"Circular Graining" is an abrasive finish with a pattern of concentric circular lines (around the center of a circular part such as a watch wheel).
(By way of contrast, spotting produces a repeating pattern of circular patches of scratches.)
Not to be confused with so-called "circular snailing," which is synonym for spotting.
See: Sermier, Caroline and Giulio Papi. High-End Horological Finishing and Decoration. (Le Locle, CH: Audemars Piguet, 2006): 103. Much the same text (but unillustrated) also appears in material by Sermier on the "watches-lexic" website, at: http://www.watches-lexic.ch/pages/eng/tec/fs_exp21.htm
At left below is portion of a photograph of an Omega Speedmaster Calibre 321 wristwatch ("chronograph") taken by flickr user "Malenkov in Exile" (Shane Lin). The brass wheels (gears) are finished with Circular Graining. Click through for the complete photograph. The photograph on the right is of the same watch showing the case back. It would appear to have a species of circular graining (although I suppose you could also call it a brushed finish that happens to be circular in form).
(Photographs by flickr user "Malenkov in Exile" (Shane Lin) License: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0. Locations: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanelin/4727949799/in/set-72157624441427652 and http://www.flickr.com/photos/8869879@N05/5013939711 (also on Wikimedia Commons at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Omega_Cal._321_Chronograph_movement.jpg )
The photograph by flickr user "Malenkov in Exile" (Shane Lin) is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 license. Please note that this license is more restrictive than the license of the rest of this present web page; it forbids commercial use (my own use here is noncommercial).
All portions of this document not noted otherwise are Copyright © 2012 by David M. MacMillan and Rollande Krandall.
Circuitous Root is a Registered Trademark of David M. MacMillan and Rollande Krandall.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons "Attribution - ShareAlike" license. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ for its terms.
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