Questions in Time Question No. 11
Is it true that nickel can cause allergies? And if so, can wearing a watch and bracelet made of nickel alloys be harmful to one's health?

Questions in Time Question No. 10
What is used to make the dials and hands of watches glow in the dark?

Questions in Time Question No. 9
When I was travelling by air recently, the glass fell off of my watch. Is this very common and why did it happen? What does the expression “guilloché” mean?

Questions in Time Question No. 8
I recently heard about the launch of the coaxial watch. Could you explain its mechanism and why it is so revolutionary in the mechanical watch?

Questions in Time Question No. 7
What does the term "complication" mean and how does it differ from "grand complication"?
Is it possible to attribute the creation and development of the first perpetual calendar watch to a specific watchmaker?

Questions in Time Question No. 6
Does temperature affect watches and if so, how is it compensated for?

Questions in Time Question No. 5
Recently my watch began reading time in a most bizarre way. Someone told me it might be magnetized. What does this mean and how could it have happened?

Questions in Time Question No. 4
"Recently I bought a sports watch and the salesperson told me that it was equipped with an anti-shock device. What is this device and how does it work?"

Questions in Time Question No. 3
Why do watches have rubies in them?

Questions in Time Question No. 2
What is a Perpetual Calendar watch and how does it work?

Questions in Time No 1
I can't seem to wear mechanical watches. Either they work sporadically or they don't work at all on my wrist. Why is that?

WATCH CRYSTALS Clear up your questions about crystals with this brief primer.

WATCH CARE AND HANDLING When to wind it? How to set it? Where to take it for repairs? For answers to these and other watch-care questions, read on.

SUBDIALS Subdials are busting out all over this year as manufacturers increase their offerings of chronographs and other multifunction watches. What do all those whirling doodads do?

WATER-RESISTANCE Thanks to the sports watch boom, water resistance has become so common in watches that we often take it for granted. But a closer look at this popular feature reveals some uncommon ingenuity.

BATTERY-LESS WATCHES Seiko started the trend two years ago with the splashy and successful introduction of its Kinetic series of watches. Last year, the Swiss watch giant SMH bought out its own batteryless technology, called Autoquartz, in the Tissot brand. SMH brands Omega and Longines followed this year with their own battery-less models, while Seiko has incorporated Kinetic movements into its new Arctura line. What's gotten into these brands? Read on.

CHRONOMETERS Switzerland's mechanical watch boom has brought a surge in watches bearing a special designation on the dial: chronometer. What are chronometers? How are they different from regular watches? Why are they important? Why are they mostly mechanical watches? And what should you tell customers about them?

AUTOMATIC WATCHES Automatic watches are hot in the United States. Between 1993 and 1995, U.S. imports of Swiss luxury automatics jumped 95%. Just what are automatics? How do they work? How accurate are they? How often should they be serviced?

RELATED TOPICS : Breguet / Did Breguet really invent everything

LIGHT-POWERED WATCHES Watch marketers have recently brought out a bevy of lightpowered models meant to save both the environment and trips to the mall for new batteries. The watches are part of the trend toward eco-friendly, user-friendly timepieces that also produced the batteryless technology of Seiko's Kinetic and SMH's Autoquartz watches. How do light-powered watches work? How much light do they need to keep running?

TITANIUM White-metal watches steel and platinum- are hot. The white-watch trend has spawned a surge in watches made with titanium, the so-called 'space age' metal. Titanium watches are not as numerous as steel or even platinum, but you see more now than ever before and still more are on the way. So what is titanium? What do you need to know about it to talk knowledgeably to customers?

General Information

THE TOURBILLON: An evaluation

Of all the prestigious mechanisms invented by watch-makers over the centuries, the tourbillon enjoys a very special reputation. There are two essential reasons for this: The invention belongs, unquestionably to the most famous watchmaker of all times, Abraham-Louis Breguet, The second reason is because the tourbillon is a mechanism which, even in its most conventional version, is extremely hard to manufacture. But is it really the essential mechanism it's made out to be? The following article has been prepared for Europa Star by an expert in the field, Jean-Claude Nicolet, master watch-craftsman and professor in La Chaux-de-Fonds.

Watchmaking's Delicate Quest After having improved the basic functions of mechanical movements and making advancements in a vast range of complications, watchmakers are now turning to the feminine watch. The search for "small" has now become one of the most important objectives in the development of watch movements. Europa Star presents some of these remarkable achievements.

Why Smaller Watches are More Expensive Unlike the world of automobiles, where a small car is less expensive than a large one, a small watch may very well cost more than its larger counterpart.

For the experts

BREGUET: REF:7707BA/13/286 IN-LINE PERPETUAL CALENDAR WRISTWATCH The House of Breguet presents the first wristwatch of its kind -an in-line perpetual calendar with instant change of year.

THE DUALITY OF PHILIPPE DUFOUR The master watchmaker Dufour was the first to adopt the double regulator to a wristwatch.

PIAGET'S TECHNOLOGICAL JEWELS An investment of 3.5 million Swiss francs and three years of research are behind the design and development of Piaget's two new calibers -the 430 P and the 430MC. They represent the next generation of movements which are ultra-thin, reliable and easy to service.