1. Mechanical Watches

Mechanical watch comprises of the following parts: (1) power mechanism, i.e. mainspring and winding mechanism; (2) gear train; (3) speed regulator, i.e. escapement and balance wheel component; (4) hands and timing mechanism. Mechanical watches include manual and automatic winding types. The spring provides power for mechanical watches. For manual winding mechanical watches, the spring is tightened by manually turning the watch crown to drive the winding mechanism; for automatic winding mechanical watches, the spring is tightened by the natural swinging of the wrist to drive the winding mechanism.

2. Quartz Watches

Quartz watch can be analog, digital or mixed type. It realizes timekeeping by battery power and quartz oscillation. For analog type quartz watches, the battery power drives the quartz to oscillate, and IC board controls step motor to drive the gear train and turn the hands. For digital quartz watches, the time is displayed by a LCD.

3. Chronometer

A chronometer is a watch whose movement has been certified by an official body as attaining a high standard of precision, successfully tested at different angles and temperatures, and officially licensed by authorities.

4. Complication

A complication is a watch with extra functions, such as chronograph, second time zone, alarm watch, perpetual calendar, minute repeater, and etc.

5. Grande Complication

It is a complicated watch with at least perpetual calendar, minute repeater and chronograph (double split seconds) functions or even tourbillon.

6. Minute Repeater

It means that this watch can report minute. When the time reporting sliding spring is turned, hour, quarter and minute will be reported as required.

7. Chronograph

Chronograph watches have an additional mechanism for measuring and displaying elapsed time (timekeeping, stop and reset).

8. Musical Watch

A musical watch indicates the hour and quarter-hour by means of hammers hitting bells or gongs which, like musical instruments, are tuned to different pitches.

9. Water Resistance

Watches bearing the designation of water-resistant, with or without an extra indication of high pressure, are designed for ordinary daily use and should not let water in during activities such as swimming. They can be used in conditions in which there are wide variations in water pressure and temperature as specified by ISO standard 2281. However, whether or not there is an extra indication of high pressure, they are not designed for underwater diving.

10. Jumping Hours

Instead of a hand, a "jumping display" uses numerals, seen through an aperture, which instantly change on the hour (or minute).

11. Antimagnetic Watches

Anti-magnetic watches are those that are able to run with minimal deviation when exposed to a certain level of magnetic field.

12. Diving Watch

Diving watches stand out for their exceptional water-resistance to 100, 300, 1,000 and even 3,000 metres. Other characteristic features are a unidirectional rotating bezel for calculating dive times, an extra-strong crystal, and fluorescent markings for visibility in murky water. Depending on their degree of technicality, they can also offer other useful functions for deep-sea explorers: for example a helium release valve, indicators of decompression stops and times, or a depth gauge. Some even sound to indicate surfacing time.

13. Tourbillion

To eliminate errors of rate in the vertical positions. It consists of a mobile carriage or cage carrying all the parts of the escapement, with the balance in the centre.

The escape-pinion turns about the fixed fourth wheel. The cage makes one revolution per minute, thus annulling errors of rate in the vertical positions.

This delicate, complex mechanism is one of the most ingenious mechanical devices invented by horologists.

To simplify this mechanism and to make it sturdier, so-called karussel watches were designed, in which the carriage is driven by the third wheel, instead of the fourth wheel.

The tourbillon and karussel mechanisms are not escapements. Instead of speaking of a tourbillon escapement, as is often the case, it is better to speak of a lever or detent tourbillon, as the case may be.

14. Rhodium Plated

Protective coating of metal objects with a thin layer of rhodium.

15. Geneva Stripes

Geneva stripes indicates a pattern of stripes produced abrasively. There seems to be much variation in the appearance of (and detailed methods of production of) the stripes themselves, but typically they are produced using rotary motions within the stripes (rather than linear motions).

16. Moon Phase

Moon phase watches follow the progression of the moon through its different phases of new moon, first quarter, full moon and last quarter. The most sophisticated, with "astronomical" moon phases, need only be corrected by one day every 122 years.

A quasi-obligatory complement to a Perpetual Calendar, moon phases are nonetheless a complication in their own right and can stand alone on a pocket watch or wristwatch dial. The phases are shown on a disc visible through an aperture, or more rarely by a hand. In an ordinary moon phase watch this disc, portraying two moons, is driven by a wheel with 59 teeth. A finger advances the wheel by one notch every 24 hours. The lunationdisplayed by an ordinary moon phase watch corresponds to 29.5 days when in reality a lunation lasts 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 2.8 seconds (29.53 days). Consequently, the system is one day out every 2 years, 7 months and approximately 20 days.

Superior watches incorporate a far more complex and precise system, sometimes referred to as “astronomical moon phases”. Its moon disc is driven by a wheel with 135 teeth. The precision of this mechanism is a lunation of 29 days, 12 hours and 45 minutes, reducing the difference between the measured and actual lunar cycle to just one day every 122 years. Some watches also indicate the “age of the moon”, which is the number of days since the last new moon.