Bremont Brochure

126 | GLOSSARY

Mohs hardness scale This scale was devised to divide the whole spectrum of hardness using a scale of 1 to 10. “1” stands for a very soft material (talcum) and “10” for the hardest material (diamond). Power reserve The maximum amount of time over which a mechanical movement can continue to run after its mainspring has been fully wound. Retrograde “Retrograde” is featured on the Bremont Victory and sweeps a segment of a circle before springing back to the initial position to begin the movement again. Abraham-Louis Breguet used this type of retrograde mechanism in the late eighteenth century for functions such as the date or an equation of time. The Bremont Victory includes this complication and provides an aesthetically pleasing feature to any watch enthusiast. Roto-Click® Patented rotating bi-directional Roto-Click® inner bezel is a beautifully engineered ball-locking system containing a number of ball bearings that position the bezel accurately for greater readability. Rotor The oscillating mass which moves and turns freely about its axis in an automatic watch. The rotor winds up the mainspring as it swings. A clutch prevents the rotor from over-winding the mainspring. Sapphire crystal Sapphire crystal is the favoured material for watch crystal due to its exceptional hardness (9 on the Mohs scale). Using sapphire crystal is far more expensive to manufacture than mineral or acrylic crystals, however sapphire crystal glass provides excellent scratch resistant properties.

days of aviation. The concept behind the complex function dates back to the era when flight-deck crews still navigated with maps and watches and often had to react very quickly to suddenly occurring events. GMT Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), or Zulu time (Z) is used as the standard clock of choice for international reference time in communications, military, aviation, maritime and other activities that cross time zones. Incabloc A shock absorption system used in pocket and wristwatches. Index (Adjustment) A device which can be used to set the rate of a watch by changing the effective length of the balance spring in the oscillation system. Jewels To minimise friction in the most important bearings, jewels are fixed to the anchor pallets and ellipse. A movement with a large number of jewels does not necessarily mean that the movement is of particularly high quality. Magnetism This can occur when a watch is subjected to a magnetic field. A magnetic field can emate from a variety of different sources in day to day life. Computer hard drives, medical equipment, large speaker systems, refrigerator doors, magnetic tablet cases, mobile phones, magnetic catches on handbags to name a few can all emit magnetic fields. Magnetism may lead to excessive rate gain which can cause a watch to run fast or stop entirely. Magnetic fields do not cause permanent damage and minor intervention only is required to return your Bremont to its usual excellent standard. Mechanical watches Watches that are powered by a mainspring whereby the oscillating system runs purely on a mechanical basis, e.g. balance or pendulum.