What is a chronograph?

Posted on April 22, 2024

The word chronograph is derived from “chronos,” the Greek word for time, and “graph,” the Greek word for writing. Early versions of the chronograph were instruments that marked the dial of the mechanism with a small pen attached to the index so the length of the pen mark would indicate time elapsed.

The chronograph as we know today is a specific type of watch that is a stopwatch combined with a display watch. Basic chronographs have an independently sweeping second that can be started, stopped and cleared to zero by pressure on the pusher.

Louis Moinet first invented the Chronograph in 1816. His creation was solely used for work with astronomical equipment. It was French watchmaker, Nicolas Mathieu Rieussec, who was commissioned by King Louis XVII in 1821 to design the first chronograph to the market. Rieussec’s chronograph was used to time horse racing, the King’s favorite past time, and soon changed the world of other sports with its various capabilities.

Years later, in early 1844, Adolphe Nicole expanded upon Rieussec’s design and developed an improved version of the chronograph to include a reset feature that allowed successive measurements.

At the turn of the 1900s, Chronographs became wildly popular and new versions were created by major watch brands. Also, after the Wright’s Brother’s success introduced fascination with flight to the world, demand for chronographs skyrocketed. Just like in aviation, many other industries required the same precise, repeating time that the chronograph provided. Chronographs are used not only for racing, but now keep time in the Olympic Games and also in naval and submarine navigation.

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