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  • FHH Academy

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

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    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 60

Watches and Culture: Did you know?

  • Timepieces

    DOUBLE SPLIT

    The DOUBLE SPLIT is the world's first and only mechanical chronograph with a double-rattrapante function. It features two pairs of stopwatch hands that can run together as well as separately. For the first time, they allow time...

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  • Famous watchmakers

    Thomas Tompion

    English clockmaker. Member of the Clockmaker Company (CC.).Free CC.1671.Master CC.1703 or 1704.Took Georges Graham as an employee (from 1695) then as a partner (Circa 1711)....

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  • History

    1980

    Corum launched the Golden Bridge, a miniature baguette movement whose prototype, three years earlier, had won Vincent Calabrese a gold medal at the Geneva Inventions Fair.

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  • Glossary

    • Amplitude

      The distance between the two extreme points of a movement or periodic phenomenon (a angle).

    • Bar

      Unit of measure to indicate a watch's water-resistance, specifically its capacity to resist pressure, based on standard atmospheric pressure defined as 101.325 kilopascals (kPa) equivalent to...

    • Clock

      Any device (water clock, candle clock, sundial, sandglass, mechanical clock, etc.) whose function is to indicate the time. Today, it refers exclusively to a non-portable mechanism intended to work...

    • Dumortierite

      A blue to violet ornamental stone silicate mineral that is used as used for watch dials. Dumortierite has a hardness of 7 - 8.5 and a specific gravity of 3.3 - 3.4.

    • Enamelwork

      The result of applying enamel. Since the seventeenth century, watch cases and dials have produced some masterpieces of enamelwork.

    • Faceting

      The cutting and polishing of the flat surfaces of a gem.

    • Girdle

      The girdle is the widest perimeter of a gemstone that separates the top (crown) and the bottom (pavilion) of a cut gem.

    • Hertz (Hz)

      A unit of frequency of a periodic phenomenon equal to one cycle per second.

    • Index for flat balance springs

      An index that is often fitted with a screw or cam so that it can be adjusted by a very small amount for fine-tuning. The spring passes through the space between the curb pin and the boot.

    • Jasper

      An opaque, ornamental stone found in many colours, including white, brown, yellow, red, and green. It is often striped, speckled, and multi-coloured and is used in watch making as a dial. Jasper...

    • Knot

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

    • Labradorite

      A variety of plagioclase feldspar that has a greyish background with flashes of colour called labradorescence. It is used as watch dials. Labradorite has a hardness of 6 to 6.5 and a specific...

    • Marker

      A symbol that replaces some or all of the numerals on a dial.

    • Nephrite

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

    • Oiling

      A process used for enhancing a gemstone's colour and transparency. Gemstones that have fissures that touch the surface are often oiled; emeralds are an example.

    • Pavilion

      In a cut stone, the part below the girdle (for diamonds) or rondiste (for coloured stones).

    • Quartz oscillator

      The regulating organ in a quartz clock or watch.

    • Railroad

      A minute scale on a dial that resembles a railway track.

    • Set (to)

      To secure a stone of any cut or size in metal. The stone and the metal are generally precious. The jeweller prepares the hole in which the stone is seated.

    • Tweezers

      Small pincers for picking up and handling delicate parts.

    • Universal Time (UT)

      Since 1972, a continuation of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) which is mean solar time at the Greenwich meridian. Universal Time (UT) is a measurement of time based on the Earth's...

    • Vagues de Genève

      Synonym of Côtes de Genève. A decoration of undulating lines, like waves, frequently used to embellish superior quality movements.

    • Wheel-cutting engine

      A machine for cutting the required number of teeth into an unfinished gear after marking the position of each tooth with a dividing plate.

    • 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!