Flyback Chronograph: What You Need To Know

The flyback chronograph is an important innovation in stopwatch timepieces. Find out why!

There’s a lot of lore around the chronograph watch. It’s the kind of mythic epicness that spans a wide range of tastes, too. We associate chronos with science, gadgetry, and going to the moon.

We also associate it with the sporty side of the good life—la dolce vita, Italian motorsports, or even old-world regatta life.

When the flyback function came about, it revolutionized all of these worlds. Timing is everything in sports, science, aviation, and, heck, even life. It was a simple function operated by complex engineering—and it made all the difference.

Here’s everything you need to know about the flyback chronograph.

• What Is a Flyback Chronograph
• What Is the Difference Between Flyback and Regular Chronograph
• Who Made the First Flyback Chronograph
• Conclusion: A True Innovation in Timekeeping

What Is a Chronograph? A Brief Review

If you’re wondering what is a chronograph, it’s a stopwatch function built into watches. A chronograph is one of the various watch complications on a timepiece. So, in addition to your watch telling you time, it can also measure time intervals right from the dial.

It makes perfect sense that you often see chronographs on race tracks or other sports requiring precise timekeeping.

What Is a Flyback Chronograph?

If you’re wondering what is a flyback chronograph, it’s a mechanism that can set the sweep chronograph hands’ timing intervals back to zero. It does so just at the press of a button. Additionally, you can reset the stopwatch even while the hand is running.

The watch’s flyback mechanism allows you to instantaneously reset the stopwatch feature. You don’t need to stop it and then start it over.

Let’s say you want to know how long it takes for a car to finish each lap without the said car having to stop.

You press the reset button every time it hits the finish line. When you reset, the chronograph hands return to zero and immediately continue.

This is why it’s called a flyback. That sweep hand flies right back to the start in one swift motion.

Could you imagine the math needed to time this activity before the instant reset? You’d likely have to record every specific second aligning with when the car hits the finish line.

Then, you’d circle back and determine how many seconds happened between each benchmark second. 

Okay, that isn’t bad, but let’s be honest. You save loads of time when all you have to do is press reset, then record, press reset, then record, press reset, and so on. There is no circling back.

What Is the Difference Between Flyback and Regular Chronograph?

Since the defining feature of a flyback chronograph is its instant reset, a regular chronograph does not. With a standard chronograph, you can measure one-time intervals as quickly as if using a flyback. 

However, you must stop the stopwatch if you want to do multiple intervals. You need to reset the stopwatch’s secondhand sweep back to zero or the beginning and then start again.

Timing with a traditional chronograph is no big deal if you aren’t measuring back-to-back intervals. But take the example mentioned above, or maybe you want to measure a swimmer’s lap time.

This would take some circling back. That is unless your fingers move at light speed and you’re outrageously dexterous.

Who Made the First Flyback Chronograph

Longines developed the first flyback chronograph for wristwatches, caliber 13.33Z, in 1925. This makes perfect sense since Longines is known for its contributions to flight.

The flyback has roots in air travel. Pilots needed reliable ways to deal with, and time the new levels of speed aircraft could achieve. The longer it takes to time positions, the more likely positional errors are to occur.

However, the competitiveness of Swiss watchmaking is a tale as old as time. Breitling patented the flyback before Longines could, in 1935. 

Conclusion: A True Innovation in Timekeeping

Truly, the flyback is a feat of engineering that both watch lovers and sports enthusiasts appreciate.

When you press the reset button, a lever is pulled, disconnecting a clutch that stops the chronograph. Simultaneously, another level moves that hand back to zero.

Then, at the release of that button, the clutch reconnects, and the second sweep hand is back at it. This feat happens all in a matter of nanoseconds. It’s a genuinely gymnastic combination of movement. Combining a flyback with a date complication and water resistance will give you everything you need on your wrist.

It’s easy to take for granted, but even today, a skilled watchmaker is needed to build one. 

Are you a Chronograph fan? Flybacks are common these days, but have you ever used a standard one? Let us know in the comments below.