Quartz vs. Automatic: This one is pretty obvious: whilst a quartz watch is operated by a battery, which is replaced when its ran its course; the automatic watch has a mechanical movement. A rotor turns and transmits its energy to the spring via a mechanism (introduced by one Abraham-Louis Perrelet in the 18th century). Essentially, the mainspring is wound and powered by the movements of your wrist.
Balance: The (usually) circular moving component oscillating about its axis of rotation. The hairspring connected to it makes it swing to-and-fro, dividing time into exactly equal parts. Each of the to-and-fro movements of the balance is called an ‘oscillation’ and consists of two vibrations.Calendar: A feature that shows the date, and often the day of the week. There are several types of calendar watches. A perpetual calendar, for example, displays the date, day, month and year, and, if correctly set, it will reflect the 31 day months and also the leap years. A pretty extraordinary feat.
Chronograph: A watch that features two independent time systems: one indicates the time of day, while the other measures (with a stopwatch function) brief intervals of time, making it possible to measure the exact duration of an event, like a car race. There can be a few variations on the chronograph, and while some work with a centre seconds hand which keeps time on the watch’s main dial; others use sub-dials to time the elapsed hours, minutes and seconds.
Chronometer: A watch with a mechanical movement of the highest quality. A Swiss made watch is declared a chronometer only of it meets the standards set by the Swiss Official Chronometer Control (C.O.S.C.) and undergoes the series of precision tests set by this institution.
Tachometer: A feature found on some chronographs which measures the speed at which the wearer of the watch has travelled over a certain distance.
Tariq Malik is the managing partner and co-founder of Momentum watch shop in DIFC