The Weird Language of Watch Nerds
I wrote an article about this a while back for www.thetruthaboutwatches.com that was deemed unpublishable but, as you may know, the watch community has a unique language of their own that is alienating and somewhat inaccessible to normal humans.
For example, movement is a noun and refers to the moving guts of the watch. I think they are often referred to as a calibre, which has nothing to do with ammunition size. Where normal people will say glass, we say crystal. They'll say stem or winder, we speak of a crown. A bracelet is typically a piece of wrist jewelry, but for us is a metal band. The part number for a watch is a reference. The rear cover or lid is a case back. It goes on and on.
Before I forget, this was inspired by the thread by @Justingalore entitled Silly assumptions and mistakes.
So anyway, what terminology of the lexicon initially baffled you?
Started as a quartzbro goofing on the mechanical snobs, wrote for thetruthaboutwatches.com, and lately started finding forgotten familial vintage watches in need of love.
At this remove I can't recall a time when these terms were unfamiliar but it's interesting how you can instantly tell a fellow nerd from a civilian at your local AD. The one that always hits me is a customer asking to see the watch with this or that 'face' as opposed to 'dial'.
I clicked the link expecting to read the article but then re-read your post... "unpublishable." Guess the domain printer was running low on ink that week 😉
I clicked the link expecting to read the article but then re-read your post... "unpublishable." Guess the domain printer was running low on ink that week 😉
Sorry for the irrelevant lead-in, but that attempt is long deleted. See, I initially proposed an infotainment bit where I would have comical vs. real definitions, but Mr. Farago said to just do the funny ones. I wrote it as "how Mrs. Klosoff understood things" with hacky gags like crown being the Rolex logo and lug meaning to carry heavy items and a spring bar being a place to get drinks at the beach. He was worried about a sexist outcry, so it never saw the light of day. Mrs. Klosoff was crushed.
Arabic.
As if it's going to end the world if they were referred to as numbers.
NOS was a term I had never heard before joining WC, even though I bought 4 novelty watches in that category before joining.
Strange as it may seem coming out of a highly politicized pandemic where "do your research" was thrown around a lot, it was a term I never really understood in the context of watches until @Porthole's rant on vintage.
Clomage & Compressor were others
I'm probably forgetting one or two, as well.
NOS was a term I had never heard before joining WC, even though I bought 4 novelty watches in that category before joining.
Strange as it may seem coming out of a highly politicized pandemic where "do your research" was thrown around a lot, it was a term I never really understood in the context of watches until @Porthole's rant on vintage.
Clomage & Compressor were others
I'm probably forgetting one or two, as well.
Rant? I’ve never considered a guide to be a rant before - do I need to revise the tone?
NOS is widely used term in classic car world.
Besides the technical terms I think we have our own definitions of the words ”need”, ”last”, ”done”, ”value proposition” used in sentences in combination with ”watch” and ”collection”.
NOS was a term I had never heard before joining WC, even though I bought 4 novelty watches in that category before joining.
Strange as it may seem coming out of a highly politicized pandemic where "do your research" was thrown around a lot, it was a term I never really understood in the context of watches until @Porthole's rant on vintage.
Clomage & Compressor were others
I'm probably forgetting one or two, as well.
New Old Stock (NOS) is actually a term that is used a lot among the audiophile community, especially in connection to valves (vacuum tubes) used in old school amplifiers. Audiophiles are willing to pay a premium over generic knock off Chinese or Russian valves for a set of NOS Sylvana, RCA or GE.
It probably migrated to the watch hobby from there or from car repair forums where it's also a common term.
Besides the technical terms I think we have our own definitions of the words ”need”, ”last”, ”done”, ”value proposition” used in sentences in combination with ”watch” and ”collection”.
I'm still waiting for a good alternative to "wrist presence" because I usually immediately lose interest in whatever come next.
Arabic.
As if it's going to end the world if they were referred to as numbers.
Well, there are Roman numbers too! This one tests one's math knowledge and also gets imprecise because isn't this called the same thing?
