Glossary/Chronometer
Chronometer
The word chronometer was originally a name for a metronome, but was later applied to a precision timekeeper in 1714 by Jeremy Thacker. It is now considered a general name for a non-pendulum precision clock or a watch, although purists insist that it remains to mean a timepiece with a detent escapement, such as a marine chronometer. Many makers of early, electronic, time measuring instruments used call their timekeeping devices electronic chronometers. The British Admiralty names high precision lever watches 'chronometers'. Since 1951, in Switzerland, no manufacturer has been allowed to call a watch a 'chronometer' unless it has obtained an official rating certificate from a testing bureau (see COSC).