Deployant vs. deployment (watches)

Discussion in 'English Only' started by kew, Nov 25, 2008.

  1. Hi,

    I am not allowed to post a pic so I am going to have to describe to you what I am talking about.

    Some wrist watches which have a leather strap have a folding metal link which enables the wearer to easily install and remove a watch from the wrist. This metal link folds over and clips down which secures the watch to the wrist.

    I have always referred to this as a "deployment". I have been advised that it is in fact a "deployant" although this word is not in the dictionary.

    Can anyone assist me as to what is correct please?
  2. JamesM

    JamesM à la Mod

    I have no special knowledge about watches but I found both words in use on a search of Ebay, for example. "Deployant" looks like a French word that has been directly borrowed, while "deployment" looks like an English word.

    I can't tell you more than that.
  3. Cypherpunk Senior Member

    Springdale, AR
    US, English
    It sounds like a foldover clasp, possibly a foldover clasp with a safety. A deployment is a particular type of double foldover locking clasp. I think you'll find this page useful, to confirm.
  4. JJohnson

    JJohnson Senior Member

    Southwest Texas
    Texan English
    how about

    There may be a specific term for it; maybe some other poster knows it.
  5. Thanks. In the wrist watch forums it is commonly referred to as a "deployment" so to refer to it as a buckle, clip, safety, or clasp would not properly identify it. For instance I could say, "the watch has a leather strap with a deployment" and every watch enthusiast would know exactly what I mean.

    But today, I've been told it is incorrect to refer to this device as a "deployment". It is in fact a "deployant". As I could not find a dictionary definition of "deployant", I am wondering what actually is correct.

    Thanks Cypherpunk for that page but are they correct calling it a "deployment" ?
  6. Cypherpunk Senior Member

    Springdale, AR
    US, English
    I think several other styles on that page would be considered deployments, basically any of the styles that fold over on themselves to cinch the band. I think they use 'clasp' a bit too often, in place of deployment, but yes, as far as I know and have ever been told, that's a deployment.
    Now, I did find a page that uses deployant interchangeably with clasp, not one instead of the other.
  7. Cagey post mod

    English - US
    This is very interesting. The online OED does not list either word with the meaning you want, as you perhaps already know. However, Google search gives approximately equal numbers of results for both of the following, when I click through to the last page of citations.

    488 for "deployant buckle"
    521 for "deployment buckle"

    It did seem to me, glancing over the results, that the citations for "deployant" had the greatest number of pages for watch enthusiasts, while the one for "deployment" was primarily commercial sites. But that is just a first impression, and may be wrong. (I didn't check for the possibility that these two terms may refer to different parts.)

    Note: Google will do a new search when you click the links, so your results may be different.
  8. Thanks for the input.
    This may be a case of either or. Seeing that the word "deployant" is not in the dictionary, would that then make the word "deployant" not a word?
  9. Cagey post mod

    English - US
    No, it is a word, although a word that is apparently used by a very select group of people at the present. A dictionary only acknowledges that words are around and have been used for a while.

    Perhaps you should inform the Oxford English Dictionary. The online version haa a place for submitting new words. These would seem to qualify as words that have a sufficiently wide use.

    Thank you for your question. I really enjoy getting a glimpse of a specialized field of knowledge.
  10. cycloneviv

    cycloneviv Senior Member

    Perth, Western Australia
    English - Australia
    This is from

    Deployant Clasp a clasp mechanism for use with watch straps. This allows a leather or other watch strap to operate similar to a watch bracelet. This gives a nicer, more finished appearance than the traditional tang-type buckle on most straps. Sometimes mistakenly called a 'deployment' clasp.
  11. losilmer

    losilmer Senior Member

    I think that "deployant" is an inexact transliteration of the word used in the French language for the same device.

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