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What Is a Chronograph?

How to use a Chronograph?

Computes 12-Hour Record for Pilots: Elapsed time is indicated by reading scale at bottom for hours, scale at right for minutes, and large second hand for seconds.

Computes Elapsed Time, TV Commercials, Sports Events, Flying Time, Industrial Operations: By
pressing button above winding stem, the large second hand is set in
motion. Press same button again to stop it. By pressing once more, the
large second hand starts moving again from point at which it was
stopped. Complete turns of large second hand around the dial (one
minute) are computed on the small scale at right up to a maximum of 12
hours. When timing operation is completed, all hands of recorders are
returned to zero by pressing button below winding stem.

Computes Amount of Compressed Air Remaining: Suppose you have 30
minutes of air left in tank before diving and the time is 12 o'clock.
Line up triangle of moveable bezel with the #6 on the bottom scale.
When minute hand reaches the #6 position, your air supply is gone.
Warning: Always allow sufficient air for safe surfacing.

Computes Pulse and Respiration Rate: (Invaluable to doctors and
nurses). Place finger on pulse, start large second hand, and
immediately start counting pulse beat. When second hand reaches 15,
stop second hand and multiply pulse count by 4 for minute count.

Computes Underwater Elapsed Time for Skindivers: Before diving,
line up triangle on moveable bezel with minute hand. When submerged,
elapsed time will be recorded in minutes on the moveable bezel.

Computes Yacht Racing Time: See red segment on right side of
watch face. At sound of 5-minute warning, press start button. Timer
computes from 5 to 0 minutes. Stop by pressing same button, return to
zero by pressing button below winding stem.

Chronograph in General

Back in 1910, the chronograph,
also known as a stopwatch, was introduced as a wrist watch. Soon it was
a very sought after type of watch, only to gain in popularity through
the years. When the Swatch watch company started the production of
affordable and fashionable chrono's in early 1990, they sold like hot
cakes, as were the later versions. Today, almost every respectable
watch company has a chronograph in its collection.

The
chronograph was invented by a Frenchman, named Rieussec, back in 1821.
Literally, this was the only timepiece that bore the name Chronograph
rightly. It actually wrote on the dial with a small pen attached to the
index. The length of the arc of the circle displayed the time that had
passed. The index was fixed while the dial turned. The Greek words
chronos and graph stand for resp. time and writing. Chronoscope would
be a more accurate name for chronographs, since there is no real
"writing" involved anymore.

In 1822, Rieussec was granted a patent for his invention.

Real Chronograph

Chronographs
are watches that can measure time in different ways like the Daytona Rolex Replica Watch . Besides normal
timekeeping they can be used for one or more specific time
measurements. For this, the dial has several sub dials with a scale,
from which the measurements can be read. A central second hand can be
started and stopped, without interfering with the continuous time.

According to this definition, Chrono-stop watches like the one made by
Technos are not real chronographs. The central second hand acts like a
"normal" second hand until the button (located at "4") is pushed. The
hand jumps to 12. If the button is released, the hand will resume his
normal function. This makes the watch a stopwatch: with the button,
located at "2", the seconds hand can be stopped for a short period. The
watch will gain or loose some seconds with this resetting, so it will
no longer give the correct time. These watches don't have subsidiary
dials.

The
design of the dial of chronographs depends on the number of subsidiary
dials. This can be two, three or even four. One of them is likely to be
situated on the "9" of the dial, and shows the continuous seconds. When
the chronograph is activated by pushing the top button, the central
seconds hands starts moving. After one complete cycle is completed and
the hand has returned to "12", the minute-indicator, located at the
"3", will jump one position. With this simple type of chronograph a
period of 30 or 45 minutes can be measured. This is shown best in the Replica Breitling Worldtime watch .

More complicated chrono's have a subregister for total hours, often
located at 6 o'clock on the dial. This enable to take measurements up
to 12 hours. Even fairly simple chronographs have a very complicated
movement, but there is always one step further. There are chronographs
that have, beside minute and hour registers, displays for day and date,
and moon phase indication.

