Met dank aan Victor
Watchuseek and General Horology
AD: Authorized dealer - may be a brand specific boutique or a retailer selling multiple brands, but either way, it is a retail seller that the manufacturer has authorized to sell its product and as such, folks who buy from ADs receive a warranty provided by a manufacturer.
AHCI: Acadmie Horlogre des Crateurs Indpendants (Horological Academy Of Independent Creators)
AR: Anti-reflective coating (referring to the crystal on a watchâs face or back)
ARFS: Letters found on many vintage watch movements. The letters stand for Adavance/Retard - Fast/Slow.
Au: Gold (the symbol as given in the periodic table of elements)
BNIB: brand new in box
BUMP (or any capitalization thereof): Bring up my post - used when someone wants to raise their thread/post to the top of the forumâs list of new posts or âtodayâsâ posts. Itâs almost exclusively used by sellers who want to make their offerings visible to as many folks as possible as often as possible.
CONUS: Continental United States
COSC - Contrle Officiel Suisse des Chronomtres - the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute that certifies the accuracy and precision of wristwatches in Switzerland. Those that pass muster are designated chronometers. COSCâs minimum average daily deviation limits in order for a watch to be deemed a chronometer are:
Mechanical watches: â4/+6 sec/24 hours
Quartz watches: 0.07 sec/24 hours.
Destro - any watch having its crown at nine oâclock instead of three oâclock
DLC: diamond like coating or diamond like carbon, depending on context. A diamond like coating is a carbon based coating applied most often to watch cases and bracelets either for aesthetic and/or durability reasons. They are very durable and carry some electrical properties as well. Diamond like coatings, unlike PVD coatings, adhere to surfaces via a chemical bond that forms between the carbon atoms in the coating substance and one or more elements in the item being coated. There are seven forms of diamond like coatings and there are at least as many ways to apply them.
DR: Didnât Read â often used in conjunction with TL (too long)
EB: Exhibition back - a clear covering on the rear (wrist side) of a watch that allows one to view the movement inside
FSOT: For sale or trade
GM: Grey market - a marketplace, often existing conceptually and only on the internet, in which retailers sell products (usually new) that they have obtained either from ADs or from the manufacturers themselves. The most readily observable difference most consumers notice between watches offered on the grey market and those offered by authorized dealers is that grey market sellers usually advertise the MSRP and their selling price for the watch, something few ADs and manufacturers do. Often the watches available on the grey market are models that didnât move quickly enough from an ADsâ or manufacturerâs inventory to have been sold via those two channels. The key difference between the grey market and the black market is that grey market products can be presumed to have been legally obtained by the business selling them.
GMS: Grey market seller - a retail seller of watches that has not been officially/formally authorized by the watchâs manufacturer and who is thus selling watches (sometimes other things) on the âgrey market.â They may offer a guarantee like that of the manufacturer, but it is often the seller offering the guarantee, not the manufacturer. Some grey market sellers do pass the manufacturerâs warranty through to the buyer.
HE: High End - a description of a watch or class of watches, but a description having no precise, universally accepted meaning. Most ofen meant to mean watches that cost a lot of money (varies by person). Sometimes meant to discribe a collection of attributes, regardless of price. Martin Green offered price-independent qualitative parameters in an article about the least expensive high-end watch (http://www.monochrome-watches.com/ch...h-end-watch/):
A mechanical watch
Manufacture movement
From a brand with undisputed pedigree
With preferably still involvement of the founding family
A vintage
With a steel case
Under 40mm in diameter
HEV - Helium Escape Valve - found on dive watches. Also sometimes called HRV (see below)
HH - Haute Horology; sometimes Foundation de la Haute Horologerie. HH is a non-exact term genrallly referring to so called âfineâ watches and watchmaking, as compared with just regular watchmaking. Whereas one is unlikely to find a watchmaker refering to their watches and craft as âregular,â one will find some that refer to their work and its outputs as haute horlogy.
