Watch Forum Glossary

Sometimes it is not obvious what the inhabitants of watch fora are talking about. I wrote a glossary to cover the most common terms.

Hi-Beat

n. Speedposter. “Spotted another Hi-Beat on the forum”

Speedposter 

n. Someone who posts more frequently than you. See also Hi-Beat

Panerai Jacket

n. Any item of oversized clothing bought at a fire-sale price for the purposes of discovering later and letting go on Sales Corner. “I see SC is full of Panerai Jackets again”

Escapement

n. Action performed by Shape Shifter (qv) after identity is discovered

Lever Escapement

v. Forcible ejection from the forum

Shape Shifter

n. Member whose presence survives multiple forum names. See also Forum Phoenix, Post Roach

Forum Phoenix

n. A Shape Shifter

Post Roach

n. A member who continues to post under a new identity after his previous incarnation was incinerated in an apocalyptic forum event. See also Shape Shifter

Ligne

adj. The state of one’s PayPal account after obtaining access to Sales Corner

Balance Cock

n. On a touch-screen device a technique deployed when perusing the Boys Room

Complication

n. Situation where the previous price you paid for your item on Sales Corner (qv) is discoverable in forum Search

Cuvette

v. Feeling of yearning after browsing a Photo Thread

Photo Thread

n. Academic discussion of camera technique with passionate dissection of other posters’ personality defects. Disambiguation : For threads containing actual visible photos, refer to Incoming

Incoming

n. Excited, photo-rich thread often accompanied by thoughtful rationalisation. Posted immediately prior to Sales Corner appearance

Ebauche

n. A fast car

Gilt

n. Feeling experienced after pressing “Buy it Now”. See also ligne

Hair-Spring

n. Device used to contain political outrage in the Bear Pit (qv)

Isochronism

adj. Where like-minded individuals post supportive comments of each other, often in threads about to suffer Springbar Failure (qv)

Moonphase

n. Device used to predict the regular cycle of the forum from full ( crazy ) to new ( dark ) via crescent ( normal )

Springbar Failure

v. Sudden total collapse of a thread or poster, caused by excessive tension

Springbar

n. Alfresco pub

Tourbillon

n. Poster who rotates his position on a subject depending on the gravity of the thread. Complex and difficult to execute. See also Isochronism

Movement

n. Involuntary act of bowels after reading that a seller only wants what he paid for it. See also 8 Day Movement

8 Day Movement

n. Particularly unpleasant reaction on learning that a seller only wants back what it owes him

Hand-winder

n. Poster who targets another for aggravation
vul. wanker. See also Bear Pit

GMT

n. Casio-free collection

Limited-Edition

n. An Omega Speedmaster model that has been in production for half a century

Rare

n. Deservedly unpopular. See also Limited Edition

Oscillation

v. Action observed prior to a purchase. See also Incoming

Swiss Made

adj. defunct.

Lume

v. The habit of hanging around Sales Corner all evening

Overcoil

v. Winding your neck in too far, probably after being Hand Wound (qv)

Post-count

n. Inverse measure of social life

Runner

n. A Hi-Beat (qv) attempting to access Sales Corner before Lever Escapement

Land Grab

v. To establish first post of an in-demand watch. Particularly effective when used in anticipation, i.e., vintage Seiko divers. See also Retrograde Motion

Sales Corner

n. Name of subforum and main attraction. Used predominantly for the merchandising of old shoes, sandwiches, beaten up cars and Panerai Jackets (qv). Contrary to common understanding, but clearly noted in the rules, is that Off Topic sales of watches are allowed.

Watch Talk

n. Subforum for Photo Threads (qv)

Wanted To Buy

n. Subforum for posts you don’t want read

Photography Forum

n. Subforum for photos you don’t want seen

Flyback

n. Poster who returns to the forum after a break, hoping he was missed. He wasn’t. See also Dear Eddie

Retrograde Motion

n. The heaping of praise qualified with the phrase “I’ve been thinking about that one for some time…” on being beaten to a Land Grab

Rolex

n. Unit of Swiss currency. 10000 SFr. = 1.5 Rx. Cross-rates may be found on Bloomberg or the weekly Price Rise thread

Wrist Shot

n. Balance Cock failure

QWERTZ keyboard

n. Input device similar to the traditional keyboard, but for ease of posting about Seiko’s, photo’s and pic’s, the “S” key has the apostrophe already prepended

Pressure Testing

v. Seeing how far you can push a thread or poster before collapse. See also Springbar Failure and Dear Eddie

Dear Eddie

n. Emotional farewell post putting the record straight, righting wrongs and settling scores prior to permanently exiting the forum for a day or two