Timepiece with rotatable outer ring

摘要

A universal timepiece (10) having a manually operable outer ring (33) for selecting one of twenty-four time zones, where a display indicates the time of the time zone selected. For this purpose a device for detecting the rotational position of the outer ring (33) is provided which has a special arrangement of permanent magnets (39a-j) in the outer ring (33) and of magnetic switches (27a-h) in the timepiece casing (11, 12) in a specific number as well as evaluating electronics in the timepiece movement (21). The permanent magnets (39a-j) determine the binary statuses of the magnetic switches (27a-h), which are interpreted together as a signal or as a status pattern. The special arrangement of the magnetic switches (27a-h) and the permanent magnets (39a-j) effect for each rotational position an intrinsic status pattern different in each case from the others which permits a clear indication of the selected rotational position of the outer ring (33).