FAVRE, PERRET E.—In 1876 the chief commissioner in the Swiss Department and a member at that time of the International Jury on Watches at the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia. On his return home he was very emphatic in his endorsement of the American method of manufacture as compared to the Swiss. FITCH E. C.—Made president of the Waltham Watch Co., in 1886. His long experience in watch case and movement making and his commercial training made his judgment on matters relating to watchmaking of value. He was the inventor of the screw bezel case. FLANK—The flank of a wheel or pinion is the part lying between the pitch circle and the center. FLIRT—Any device for causing the sudden movement of a mechanism. FLY—A speed regulating device or governor consisting of a fan or two vanes upon a rotating shaft. Used in the striking part of clocks. By some believed to have been used on the earliest clocks—before the verge escapement—to check a too rapid descent of the weight. FLY PINION—The pinion in a clock that carries the fly: a part of the striking mechanism. [Illustration] FOB—Properly a watch pocket in the waistband of trousers. Commonly applied to the end of a chain or ribbon which is attached to the watch and hangs free from the pocket. One of the early examples was attached to a watch made for Oliver Cromwell in 1625 by John Midwall in Fleet Street. [Illustration] FOLIOT—A straight armed balance with weights used as one of the earliest clock regulators. De Vick's clock is one example of it. FOLIOT BALANCE—See _Foliot_. FOLLOWER—Of two wheels geared together, the one to which the driver imparts motion is called the follower. FORK—The fork shaped end of the lever into which plays the roller jewel. FOURTH WHEEL—The wheel in a watch that drives the escape pinion and to whose arbor the seconds hand is attached. FRAME—The plates or plate and bars of a watch or clock which support the pivots of the train. FREE SPRING—A balance spring not controlled by curb pins. Used in chronometers and other fine time pieces where the spring is an overcoil. FROMANTEEL, AHASUERUS—A clockmaker of Dutch extraction—maker of steeple clocks in East Smithfield. The family of Fromanteels were celebrated as having been the first to introduce the pendulum clocks into England. Their claim has since been contested in favor of Harris and Hooke. FULL PLATE—A model in which the top plate is circular in form—the balance being above this plate. Used now in 18 size watches for railroad and other hard usage. They are made only in limited quantities. [Illustration]