement) train is located on the dial side of the plate. The entire gear train and barrel, as well as the oscillating and escapement system, are attached to the back of the plate under the bridges (bars) and cocks. In addition to threaded holes that accept screws, the plate is also drilled with holes for the feet and bearings of the gear train.

A very discrete and extraordinarily valuable metal used in the manufacture of watch cases. The high price of platinum stems from its extreme rarity, as well as the difficulties involved in mining, refining and processing. To recover one gram of platinum, more than 300 kilograms of ore must be extracted. Only 100 kilograms of ore must be mined to recover one gram of gold. In addition, the successful processing of platinum places stringent requirements on a metallurgist. Platinum has the highest melting point of all precious metals: it melts at 1,773 degrees Celsius, compared to 1,063 degrees for gold and 960 degrees for silver. Platinum is also harder, stronger and heavier than other metals used in jewelry, which means that special tools and production techniques must be used to work platinum. Finally, platinum watch cases usually have a fineness of 950, meaning the alloy is 95 percent pure platinum. A platinum watch case weighs about 35 percent more than an identical 18-karat gold case.

Unlike pocket watches, which usually remain in an upright position inside the waistcoat or trouser pocket, wristwatches are worn in many different positions, e.g. 'crown up', 'crown down', 'crown right', 'dial up' and 'dial down'. Precise watches are then adjusted to each of these five positions.

Additional running time provided by stored energy in excess of a watch's normal winding interval (24 hours). The power reserve generally varies between 10 and 16 hours. The driving force provided by the mainspring decreases during this interval, which leads to a reduction in speed performance.

An indication of the remaining power reserve available for a mechanical movement. Power reserve displacements were first used on marine chronometers because the degradation of such a clock and the consequent loss of the exact time on the high seas could be a disaster for navigation and sailors who depended on accurate navigation. For this reason, each glance at the dial also kept a sailor informed about the momentary state of the spring. When self-winding mechanisms began to make their way into wristwatches, the display proved that the self-winding mechanism worked properly.

Wristwatch cases are usually made of precious metals such as gold, platinum or silver. Gold is available in alloys having a fineness of 333 / 1,000 (8 carats), 375 / 1,000 (9 carats), 585 / 1,000 (14 carats) or 750 / 1,000 (18 carats). Mixing other metals (e.g., Copper) to the alloy alters the hue of the gold alloy. If gold is used as the rotor material for a self-winding wristwatch, the most commonly used alloys are 21 karat, 23 karat or 24 karat gold. The fineness of platinum is 950 / 1,000. The disadvantages of silver watch cases are that they are very soft and tarnish easily. Covering them with a layer of gilding (vermeil) effectively prevents tarnishing, but it suffers from the same problem that plagues double cases: sooner or later.

A partial revision of Swiss laws regulating precious metals came into effect on August 1st, 1995. The following fineness designations have been valid in Switzerland since then for gold, silver and platinum: gold 333 585 750 916 999, silver 800 925 999, platinum 850 900 950 999. Palladium is recognized as a precious metal with the following fineness designations: 500 950 999. The minimum thickness for gold, platinum and palladium plating has been reduced from 8 to 5 microns. Ten microns is the minimum for silver plating. The quality designation "coiffe o" is allowed only for watch cases or bracelets with gold plating at least 200 microns thick. The passage of this law also drastically reduced the number of official hallmarks that can be stamped on the surface of jewelry or watches after passing a mandatory inspection by the Swiss Precious Metals Control Authority. Before July 31, 1995, there were individual hallmarks for each precious metal and fineness. After that date, there was only one hallmark (the head of a St. Bernard dog) combined with numbers designating the fineness grade.

Ticking counts among the oldest and most accurate mechanical machines in the world. If the movement of a watch deviates for one day (86,400 seconds) from the official norm of 30 seconds (a rather large error by contemporary standards), the arithmetic error of that movement would be 0.035%. In other words, its degree of accuracy would be an incredible 99.965%. Modern mechanical wristwatches are considerably more accurate, especially if they have obtained an official chronometer certificate. The rate deviation here is less than 0.005%.

A watch with a lever escapement or chronometer and assembled from high-quality components, including an oscillating system that can compensate for temperature variations. Precision pocket watches and wristwatches require at least fifteen functional jewels.

Derived from the Greek language, this term describes an original model or one that serves as an archetype upon which later versions are modeled. A prototype is the first example of a watch and is typically made by hand before mass production.

A labor-saving scale specially calibrated along the periphery of a watch (usually a chronograph) for medical purposes. As the name states, a pulsometer is used to measure a patient's pulse. Depending on the calibration of the scale, the user counts 20 or 30 heartbeats after starting the chronograph. The chronograph is then stopped, and the tip of the chronograph second hand indicates the number on the pulsometer scale that corresponds to the patient's pulse rate in beats per minute.

An organ by which a function can be controlled. For example, a push-piece can be used to unlock the hinged cover of a hunting watch, to start, stop, and reset the second hand of a chronograph to zero,to activate the striking work on some repeater watches or to reset the time zone on a world time watch.