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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Component record · Dial & hands

Date Ring

Partially verified

The toothed ring carrying printed date numerals.

What it does

Displays the date through an aperture in the dial.

How it works

Advanced one tooth per day by the calendar driving wheel, and held by the jumper.

Printing style and colour are useful evidence when judging originality.

Evolution

Quick-set mechanisms were added to spare the wearer advancing the ring through many days.

Known variations

  • Standard date ring
  • Big-date two-disc systems

Identification for collectors

  • Printing font and colour can identify a service replacement ring.

Common failure modes

  • Chipped teeth
  • Worn printing

Diagram

date ring, thirty-one positionsdate aperturedriving wheel and jumper
Schematic: calendar work under the dial. An outline schematic drawn to show the arrangement of the parts discussed here. It is not a dimensioned working drawing and does not depict a particular maker's calibre.

Sources & references

  1. de Carle, D., Practical Watch Repairing
  2. de Carle, D., Watch and Clock Encyclopedia
  3. Daniels, G., Watchmaking

Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.