Watch Term Pronunciation

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Parlay voo fransay? If not, you may be having a helluva time pronouncing many common watch terms. That’s because French isn’t just the language of lovemaking, it’s also the language of watchmaking. Here’s a pronunciation guide for some hard-to-say watch terms (two of them, “tachymeter” and “telemeter” aren’t French, but they’re so often mispronounced they may as well be).

Additional helpful resources from WatchTime:

Watch Brand Pronunciation Guide

Watchmaking Glossary

Watch Brand Contacts

Watch Database

 

anglage
ahn GLAHZH (the “ge” at the end is pronounced like the “Zs’s” in “Zsa Zsa Gabor”)

carrée
care AY

chablon
sha BLOHN (The “OHN” is pronounced with a nasal sound for which there is no exact equivalent in English. The “N” is not pronounced fully.)

chaton
sha TOHN (The “TOHN” is pronounced with a nasal sound for which there is no exact equivalent in English. The “N” is not pronounced fully.)

chronometer
kruh NOM ih ter

Contrôle officiel des Suisse Chronomètres
kon TROLE oh fish ee ELLE day SWEESE kro no MET

côtes de Genève 
KOTE duh je NEV

dauphine
doe FEEN

ébauche
ay BOSHE

feuille
foy

foudroyante
foo droy AHNT

fusée
fyu ZAY

guilloché
gee (hard “g”) oh SHAY

ligne
LEEHN ye (The “ye” is cut off so quickly that it is almost inaudible.)

manufacture (as in “Patek Philippe is a manufacture.”)
man u fak TUHRE

monopoussoir
mah no poo SWAHR

perlage
pur LAHZH (See “anglage” above.)

Poinçon de Genève
pwan SOHN duh je NEV (The “pwan” is pronounced with a nasal sound that has no precise equivalent in English. The “n” at the end of the syllable is not pronounced completely.)

quantième perpétuel
KAHNT ee em per PEH tyoo ELLE

rattrapante
rah trah PONT

remontoir
ruh mon TWAHR

repassage
ray pah SAHZH (See “anglage” above.)

réserve de marche
ruh ZERV duh MARSH

sonnerie
sohn ur EE

tachymeter
tak IH muh ter

telemeter
tel EM ih ter

tourbillon
TOUR bee ohn

 

Additional helpful resources from WatchTime:

Watch Brand Pronunciation Guide

Watchmaking Glossary

Watch Brand Contacts

Watch Database