THREAD

In watchmaking, the word thread has two meanings. In the mechanical sense, the thread is the helical protruding part of a Threading: it is the wound “tooth” of a screw or a tap. On watchmaking screws, extremely fine, the pitch, diameter and profile of the thread are standardized; the quality of these threads determines the strength of the Assembly and the possibility of repeated disassembly without stripping. A damaged (stripped) thread makes the screw unusable. In the decorative and aesthetic sense, a thread is a very fine raised or engraved line, a border that highlights an outline: a thread around a Dial, a Bezel, a Case middle or a Hand. This thread, obtained by turning, milling, engraving or stamping, guides the eye and refines the design of the piece, often burnished to catch the light. Light. The context resolves the ambiguity: we speak of a screw thread or threading in mechanics, of a decorative thread in finishing. In both cases, precision of execution is decisive.