GLOSSARY
Watches
Orologeria en
There are currently 13 names in this directory beginning with the letter R.
Radio clock
In 1978, a law on the determination of time "Time Law" was passed in Bonn that instructed the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) [Federal Center for Physics and Technology] in Braunschweig to "represent and disseminate legal time." Four highly accurate cesium clocks in the Braunschweig facility detect time 100,000 times more accurately than the Earth.
According to the law, the time detected by these clocks is transmitted by a DCF 77 longwave transmitter in Mainflingen, near Frankfurt am Main. Anyone within a radius of 1,500 kilometers who has an appropriate receiver - a so-called "radio clock"- can use this time signal for free. The exact time, including the correct date, day of the week and month, is transmitted directly to the wrists of people wearing radio wristwatches. In case of a temporary loss of transmission capability, or if the recipient is outside the range of the signal, a normal quartz movement in the watch or radio watch can continue to keep accurate time. As soon as the next radio signal is received, the radio clock displays are automatically synchronized with the normal time transmitted by the Braunschweig cesium clocks.
Rapid oscillator
Watch movements whose balances oscillate with a vibration number or frequency accelerated to 28,000 or even 36,000 beats per hour to minimize their susceptibility to disturbances.
Reference
Specific to each manufacturer, the reference is an alphanumeric sequence used to classify the specific manufacturer's clock models. The reference number often contains information about the type of watch, case material, movement, dial, hands, strap, and presence or absence of gemstones.
Regulator dial
Off-center display of hours and seconds. A seconds hand whose axis is not in the center of the dial allows the seconds to be read almost entirely without interference from other hands that rarely eclipse it.
Dials of this type were developed for the so-called "regulators" (precision watches) that were used to keep time in observatories and watch factories, where timekeeping to the nearest second was often essential. The Swiss watch industry debuted the first wristwatches with regulator dials in the 1930s. Only a few models were launched, none of which achieved widespread popularity.
Repair mark
After a watch has been repaired or refurbished, and sometimes even before a watch is sold, some watchmakers stamp a repair mark (usually on the back of the watch case). This mark indicates when maintenance was carried out and protects a watchmaker from unwarranted claims. Connoisseurs can determine the age and some other facts about the watch's 'career' by reading the number, type and (if present) date on the repair mark.
Repassing (finishing)
Complete (final) inspection of a completed clock before it leaves the production site. Finishing also includes checking the rate of the watch. In the past, repasseurs (finishers) were the aristocrats among watchmakers.
Repeater Strike Train
An elaborate additional function that allows the movement of a clock to audibly announce the current time with greater or less accuracy. Depending on the details of the strike, quarter-hour, eighth-hour (7 1/2 minutes), five-minute, or one-minute repeater clocks can be distinguished. The strike train needs energy to announce the time audibly. It receives this energy when the strike train mechanism is activated. This mechanism is activated by moving the position of a slide or pressing a button in the edge of the case. If the slide or button is not fully moved to its limit position, simple repeater clocks do not fully chime the time. In finer constructions, an "all or nothing" safety device prevents this problem.
Retrograde display
A hand that indicates the time, date or day of the week by advancing incrementally along a calibrated arc and then, when it reaches the end of its arc, rapidly returning to its original position.
Rhodium plating
Galvanic ennobling applied, for example, to movement surfaces. Rhodium plating can protect from oxidation and impart a brilliant glow to surfaces. In addition, rhodium creates a harder surface;rhodium can be refined from platinum ore, so it is counted among the metals in the platinum group.
Rotating cage
A delicate cage, often made of steel. Titanium or aluminium are often used as the material for this assembly on modern wristwatches. On watches equipped with a tourbillon, this cage contains the oscillating and escapement system (consisting of the balance, balance spring, pallets and escape wheel). The cage rotates around its own axis, usually at the rate of one rotation per minute. A rotating cage should be robust, filigree and as light as possible. Making this assembly is among the most demanding and laborious tasks of a watchmaker.
Rotor
An oscillating mass that is free to rotate for 360° turn and used on self-winding watches. Depending on its design, a rotor mechanism may wind the mainspring in one or both directions of rotor rotation. A distinction can be made between central rotors and micro-rotors. The former rotate throughout the entire movement; the latter are integrated into the movement plane.
Ruby
The gear train of a watch was first equipped with pierced rubies to minimize friction and wear by Fatio de Duillier and French watchmakers Pierre and Thomas Debaufre around 1700. The latter two watchmakers began producing pierced and unpierced jewels for watch movements in 1704. The first synthetic rubies were used in movements in 1902:the so-called "rubis scientifique" is hard and homogeneous, can be synthesized into any color and is relatively easy to work with. It replaced the so-called "reconstituted ruby," which is made by melting and pressing together fragments of scrap ruby. Synthetic rubies differ from natural rubies only in their genesis. The chemical composition of each is identical to that of the other.