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  • FHH Academy

    Train and Certify, The Academy masters, delivers and measures watchmaking knowledge worldwide.

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  • FHH Forum

    The Watch Forum provides a platform for debate to help craft the industry of tomorrow.

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  • Watches and Culture

    Attract new audiences and present watchmaking in a new light.

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Who are we

A not-for-profit foundation set up under private law in 2005 by Audemars Piguet, Girard-Perregaux and Richemont, the objective of the FHH is to promote and spread the reputation of watchmaking excellence around the world.

It provides information on the latest news, history and skills within the watchmaking professions. It trains, assesses and certifies horological knowledge. It organises events and encounters intended for both the general public and professionals. A creator of content, competencies, connections and experiences, the FHH is supported by leading names in the watch industry and independent creators, all actively contributing to its activities.


Head office

Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie

Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie

Pont de la Machine 1

1204 Geneva | Switzerland

T +41 22 808 58 00

Watches and Culture: Did you know?

  • Timepieces

    Centigraphe Souverain

    The chronograph hands of the Centigraphe Souverain progress in a linear fashion, denoting the extreme sophistication of the movement's design. 

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  • Famous watchmakers

    Abraham-Louis Breguet

    Swiss clockmaker, established in Paris. Stayed in Switzerland and met Abraham Louis Perrelet. Master Clockmaker in 1784.Member of the Bureau des Longitudes in 1814. Watchmaker to the Royal Navy...

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  • History

    1948

    The American Harold Lyons invented the ammonia maser atomic clock. The first self-winding watch with a rotor on ball bearings (Eterna-matic).

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  • Glossary

    • Alloy

      Combination of two or more pure molten metals. Generally, an alloy is given the name of the dominant metal.

    • Block

      In a lever escapement, the dart is fixed to a block at the base of the fork.

    • Champlevé(e)

      Describes a metal surface that has been hollowed using a graver to form cells that will be filled with enamel.

    • Decimal hour

      A decree of October 5th, 1793, promulgated on November 24th of the same year, introduced the French Revolutionary (or Republican) calendar, based on the decimal system. It was declared to...

    • Ebauche

      An unfinished movement sold as such. Until circa 1850, an ébauche comprised only the plate, bridges, fusee and barrel. It was known as a blanc and was finished at the...

    • Fracture

      A break in a gemstone.

    • Gemmology

      The study of precious stones.

    • Hematite

      A natural iron oxide that is a metallic dark to silver-grey with a high sheen. Hematite can be used to make watch dials. It has a specific gravity of 4.95 to 5.16 and a hardness of 6.5 on the...

    • Impulse

      In a lever escapement, the action of the escape-wheel tooth on the impulse-face of the pallet.

    • Jewels

      The international term for the jewels (rubies) in a watch movement that are used as bearings for pivots to reduce friction. The movement of a quality watch has between 15 and 21 jewels.

    • Knot

      A raised mineral inclusion in a diamond found at the surface.

    • Ligne

      Also "ligne parisienne". An old unit of measurement in traditional watchmaking, prior to the metric system and directly inherited from the French pied (foot) under the Ancien Régime. One...

    • Micron

      A metric unit of length equal to one thousandth of a millimetre or one millionth of a metre. The watch industry often expresses tolerances in microns.

    • Nephrite

      A family of the jade group of ornamental gemstones. Nephrite is slightly softer that jadeite and is often veined.

    • Oscillating weight (Rotor)

      In a self-winding movement, a heavy metal disc that turns freely in both directions to wind the mainspring.See rotor.

    • PVD

      Physical vapour deposition, a technique for coating metal.See electroplating and plating.

    • Quartz

      Silicon dioxide. Also called rock crystal. Quartz has the specific property of vibrating at a very high frequency (32 MHz) placed under electric current. Under certain conditions, it...

    • Refractometer

      An instrument that measures the refractive index of a gemstone.

    • Subsidiary seconds

      As opposed to centre or sweep seconds, a small subdial showing seconds, generally at 6 o'clock.

    • Tweezers

      Small pincers for picking up and handling delicate parts.

    • Universal hour

      One twenty-fourth of the universal day which begins at midnight at the Prime Meridian at Greenwich. Following the 1884 International Meridian Conference in Washington, the Earth was divided...

    • Vermeil

      Silver covered with a thin layer of gold.

    • Waterproof

      Describes a watch which, in theory, will not let in water at a depth of up to 3 atm or 30 metres.See also ATM; water-resistant.

    • Year

      A four-digit indication of the current year that changes automatically at midnight on December 31st.

    • Zinc

      A metal applied by electrodeposition (electroplating) to protect iron and steel.

    Expand Glossary

Glossary

From A to Z, we've got watchmaking covered!