The
terms Chronograph and Chronometer are often used indiscriminately,
although they are two different types of watches. The term chronometer
is more of a title a watch can "earn" after a series of severe tests.
An official Swiss institute is in charge of these tests, which are
strictly prescribed in protocols. In 1961, one of the rules was, that a
mechanical watch was not allowed to gain more than 12 seconds or to
loose more than 3 seconds in order to receive the title. Because the
quality and accuracy of wrist watches improved, these rules needed
adjustment through the years.

A
chronograph can also acquire the Chronometer title, if it meets the set
standards. If so, the dial will most likely have the inscription
"officially Certified Chronometer".

Technical Innovations

The
development of the chronograph followed the technical innovation of the
wrist watch very closely. When in the 1930's manufacturers started
producing waterproof watches, this know how was used in the production
of chronographs shortly after. In 1933, the firm Universal introduced
the first waterproof chronograph to the public under the name
"Colonial". And shortly after developers managed to protect the
movement of a watch against magnetic influences, the first
anti-magnetic chronograph followed.

It
was strange enough, though, that it took many years before the
technique of the self winding movement was used in the production of
chronographs. The first self winding pocket watch was invented back in
1778 by a man named Abraham Louis Perrelet (1729-1826). It took almost
150 years before John Harwood was granted a patent for his self winding
wrist watch in 1922.

It
would take until 1969 before the first self winding chronograph appears
on the market. In that year, two automatic chronographs were introduced
on the Basel Watch Fair: the Chronomat and the El Primero. The firms
Zenith and Movado called their product "El Primero" (The First),
because it was the first in it's kind. Their competitors Breitling,
Hamilton-Büren and Heuer-Leonidas -which, one by one, thought that the
honours of being the first was theirs- gave their new-comer the name
"Chrono-matic", a joining of "chronograph" and "automatic".

In
the development of the calibers (base movements), both groups sailed
their own course. The Chrono-matic caliber uses a balance wheel with
19,800 beats per hour and a micro rotor to supply the energy for the
movement. A chronograph module is placed on the normal watch movement,
and can be taken of entirely when servicing.

The
El Primero has a "high beat movement", which means that the balance
wheel makes 36,000 beats per hour. This means that the seconds are
divided in tenths of a second and not in fifths (or five-and-a-halfths)
like the Chronomatic and practically all the other chronographs. This
means that measurements with an accuracy of 1/10s of a second can be
taken. The self winding is taken care of by a semi-circular rotor which
is fixed on the back side of the movement, and rotates over the full
diameter of the movement.

Sporting Image

At
the beginning of this century, stopwatches were used mainly by
sportsmen and the military forces. Professionally, they had to be able
to measure the time of certain events accurately. For them, a
chronograph was a practical choice.

Stopwatches
are still indissolubly attached to sport. Nowadays, the difference
between Gold and Silver is very often a matter of hundredths of a
second. Mechanical watches can't measure this, so quartz chronographs are used like the Hublot Replicas.

Today,
wearing a chronograph is a matter of taste, rather than professional.
The chronograph is becoming a fashion statement. Practical applications
are still plentiful, of coarse, like the boiling of "the perfect egg",
which requires very accurate timing. the biggest appeal of the chrono
is probably the exciting and sportive image, for it is the watch for
astronauts, racing car drivers and pilots. Professions that are known
to be adventurous.

Beside
those who choose functionality or image, there is a small group of
enthusiasts that considers the movement to be the most beautiful part
of the watch. If you have ever seen a chronograph opened up, you might
know what this is about. It is an arranged chaos, in which tiny
springs, pawls and gears set the chrono movement in motion. Every
minute part has its own role in the functioning of the whole watch.

