The latest craze in wrist watches is having those big-faced ones with many dials and sub-dials and all the complications that can be marshalled.
The more complicated and heavy the watch is, the more expensive and sophisticated it makes the wearer feel. But take time and ask what all those dials and sub-dials are meant for on the watch.
The wearer may most likely flee for dear life. That may as well be after dropping a few names on the watch, calling it a chronograph (yes, most folks do no longer call it a watch; that’s too plain).
If you have time to listen, they will tell you it is Swiss-made, customized and made purposely to fit! But then, what is a chronograph and what do all those complicated features on the face of the watch – that go beyond telling time – mean?
Well, the most common two features on racing or pilot watches are a chronograph and a tachymeter. They certainly make your watch look cool, but they are not just for looks.
Learning how these two watch complications work together can turn your watch into a pretty nifty measuring tool, and you – a truly sophisticated individual.
For starters, “chronograph” is just a fancy word for “stopwatch”. According to male grooming website, ‘The Art of Manliness’, chronographs were added to watches back in the 20th century. The aim was to allow racecar drivers and pilots to time themselves, and each other.
During America’s golden age of space exploration, astronauts strapped watches with chronographs on their wrists. For example, Apollo 13 astronaut Jack Swigert used the chronograph on his Omega Speedmaster to time a significant course correction on their perilous journey back to earth.
Using the chronograph on your watch is pretty simple. You just press the start/stop button on the side of the watch to start or stop the stopwatch; push the bottom button to reset back to zero. The more confusing part comes in understanding what the different sub-dials that make up the chronograph mean. And so, I shall use an illustration of the Omega watch.
Watch chronographs usually consist of three hands: a second hand, a minute hand, and an hour hand. (Some chronographs have just a second hand and a minute hand).
The second hand on a chronograph watch is the long, thin center hand. Unlike the second hand on watches without a chronograph, this one only moves when you have started the stopwatch.
And so, when your second hand is not moving, as does the one of watches without a chronograph, it does not mean your chronograph is dead or is not keeping track of the seconds.
It does, through one of the sub-dials on the watch’s face. From the Omega watch illustration, the second hand for the current time is on the right-side sub-dial.
The chronograph’s minute hand on this watch is on the left-side sub-dial. It lets you know of how many minutes have passed from the time you started the stopwatch. As you can see, it tracks up to 30 minutes.
The chronograph’s hour hand on this watch is the bottom middle sub-dial. It tells you how many hours have passed since you started your stopwatch. I hope we all now understand what a chronograph is all about.
