Antiques And Collectables - Watches
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Antiques And Collectables - Watches |
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A watch is a timepiece or clock that displays the time and sometimes the day, date, month and year. In past centuries, these often took the form of pocket watches, which today are seldom carried or worn. In modern usage, watch is usually a contraction of wristwatch, a name for the most popular style of timekeeping device worn on the wrist. Because most watches lack a striking mechanism, such as a bell or gong, to announce the passage of time, they are properly called timepieces rather than clocks.Today, the most common type of watch is the wristwatch, worn on the wrist and fastened with a watchband made of leather, nylon or other plastics (then called strap), metal links (called bracelet) or even ceramic. Before the inexpensive miniaturization that became possible in the 20th century, most watches were pocket watches, which had covers and were carried separately, often in a pocket and attached to a watch chain or fob. In the 21st century, technological advances in metallurgy, composite materials development and physical vapor deposition greatly influence watch design and manufacturing. Solid stainless steel, titanium, tungsten carbide, carbon fiber, high-tech ceramic and ion plating processes dominate a considerable market share of today's modern watch-making industry. Sapphire crystals are often incorporated to complement and enhance the durability of a quality watch. Most inexpensive and medium-priced watches used mainly for timekeeping are electronic watches with quartz movements. Expensive, collectible watches valued more for their workmanship and aesthetic appeal than for simple timekeeping often have purely mechanical movements and are powered by springs, even though mechanical movements are many times less accurate than quartz movements. The most accurate watches have radio-controlled movements that are miniaturized, portable versions of radio clocks.
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