What kind of watch knowledge is not known by people who often wear watches?

This knowledge involves all aspects, and it takes a lot of effort to get it through. There are so many people who wear watches, but there are few who really understand watches. So what kind of watch knowledge do people who often wear watches don't know?

Red and rose gold in watches

Are the materials the same?

Many precious metal watches are usually marked with "18K rose gold" and "18K red gold", so do they belong to the same material?

18K rose gold material

In fact, rose gold and red gold belong to the category of K gold, which are alloys of gold and other metals.

Adding 25% electrolytic pure copper to 75% gold is red gold, and the 18K gold formed at this ratio is the reddest. If you add silver and copper to 75% of gold at the same time, it becomes rose gold, and the color is slightly lighter than red gold.

18k red gold material

It can be seen that although the two are also alloys of gold, they are not essentially the same material because of their different compositions.

In the 18K alloy, the copper content is usually expressed as N. The higher the content, the redder and brighter the K gold material.

The traditional rose gold numbers are 3N (75% pure gold + 12.5% ​​silver + 12.5% ​​copper), 4N (75% pure gold + 9% silver + 16% copper) and 5N (75% pure gold + 4.5% silver + 20.5 % Copper).

Of course, each watch factory has its own exclusive formula, so the K gold material is not the same.

The far right is rose gold

The patented 18ct Everose gold material developed by Rolex (with 2% platinum added to the ratio) is a good example.

By the way, Rolex's Rolesor material is actually gold . It was first used in log watches in 1948 and is a famous feature of the brand.

The outer ring, crown and middle link of the strap are 18ct yellow gold or 18ct eternal rose gold, while the middle case and the links on both sides of the strap are made of 904L steel.

What is the difference between big three-pin and small three-pin?

The two indicate the pointer size or thickness?

Of course not. In fact, they refer to the layout of the hands on the dial. The difference is whether the second and hour and minute hands are in a coaxial relationship.

Rolex Air-King big three-pin and Panerai Radiomir small three-pin

Let's talk about the junior hands first. If there are three hands on the dial: hour, minute, and second, if these three hands are coaxial, we call them junior hands .

Richard Lange

But if there are only hour and minute hands, the second hand operates independently of the other dial. This is the small third hand .

The position of the small second hand is most often at six o'clock, while Panerai is usually at nine o'clock, and the design varies from house to house.

However, if it is a two-pin dial layout, we call it two-pin .

Lange SAXONIA THIN two hands watch

In addition, there is another kind of standard pointer, whose three hands are not coaxial.

GO Strasser & Rohde Regulator three-pin one-line watch

More interestingly, at twelve o'clock, three pointers will form a straight line, which is the origin of three needles and one line .

What is Red 12?

The 12 o'clock position on the dial is bright red, commonly known as red 12. As for the origin of "Red 12", there is no definite conclusion at present. The most common statement is: when the pocket watch was transformed into a watch during World War I, it was designed to facilitate the observation of time by officers and men participating in the war.

At that time, the watch was transformed from a pocket watch. The placement of the hour markers was very different from the modern dial. The 12 hour markers were not located directly above the middle of the watch, but at the 3 or 9 hour markers.

In order to avoid mistakes in viewing, the 12 o'clock mark is dyed in bold red, and there are also blue styles.

It is worth mentioning that the design of Red 12 is not a practical function of the watch, but only plays a decorative role. In fact, it is not very useful. Similar to Red 60.

IWC Portofino Red 60

However, due to its special historical charm, it can be preserved in antique watches and has been circulating to this day. Most of them are now commemorative or special models of the brand.

What is the lightning second hand?

The lightning second hand is also called lightning jump second, femtosecond hand, etc. This second hand can move at high speed within one second, and can be divided into 1/4 second, 1/5 second, 1/6 second, or 1 / 8 second.

Jaeger-LeCoultre Duomètreà Chronographe Chronograph

There is a 1/6 second dial at six o'clock

The lightning second hand was initially used only as an auxiliary display for the travel time and second hand. It could move quickly with the movement of the core, and was later applied to the chronograph as a chronograph with a few seconds.

The travel time second hand can quickly move 6 small divisions in one second without the naked eye, and the lightning second hand is to specify the travel of the travel second hand. For every 1 second travel of the second hand, the lightning second hand must go 1 circle.

What is the difference between GMT and UTC?

GMT and UTC are not new to watch players, but what is the difference between them?

Galperfuss World Time

GMT : Greenwich Mean Time, which means that the longitude of the Greenwich Observatory is 0 degrees longitude, dividing the world into 24 time zones.

A GMT watch is a watch that can display time in two or more time zones.

The most direct way to display multiple time zones is to install a few more movements in a case, but the most economical method is to attach a rotating bezel with 12 hours or 24 hours.

UTC : Universal Coordinated Time. This is the new world standard time that was launched on January 1, 1972. Based on GMT, the time difference around the world is consistent. However, in the case of no need to be accurate to the second, GMT and UTC are usually regarded as equivalent.

UTC is more scientific and precise than GMT, which is very important for pilots, but for watch players and collectors, GMT is the real mainstream.

Many people believe that UTC is a means for Paris to plot the status of the world's timing center.