Adds a stopwatch you start and stop from pushers and read on the subdials.
Also called: stopwatch complication
Measurement
Elapsed time read to 1/5 or 1/10 of a second on most dials
The basics
What to know about chronograph
A chronograph is a function rather than a power source, so it exists in both quartz and mechanical form. The word tells you nothing about what drives the watch. Pressing the top pusher starts and stops a large central seconds hand, and the bottom pusher returns it to zero. Subdials count elapsed minutes and hours, often to 30 minutes and 12 hours, while the running seconds move to a small dial of their own.
Inside, a column wheel or a cam coordinates start, stop and reset. A column wheel gives a crisper pusher feel and costs more to make, which is why enthusiasts look for it. A tachymeter scale on the bezel converts elapsed seconds over a measured mile or kilometer into speed. This is the original reason those numbers exist rather than decoration.
The costs are real. Extra parts add 2 to 4 millimeters of thickness and push service prices above a plain automatic. Dials get busy, and legibility drops as subdials crowd the numerals. Pushers are a water entry point, so unless they screw down, do not operate them underwater even on a case with a good rating. On a mechanical chronograph, running the timer constantly drains the reserve faster and adds wear.
Best for
When it works well
Actually timing things is the case, from parking to cooking to training intervals.
Sporty dial styling comes with the format, because subdials and pushers read as equipment.
Mechanical complexity appeals here, as this is the most involved complication in common production.
Drivers and cyclists can use a tachymeter bezel for real speed calculations over a measured distance.
This entry03ChronographElapsed time read to 1/5 or 1/10 of a second on most dialsAdds a stopwatch you start and stop from pushers and read on the subdials.
