Measuring intervals of time. A watch is designed to measure a period of time. Originally, clocks only had hour hands, which would be useful in telling you if you were in the first quarter of an hour, the last quarter of an hour, or in one of the two quarters in between. Later minute and seconds hands were added which increased the accuracy by which we could tell time.
But measuring an interval of time, lets say how long it would take a the winner of a 100 meter foot race to cross the finish line was difficult. The original solution was to wait until the second hand hit the 12 o'clock position, fire the starters pistol and when the leading runner cross the finish line hit a button which stop the entire clocks movement. Hour, seconds and minute hands would all come to a dead stop. Obviously, this was less than the ideal solution.
A later innovation allowed the second hand to be stopped and started at will, without affecting the movement of the hour and minute hands. Still the operator either had to have control of when an event would start, or would have to take note of the starting time of the event, and compute the elapsed time in between.
Vacheron Constantin Malte Perpetual Calendar Chronograph Ref. 47212.
The large seconds hands is used only in conjucntion with the chronograph function.
A 30-minute timer at the 3 o'clock is used to measure intervals of up to 30 minutes.
Two watches in one. The concept of the independent seconds hand was the innovation that led to the creation of the contemporary chronograph. The solution was to have to two sets of hands connected to one engine. The first set, an hour, minute and seconds hand, permanently connected to the movement. The second set, dedicated to the chronograph function, would be connected only when activated by the user. Initially, the second set only consisted of a separate seconds hand, but later separate minute and even hour hands were added.
In the typical chronograph, a single button, usually located at the 2 o'clock position is used to start and stop the chronograph seconds hand. A second button, usually located at the 4 o'clock position is used to return the chronograph seconds, minutes and hour hands back to zero. To measure intervals longer of time longer than a minute, a 30-minute sub-dial and a 12-hour sub-dial is present on many chronographs.
Omega Speedmaster Professional. The Omega Speedmaster Professional is an example of typical contemporary chronograph. The large seconds hand is only used for the "stopwatch" purpose. It does not tick every second but stays at the 12 o'clock position. The seconds hand is in the small white dial with the numbers 20-40-60 marked. When the stopwatch function is used to measure an interval of more than one minute, it is recorded in conjunction the 30-minute counter in the dial marked 10-20-30. Intervals of longer than 30 minutes are recorded in conjunction with 12-hour counter in the dial marked 3-6-9-12.
But measuring an interval of time, lets say how long it would take a the winner of a 100 meter foot race to cross the finish line was difficult. The original solution was to wait until the second hand hit the 12 o'clock position, fire the starters pistol and when the leading runner cross the finish line hit a button which stop the entire clocks movement. Hour, seconds and minute hands would all come to a dead stop. Obviously, this was less than the ideal solution.
A later innovation allowed the second hand to be stopped and started at will, without affecting the movement of the hour and minute hands. Still the operator either had to have control of when an event would start, or would have to take note of the starting time of the event, and compute the elapsed time in between.
Vacheron Constantin Malte Perpetual Calendar Chronograph Ref. 47212.The large seconds hands is used only in conjucntion with the chronograph function.
A 30-minute timer at the 3 o'clock is used to measure intervals of up to 30 minutes.
Two watches in one. The concept of the independent seconds hand was the innovation that led to the creation of the contemporary chronograph. The solution was to have to two sets of hands connected to one engine. The first set, an hour, minute and seconds hand, permanently connected to the movement. The second set, dedicated to the chronograph function, would be connected only when activated by the user. Initially, the second set only consisted of a separate seconds hand, but later separate minute and even hour hands were added.
In the typical chronograph, a single button, usually located at the 2 o'clock position is used to start and stop the chronograph seconds hand. A second button, usually located at the 4 o'clock position is used to return the chronograph seconds, minutes and hour hands back to zero. To measure intervals longer of time longer than a minute, a 30-minute sub-dial and a 12-hour sub-dial is present on many chronographs.
Omega Speedmaster Professional. The Omega Speedmaster Professional is an example of typical contemporary chronograph. The large seconds hand is only used for the "stopwatch" purpose. It does not tick every second but stays at the 12 o'clock position. The seconds hand is in the small white dial with the numbers 20-40-60 marked. When the stopwatch function is used to measure an interval of more than one minute, it is recorded in conjunction the 30-minute counter in the dial marked 10-20-30. Intervals of longer than 30 minutes are recorded in conjunction with 12-hour counter in the dial marked 3-6-9-12.
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