Hertz (Hz)

Hertz is an international measuring unit used to measure frequency, in watchmaking it is used to indicate the number of vibrations the balance makes per hour. The precision of a watch will increase as the frequency rises.

A single vibration of the balance equals half an oscillation, oscillation being responsible for the ticking sound of a watch. Most quartz watches typically have a frequency of 32Mhz while mechanical ones often beat at 4hz.