ermitage chronicles

Welcome to Ermitage Chronicles Watchmaking Glossary. This is a unique one-stop multimedia resource for watch collectors and watch experts. Click on any of the glossary items to learn more about it, most of the items are enhanced with HD photos and some of our glossary items also have videos included.

While the tradition of moving West was sweeping Europe off its feet, one man decided to go East in order to conquer his dream of producing high quality watches for the US market by combining traditional Swiss quality and technological advancements of the US. That man was a Boston engineer and watchmaker Florentine Ariosto Jones.

Patek Philippe strives to be the leader in the world of fine watchmaking. Among other company values, Patek Philippe emphasizes quality of craftsmanship, innovation, value, and rarity. Patek watches are guaranteed to be crafted out of the top quality materials in their state of the art facilities.

Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust was the first wristwatch to feature a chronometer movement and an automatic calendar in the aperture. Released in 1945, Datejust reference 1600 are among some of the most revered and thought after Rolex timepieces that were associated with some of the most iconic moments in our history.

If the Rolex Datejust is one of the most popular and highly collectable watches that withstood the test of time, than Rolex Submariner has to be one of the most iconic models that Rolex has produced. There is an old saying: "Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery".

Just as every notable Swiss watchmaker, Omega has its place in the history of extraordinary achievements in the aviation and space exploration history. However, I am getting ahead of myself. Omega was started by the Brandt family. In 1880 Brandt brothers Louis-Paul and Cesar took their father's watch making business and restructured it to form a 100% in-house watch production.