Flight Control

So
it was the military and sportsmen that used the first chronographs. The
soldiers used it to time their exercises and operations. And because
many of these operations were carried out at night, there was the need
of an illuminated dial. Numerals and hands were treated with a
fluorescent material, Radium. Military chronographs are recognized by
the easy to read, black dial and an inscription on the back indicating
the army unit.

Military
watches are quite similar, because of the regulations and
specifications they have to meet. A military chrono may be fitted with
a telemeter scale on the edge of the dial. This can be used to
determine the distance of enemy artillery or thunderstorm. When the
chrono is started at the perception of the fire and stopped at the
explosion, the central hand will indicate the distance.

Chrono's
used by sportsmen are most likely used as stopwatches. The dial
indicates the number of seconds, divided in fifths of a second.

For
different professionals like doctors, engineers, astronauts, divers,
marines and laboratory personnel, special timepieces are made. For
medical personnel, the pulsometer is developed, with a scale to
facilitate the taking of the pulse. The chrono is started at the first
pulse and stopped after 10 to 15 pulses, depending the calibration. The
central hand will then indicate the pulse rate in beats per minute.
Respiration frequencies can be taken in a similar fashion.

Engineers,
pilots and naval officers are benefited by a chronograph with a slide
rule bezel. Especially useful at sea, where navigation used to require
lots of measuring and calculation. The best example of a chrono of this
type is the Navitimer by Breitling, a genuine classic.

To
coureurs, a stopwatch with tachometer is very useful. For example, to
measure the speed of a formula 1 race car, the time to cover a distance
of 1000 meters is measured, and the tachometer scale automatically
indicates the speed in kilometers per hour. A chrono that made
particular good appearance in the racing world is the Rolex Cosmograph
Daytona. It has a tachometer and a telemeter scale, as well as minute
and hour registration.

The Speedmaster by Omega and the Speedmaster LTD 42mm Limited Edition replica watch
has the honorable nickname "astronauts watch". Since 1965 it is the
official chronograph of astronauts of NASA. On July 21st 1969, Neil
Armstrong was the first human to set foot on the Moon, wearing a
Speedmaster. Since then, this model has the inscriptions "first watch
worn on the moon" and "flight-qualified by NASA for all manned space
missions" on the back side. In 1970 the watch proved invaluable when
after a series of explosions on board of the Apollo XIII a number of
important instruments out of order. There was no contact possible with
Flight Control, and the astronauts had to calculate and time the return
into the atmosphere. An error of a few seconds could have been fatal.
Omega received the "Snoopy Award" for the performance of the
Speedmaster. Contrary to what the name suggests, this is the highest
award issued by NASA.

Divers chrono

Divers
have their own time piece as well. Basic requirement is that the case
is waterproof. That is why a divers chronograph has round pushers, a
screw on crown, and a screw back case which is provided with rubber
gasket-rings to keep water out. At a depth of 30 meters there is hardly
any daylight penetrating, so luminescent numerals and hands on a dark
dial are necessary.

The
most important feature of any divers watch and an essential part of
every divers equipment is the diving ring. This is a rotating bezel
around the dial or the crystal. It is divided in minutes and often has
a triangular fluorescent marking at 12. Before divers take to the
water, they have calculated the time they can spend under water. The
diving time depends on the depth and the amount of oxygen taken down.
When a diver has 45 minutes of air and enters the water at 14:00 hours,
the triangular marking has to be set 45 minutes later, in this case at
9. The minutes hand has a similar triangle as the diving ring. When
both markings meet, it is time to surface, because the air is running
out.

The
diving ring of a good divers watch can only turn counter clock wise.
This is a safety precaution if the diving ring is turned by accident by
bumping into a rock or something, it can only result in a shorter
diving time.

Some
divers chronographs are fitted with an extra dial indicating the tides.
A chronograph for divers is not the best application for this type of
watch. Although the stopwatch can be used as an extra safety
precaution, the push buttons are two extra openings in the case through
which water can penetrate the inside.

Valuable