Pronunciation

Parlay voo fransay? If not, you may be having a helluva time pronouncing many common watch terms. That’s because French isn’t just the language of lovemaking, it’s also the language of watchmaking. Here’s a pronunciation guide for some hard-to-say watch terms (two of them, “tachymeter” and “telemeter” aren’t French, but they’re so often mispronounced they may as well be).

Watch brand Watch Term
WATCH BRAND PRONUNCIATION
Brands Pronunciation
A. lange & sohne ah LAHN guh and ZO nuh
AUDEMARS PIGUET AWE duh mahr PEE gay
BAUME & MERCIER BOWM and MURSE ee ay
Blancpain BLAHNK pan
BREGUET BREH gay
BREITLING BRITE ling
BULGARI BUL guh ree
CARL F. BUCHERER Bucherer: BOO kur ur
CARTIER KARR tee ay
CHOPARD show PARD
CORUM KOR um
DEWITT deh VITT
FRANCK MULLER FRAHNK MYOU ler
GIRARD-PERREGAUX zhee RAHRD PAIR uh go
GREUBEL FORSEYE GROIB uhl FORCE ee
HUBLOT U blow
iwc schaffhausen Schaffhausen: shaff HOWZ in
JAEGER-LECOULTRE zhey ZHER leh KOOLT
JAQUET DROZ ZHOCK ay DROH
LONGINES LAWN jeen
LOUIS VUITTON lou ee vwee TAHN
MONTBLANC MOHNT BLAHNK
MOVADO muh VAH doe
OFFICINE PANERAI off ih CHEE nay PAN ur eye
OMEGA o MAY guh
PARMIGIANI FLEURIER pahrm ih ZHAH nee FLUR ee ay
PATEK PHILIPPE pah TEK fill EEP
PERRELET PAIR eh lay
PIAGET pee ah ZHAY
RADO RAH doe
RALPH LAUREN Lauren: LOR en
RICHARD MILLE REE shard MEEHL
ROGER DUBUIS roe ZHER do BWEE
SEIKO SAY ko
TAG HEUER TAG HOI ur
TISSOT TEE so
TUTIMA TOO tih muh
ULYSSE NARDIN you LEESE nahr DAN (The last syllable is spoken with a short, nasal “a” with no real equivalent in English. The “n” is not pronounced fully, but cut off in the back of the mouth as soon as it begins.)
VACHERON CONSTANTIN VASH er ahn kon stan TAN (For last syllable, see note for “Ulysse Nardin.”)
VAN CLEEF & ARPELS Arpels: ahr PELL
VICTORINOX vick TOR ih nox
ZENITH ZEH nith
WATCH BRAND PRONUNCIATION
Terms Pronunciation
ANGLAGE ahn GLAHZH (the “ge” at the end is pronounced like the “Zs’s” in “Zsa Zsa Gabor”)
CARRÉE care AY
CHABLON sha BLOHN (The “OHN” is pronounced with a nasal sound for which there is no exact equivalent in English. The “N” is not pronounced fully.)
CHATON sha TOHN (The “TOHN” is pronounced with a nasal sound for which there is no exact equivalent in English. The “N” is not pronounced fully.)
CHRONOMETER kruh NOM ih ter
CONTRÔLE OFFICIEL DES SUISSE CHRONOMÈTRES kon TROLE oh fish ee ELLE day SWEESE kro no MET
CÔTES DE GENÈVE KOTE duh je NEV
DAUPHINE doe FEEN
ÉBAUCHE ay BOSHE
FEUILLE foy
FOUDROYANTE foo droy AHNT
FUSÉE fyu ZAY
GUILLOCHÉ gee (hard “g”) oh SHAY
LIGNE LEEHN ye (The “ye” is cut off so quickly that it is almost inaudible.)
MANUFACTURE (AS IN “PATEK PHILIPPE IS A MANUFACTURE.”) man u fak TUHRE
MONOPOUSSOIR mah no poo SWAHR
PERLAGE pur LAHZH (See “anglage” above.)
POINÇON DE GENÈVE pwan SOHN duh je NEV (The “pwan” is pronounced with a nasal sound that has no precise equivalent in English. The “n” at the end of the syllable is not pronounced completely.)
QUANTIÈME PERPÉTUEL KAHNT ee em per PEH tyoo ELLE
RATTRAPANTE rah trah PONT
REMONTOIR ruh mon TWAHR
REPASSAGE ray pah SAHZH (See “anglage” above.)
RÉSERVE DE MARCHE ruh ZERV duh MARSH
SONNERIE sohn ur EE
TACHYMETER tak IH muh ter
TELEMETER tel EM ih ter
TOURBILLON TOUR bee ohn