decoration

Definition

Decorations are finishes and textures applied to the movement of a watch, originally to mask tool marks and trap dust. Nowadays, they're mostly used as eye candy and to denote more expensive movements.

An example

Here's my Elabore-grade ETA 2824, as seen in the CW Malvern Aviator

You can see perlage, blued screws and a bit of Cote du Geneve on the rotor. For contrast, here's a base-grade ETA 2824:

Basic colimaconnage on the rotor; not much else.

Learn more

• Montres has a lovely page with lots of pictures - start here!
• Nice explanation of decoration versus cost.
• Audemars Piguet PDF book It's a sales pitch, but worth reading anyway.
• Haute Horology article on decoration, with a focus on engraving. Nice read.