Learn how to use a chronograph watch with these easy steps and get the most out of your sports watch.
Of all the watch complications out there, very few prove as handy as the chronograph. Since its heyday in the 1950s-1960s, it has become a category of its own. Military personnel, pilots, and professional racing drivers still utilize it today.
To understand how to use a chronograph watch, let’s look at its history and what the complications are helpful for.
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The Evolution of the Chronograph
Louis Moinet was the first person to pioneer the chronograph complication inside a pocket watch in around 1816. The utilization of its features, however, really grew when brands started to implement it into a wristwatch.
Longines designed one of the earliest models in 1913, followed by the first single-pusher-operated chronograph by Breitling three years later. Then, in 1923, Patek Philippe produced a split-second chronograph, followed by Breitling’s two-pusher concept in 1934.
During the 1950s and 1960s, several leading brands produced what we now refer to as industry icons.
This time was, in other words, the golden era of the chronograph. A few examples include the Omega Speedmaster, the Rolex Daytona, the Breitling Navitimer, and the very classic-looking TAG Heuer Carrera.
The end of the 1960s marked the birth of the first automatic chronograph. Seiko (ref 6139) and Zenith, with its famous El Primero watch, were neck-and-neck. Though it’s still debatable as to who reached the finish line first, the formula since then has remained pretty solid. Some of the earliest designs are still pillars in horology today.
How To Read a Chronograph Watch
To understand how to read a chronograph watch, it’s important to explore the different scales you may see on one. Here are some common ones you’re likely to find on a sports watch and how to read them.
The tachymeter scale is used to estimate the speed of a moving object like a vehicle. It typically features around the edge of the dial or on the bezel. To start the measurement, all you need to do is begin timing.
The second-hand chronograph will begin to move until you finish the timing. Here, you can read the seconds hand against the tachymeter scale, where it will indicate a distance in kph or mph.
A pulsometer is used to record heart rate. Doctors and other medical professionals still use this feature in a watch today. The beats are displayed in 15-20 markers around the scale of the pulsometer. To calculate heartbeats per minute, you’d simply start and stop the chronograph as normal, reading from the second hand.
A Telemeter is another scale you may come across on a chronograph watch. It’s used to measure an object that you can see and hear. For example, if you wanted to track a storm, you’d start the chronograph when you saw a bolt of lightning.
Then, you’d wait for the thunder, then stop the chronograph to determine how close the storm was.
How To Use a Chronograph Watch
Following the steps in how to use a chronograph watch is much easier than you think. Although this type of watch may look complicated, it’s essentially just a stopwatch function. Trust me, it’s simple when you know how!
Before using a chronograph watch, familiarize yourself with the layout of the dial. More often than not, you’ll get a 30-minute timer, a 12-hour totalizer, and a running second counter.
This is a tricompax layout, equipped with a central chronograph seconds hand. Other versions may include a 1/10th of a second counter. In this case, you can read a split-second measurement in this window.
Chronographs can also come in the bi-compax layout, with sub-counters placed at 3 and 9 o’clock or 6 and 12 o’clock.
The counters showing larger periods of elapsed time do the same as the central chronograph hand. They show minutes elapsed within a 30-minute segment, as does the respective 12-hour counter.
To start a chronograph timing, simply press the 2 o’clock pusher. When you want to stop the timing, press the same button again.
Here, you can read off the seconds, minutes, or hours that have elapsed since your timing began. Before beginning a new timing, you’ll need to reset the hands using the 4 o’clock pusher.
What Is the Use of Chronographs in Watches?
Like anything in horology, there are multiple versions of this complication. The simplest version is great for measuring laps around a racetrack. But there are more uses to explore, depending on the type of chronograph you choose.
When timing instantaneous events, the use of a flyback chronograph is indispensable. This is especially true for motorsport fans wanting to time multiple laps in a race. It enables you to measure timing and press just one single button to begin a new one instantly.
Other variations of the chronograph complication prove particularly useful in measuring specific sporting events.
A split-second chronograph (Ratrappante) can time multiple events at the same time. For example, if two cars start a race together, activating the pusher prompts two second hands to move.
When the first car reaches the finish line, you press the split-second button, stopping the first hand. Pressing the pusher once more when the second car reaches the finish line will stop the remaining hand.
The regatta timer is another example of a sport-specific chronograph. It counts down rather than up. This enables yachters and boat racers to position themselves accurately for the beginning of a race.
So, if anyone ever asks you, “What is the use of chronographs in watches?” You know how to answer!
Winding Down
A chronograph function operates in the same way as a stopwatch. Essentially, it’s a timing device used to measure elapsed time. Don’t let the technical dial of a chronograph watch put you off using one. They’re actually a lot easier to work than you think.
You can use a chronograph to measure the time needed to boil an egg or to detect a storm approaching. You can even use the complication to measure the speed at which an airplane flies or to measure moving artillery.
Whether you opt for a simple chronograph or something more complicated like a Rattrapante is entirely your choice. Some collectors just love the look of a chronograph but have never tried using one.
But if you really want to get value for your money, learn how to use a chronograph watch. It will probably make the most mundane of tasks a whole lot more fun and simpler, too!
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