Chronograph

A chronograph is a watch with an integrated stopwatch. The base movement keeps regular time on the main dial. Pressing the upper pusher — usually at 2 o'clock — starts a separate hand that measures elapsed time. The lower pusher at 4 o'clock resets it.

The word comes from Greek: chronos (time) plus graphein (to write). The first wrist chronograph appeared in 1913 from Longines, though the mechanism itself dates from the 1820s in pocket-watch form.

Sub-dials

Most chronographs carry two or three sub-dials:

• Small seconds — running seconds of the main timekeeping.
• 30-minute counter — chronograph minutes.
• 12-hour counter — chronograph hours on tri-compax layouts.

Some chronographs add a 60-second sub-dial for regular time and a central minute counter; the two- or three-register layout remains the more common approach.

Variants

• Flyback. A single press resets and restarts the chronograph — no stop, reset, restart needed.
• Rattrapante (split-seconds). Two superimposed chronograph hands. The second hand can be stopped to record a split while the first continues.
• Mono-pusher. A single pusher controls start, stop and reset — common on vintage and dress chronographs.

Construction principles

Within the movement, integrated chronographs are distinguished from modular constructions. Integrated chronographs — Zenith El Primero 400, Patek Philippe CH 29-535, Rolex 4130/4131, A. Lange & Söhne L951 — fuse stopwatch and timekeeping mechanisms into a single architecture. Modular constructions add a chronograph module to a standard base calibre; the approach is cheaper but considered less ambitious among collectors. Column wheel versus cam lever, vertical versus horizontal clutch — these are the central mechanical distinctions. Column wheel with vertical clutch is the reference combination in the high-end segment.

Notable chronographs

The Rolex Daytona 126500LN, the Omega Speedmaster Professional, the Patek Philippe 5170 and its successor 5172G, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph 26331, the Zenith El Primero and the TAG Heuer Carrera are all chronographs. The complication is widely produced; price spans from a few hundred to several hundred thousand euros.

At our atelier in Munich we see chronographs across every generation — from vintage manual-wind to contemporary manufacture calibres. For service and appraisal we account for the mechanical specifics of each movement.