R

• Repetition/ Repeater

  The minute repeater is a complication found in a mechanical wristwatch, in which the time is struck to the nearest minute.  These watches were once popular with the visually challenged, but nowadays this complication is sought after mainly by watch enthusiasts.  The chime is usually on the hour, every quarter hour and/or every minute - with a different sound or number of chimes indicating the time. Before that, since the 14th century, clocks on public buildings and churches rang the hours, half-hours and quarter-hours, which allowed people in the vicinity to know the time even if they could not see the clock's dial. The first to develop a quarter repeating mechanism for pocket watches were the English makers Daniel Quare (1648-1724) and Edward Barlow (1636-1716). The first repetition wristwatch was made in 1892. It was a true technical prowess that we owe to L. Brant & Frère, which later became the Omega watch manufacture. The minute repeating wristwatch is considered the most sophisticated and highly desirable by collectors, especially when it also incorporates other additional complications, such as perpetual calendar, chronograph and split-seconds.

• Rhinestones

  Rhinestones are made from rock crystal, glass or acrylic.  Originally, rhinestones were rock crystals gathered from the river Rhine, but now availability has increase.  Rhinestones make excellent imitations of diamonds, and good manufacturers even capture the glistening effect that real diamonds have in the sun.

• Rhodium

  Rhodium is a rare silvery-white hard metal which is a a member of the platinum group.  It is the most expensive precious metal that has a high reflectance. 

• Rhodolite

  Rhodolite is a name for a rose-pink to red mineral which is part of the garnet group.  It is used as a semi-precious gemstone by jewellery manufacturers.

• Rotating Bezel

  A bezel (the ring surrounding the watch face/dial) that can be turned.  Different types of rotating bezels perform different timekeeping and mathematical functions.

• Rose gold

  A softly hued gold that contains the same materials as yellow gold but with a higher concentration of copper in the alloy.

• Rotor

  The part of an automatic (self winding) mechanical watch that winds the movement's mainspring.  It is a flat piece of metal, usually shaped like a semicircle, that swivels on a pivot with the motion of the wearer's arm.

• Ruby

  Ruby is a red gemstone that varies from a light pink to a blood red and is considered one of the four precious stones, together with the sapphire, emerald and diamond.  Among the natural gems only diamond is harder.

  Prices of rubies are primarily determined by color and clarity.  Similar to diamonds, a clear stone will command a premium, but a Ruby without any needle-like rutile inclusions will indicate the stone has been treated. Cut and Carat (size) also determine the price more or less to a similar extent as clarity does.

  Almost all rubies today are treated in some form (of which heat treatment is the most common practice), and rubies which are completely untreated and still of excellent quality command a large premium.

• Ruthenium

  A hard white metal, ruthenium is a member of the platinum group, which does not tarnish at normal temperatures.