The study and practice of measuring time and making timepieces.
The Fondation Haute Horlogerie defines horology as the science of measuring time; its French equivalent is horlogerie. A watch’s movement, mechanical or electronic, is the part that does the measuring, with organs for power, transmission, distribution through the escapement, and regulation. Measuring how well it keeps time is part of the field too: a chronometer is a watch whose rate an independent body has tested and certified under ISO 3159.
Horology is wider than the bench. The manufacture and maintenance of a watch draw on skills from different professions. Horopedia’s guide lists production watchmakers, who assemble movements; watchmakers who repair watches and make defective parts individually; micromechanics, polishers, case finishers, dial printers, engravers and setters; drafters in microtechnical construction; and engineers and designers who conceive movements and products. A watchmaker works in horology, but so does an engineer drawing a caliber or a technician restoring an antique timepiece.
In job listings
Horology and horological appear across the watch business: in watchmaker titles at the bench, in marketing and training roles at watch houses, and in boutique and department-store roles that sell watches, where a listing may name the store’s horology space. See current horology roles.
