Terms of Art: rehaut -- flange
The French word rehaut comes from the verb rehausser: to raise, enhance or heighten. "Les rehauts" are highlights (as in the artist painted with highlights).
Rehaut is defined as a "flange"
In horology, le rehaut can be:
1) a rotating internal bezel (lunette intérieure rotative) as we find in this reference: "Une couronne rotative pour le réhaut d'orientation et du compte à rebours," which translates as: "A [second] crown for adjusting the [internal] elapsed time counter." An example would be the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Compressor Dualmatic or the Hamilton Khaki Navy.
2) in a fixed configuration, a flange which raises the crystal above the dial and hands. On the Rolex Submariner, for example, the rehaut exists in the same plane as the external
rotating (elapsed time) bezel. On many Rolex watches of more recent manufacture the rehaut is repetitively engraved with the "Rolex [coronet] Rolex [coronet]" design. In this design the serial number is engraved on the rehaut at six o'clock and the serial number also continues to appear between the six o'clock lugs. By way of further example, one finds the comment: "rehaut et aiguille avec pointe effilée pour le réglage de l’alarme" or flange and hand with tapered point for the adjustment of alarm, with reference to the Panerai Radiomir GMT/Alarm.
To reiterate, the area under the crystal of a watch is properly referred to as the rehaut, in French. In English the proper term
would be a "flange." The flange
(or rehaut) is sometime mistakenly referred to as the "chapter ring." However, this area (the rehaut) is not the chapter ring, which is the circular ring on a clock or watch dial on which the minutes (and sometimes the hours) are engraved, attached or painted. Francophones refer to the chapter ring as tour d'heures (hours ring). The particular chapter ring depicted to the left is colloquially called chemin de fer (literally "way of iron" or railroad).
To put the idea of the flange into some perspective, note that a flange is defined as: a spreading or flaring part; a projecting or protruding rim, edge, rib, or collar used to strengthen an object, hold it in place, or attach it to another object. In a gasketed joint, the flange performs all three functions of strengthening an object, holding it in place, and attaching it to another object.
Commentary: There are certain seemingly simple words which, in some fields of study embody complex concepts, definitions and/or explanations, when used in or by a particular industry, trade or discipline. These words are a type of shorthand that facilitate rapid communication of concepts to those in-the-know. An example might be the "jargon” that baseball players and fans alike use when describing the game, a play or the performance of a team or player. A more technical name for jargon is "word of art" or "term of art," the distinction being that these "terms of art", in most circumstances have no or different meanings outside of a particular discipline context but, within the context of a discipline it has a very specific meaning for that particular area of study.
