Why do we love chronographs? Firstly, there is the romantic association chronographs have with adventure. From the Breitling Navitimer chronographs worn by pilots, to the Omega Speedmasters that enabled the Apollo 13 astronauts to navigate their crippled spacecraft safely back home — chronographs have given us empowerment over time and, at times, even saved our lives.
Chronographs can help you calculate pulse rates, the speed of objects over one kilometer, the distance of an approaching storm, and even currency exchange rates. But beyond all this pragmatism, there is a more poetic side to the chronograph that taps directly into our human experience. Because in an existence comprised of fleeting moments, the chronograph lets us freeze a moment of eternity and remember it forever.
What Is A Chronograph?
A chronograph is any watch that can measure an elapsed time using an independent sweep seconds hand. Chronographs beat at between 18,000 vibrations per hour, which can measure times to 1/5 of a second accuracy, right up to 7,200,000 vph, which records times accurate to 1/2,000th of a second.