HRV: Helium Release Valve - a feature found on some diving watches. Helium atoms are small enough to enter any watch when divers dive under pressure â as when in a diving bell â helium enters the watch. Upon retuning to lower pressure atmospheres, the watch can be damaged, and the crystal literally blown off, as the helium inside expands along with the seals that normally would keep it from entering the watch. HRVs were inititally introduced by Rolex and Doxa in the 1960s as an alternative to simply makign cases and crystals thicker, bigger, and stronger. Some HRVs function automatically, others require the diver to loosen via a screw the release valve. Both approaches work effectively.
JDM: Japanese Domestic Model - refers to a watch that was distributed for retail sale only in Japan.
LV: Lunette Verde - French for âgreen bezel.â Sometimes one may see a Rolex model number followed by LV.
LNIB - Like new in box
MOP: Mother of pearl
NOS: New Old Stock - referring to a new (never owned by a consumer) watch that is from an old, often discontinued model or model line.
OEM: Original Equipment manufacturer
OHPF: On hold pending funds
Omega Model Naming/References: As often as not, one will see Omega fans refer to their watces usiing digits separated by periods. For example, 3570.50. (the more common ones that members have shared are listed in the Nicknames section below.
ONO: Offer non-negotiable; alternatively âor nearest offerâ (this is tricky; the reader must apply the best meaning given the context of the discussion)
OP: Original poster or original post, as appropriate per the context of the sentence.
PCL: Polished center links (referring to a bracelet on a watch)
PS: Private seller - an individual usually but never a GMS or AD. They are always selling one of two types of watches: legally acquired pre-owned watches or stolen goods. Few (if any) warrant the goods they have on offer.
Pt: Platinum (the chemical symbol as given in the periodic table of elements)
PVD: Physical vapor deposition- technically one of several methods of vacuum deposition methods used to apply a thin, vaporized (during the aplication process) coating of a substance onto an object, usually a watch case and/or bracelet. Most often used simply to mean a watch that has been threaded accordingly. PVD applications are entirely physical in nature. They are not the same as chemically induced coatings (CVD) which are the result of a chemical reaction between the vaporized substance and the thing on which the vapor lands. PVD coatings while quite durable are not completely impervious to wear and can with enought time and abrasion fade and/or wear away. The tint on most factory installed automotive glass is another example of a PVD coating.
RG: Rose gold
Rh: Rhodium - as given by the periodic table of elements. Rhodium is sometimes used to plate watch movement parts because it is very resistant to corrosion. It is also often used to plate white gold to provide a more appealing appearance than the naturally greyish color of most white gold. Rhodium is among the most expensive metals in world, at one point in 2013 it surpassed platinum in price.
SEL: Solid End Link - Solid end-links (the link that connects to the case and contains the spring bar) are often abbreviated as SEL and are normally a characteristic of more expensive watches. Most âPoor Manâsâ Watches feature hollow end links regardless whether the bracelet links are solid or folded. The links of a bracelet are normally connected by so called link pins. At the clasp and at the end-links you will find so called spring bars. They basically consist of a metallic tube, a spring in the middle and the two ends that match the holes in the clasp or the holes in the lugs of the watch case. (This description was taken from here: Differences of Bracelets (www.pmwf.com all rights reserved). Thereâs a pic there too if you feel thatâll help.)
SOTC: State of the collection
SS: Stainless steel
TL: Too Long â often used in conjunction with DR (didnât read)
TT: Two-tone - referring to the colors of a watch case â base case and/or bezel â or bracelet, although a strap could also be two toned. The colors in play vary by watch model. Silver/gold, black/gold, black/silver being among the more common combinations. Also, TT may mean âtribute toâ as in Reverso TT 1931. The reader will need to use the context of the sentence to discern the best meaning.
TTT: To the top - used when someone wants to raise their thread/post to the top of the forumâs list of new posts or âtodayâsâ posts. Itâs almost exclusively used by sellers who want to make their offerings visible to as many folks as possible as often as possible. Can alos be a simple directional reference.
WG: White gold
WIS - Watch Idiot Savant - a person who is âinto watchesâ (not derisive); WiS (derisive version)
WR - Water resistant, water resistance - a feature of a watch. Different watch companies have different means of achieving this quality. At varying depths, some methods are more effective than others.
WRUW - What Are You Wearing
WUS - Watchuseek
YG: Yellow gold
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