NOS was a term I had never heard before joining WC, even though I bought 4 novelty watches in that category before joining.
Strange as it may seem coming out of a highly politicized pandemic where "do your research" was thrown around a lot, it was a term I never really understood in the context of watches until @Porthole's rant on vintage.
Clomage & Compressor were others
I'm probably forgetting one or two, as well.
NOS, which is not nitrous oxide but new old stock ( a tricky term itself as the oxymoronic new means unused...), is used elsewhere, particularly vintage car parts. *oops, @Leijona beat me to this.
Clomage is a very recent portmanteau, isn't it?
The way it's just expected that one will know what AD means is very annoying at first.
Mineral glass vs sapphire. Wait what? Sapphire is a mineral!
Well, there are Roman numbers too! This one tests one's math knowledge and also gets imprecise because isn't this called the same thing?
Yes, there are Roman numerals and even under the decimal system there isn't a single set of symbols that is accepted by everybody. There are even some clocks that display the time using Hebrew letters. That is still not a reason why the watch community had to adopt a specific name for describing something that didn't really need to be explained.
Watches are not the only gadget that use a different terminology depending on the context, for example I have a phone number that is composed of seven digits. I'm pretty sure that everybody immediately understood this without falling back on explaining which mathematical notation I used.
PS
Awesome dial BTW
Mineral glass vs sapphire. Wait what? Sapphire is a mineral!
Just be thankful nobody is trying to push calling it amorphous solid silicate vs aluminum oxide.
Dial instead of face is a common one.
I have been trying to share my passion of watches to my in-laws over the last few days. Boy do I feel alone 😅 the amount of slang/specific words that we use is huge. I am also into specialty coffee and other type of geek stuff (sourdough, I am looking at you) and it’s clearly the same there.
one fun anecdote, we were at a Cartier AD with my wife and her mother. We have been in the store for like 30min going over a few watches with one of the rep. At some my mother in law asks: “so what brand are these watches? Is is Quartz?” We all laughed and I knew i could say goodbye to that discount 😅
Rant? I’ve never considered a guide to be a rant before - do I need to revise the tone?
No, it's perfect as is
Just be thankful nobody is trying to push calling it amorphous solid silicate vs aluminum oxide.
I've seen something close! Can't remember the watch, but saw one with corundum listed in the spec sheet instead of simply saying sapphire. 😕
One watch collection 🤯
Its the same situation for any hobby, enthusiasts organically create there own language that outsiders (lets call them that) dont understand.
My biggest problem is that i do all my research in English (YouTube reviews, forums, publications) so in English im very knowledgeable ut in my native language im an idiot 😂
I'd love to read that article. Is there a functional link? Or maybe post it here?
I used to be confused by the crystal thing. I would read about quartz watches and then I'd hear about a sapphire crystal and thought that they were talking about the same thing - the watch could have quartz or crystal something-or-other, and then I'd read "quartz movement and a sapphire crystal" and be utterly confused
Rant? I’ve never considered a guide to be a rant before - do I need to revise the tone?
Woah, calm down! There's no need to get all angry.
GADA always looks like it should mean something else to me.
GADA always looks like it should mean something else to me.
Like a regulatory agency? A medical condition?
I agree, this is a very unintuitive acronym.
Oh, that is "go anywhere, do anything" which is already a cumbersome way of calling a watch practical or versatile.
At this remove I can't recall a time when these terms were unfamiliar but it's interesting how you can instantly tell a fellow nerd from a civilian at your local AD. The one that always hits me is a customer asking to see the watch with this or that 'face' as opposed to 'dial'.
A "civilian"....LOL! Nice.
Cant add much, just that very few of these terms are helpful even to the hobbyists and salespeople. Plus "rubber" to refer to both flexible but not particularly soft plastic resin straps and soft and flexible straps really just confuses me about what rubber should feel like. Atomic, radio controlled, countdown, timer, indices, hands referring to date wheels and such, lume referring to either any source of light or only glow in the dark... Wow okay there are probably more.