Chronographs
Time measurement is a challenge that people have faced since time immemorial. Scientific experiments as well as high performance sports require the best from the technology. However, chronographs are not just measuring instruments. From the simple stopwatch, the chronograph has developed into an object of fashion that is to be found in practically every good fashion collection.
What is a chronograph?
Literally translated, the word "chronograph" means „time writer". A chronograph is a clock, in which a stop mechanism has been built into the actual clockwork. This mechanism is released through the activation of a button and is read on a face (later on, three faces for hour, minute and second). The function connected with it is for time measurement. Time intervals from up to a minute can be measured due to the fact that the
separate stopwatch can be started, stopped and reset. What is special about this is that the mechanics of the stopwatch run independently from the actual clock. The stopping device and clock do not impact on each other. While the first chronographs only had one winder to start and stop the time measurement function, the new ones had two or three winders, which were each then used with one of the functions named.
Chronograph and chronometer
The term "chronograph" is nowadays often confused with the term "chronometer". A chronometer, however, is only the designation for a clock, which is tested and assigned for its special operational performance. Chronometers are tested under extreme conditions and must display high accuracy under these conditions. The concept "chronometer" is therefore a distinction that clock manufacturers are pleased to have on their timepieces. Companies receive this title when they allow their clocks to be checked by independent institutions. When the examinations are passed, each of the clocks can be distinguished as a chronometer.
Rattrapante chronograph
The stop function of chronographs has been continually improved since the first verifiable sample at the end of the 19th century. At the beginning, only a time interval was able to be measured. However, if one wanted to measure two times directly behind one another, the chronograph lost its value. A chronograph was developed, whose additional stop function featured two hands. These could be started at the same time and stopped independent of each other.
The more modern the better!
In contrast to many other areas of the clock, the guideline with regard to chronographs and in general with regard to time measurement is: the more modern the tool is, the better it is as well.
With progressive technology, it is becoming easier for people to measure time more exactly. If one thought that previous time measurement that had the accuracy of a second was good, the time measurement of today allows intervals in the area of a thousandth of a second (for example, in Formula 1) to be measured.
Chronograph versus digital watch
The idea that that the chronograph falls more and more into the background due to the new digital world cannot be dismissed. The new possibilities that digital clocks bring with them eclipse the functions of a chronograph. In contrast to chronographs, digital clocks allow the option of stopping, saving and recalling after the event, many time intervals at the same starting point.
Nevertheless, the chronograph, due to its popularity alone as a normal wristwatch, will not vanish into thin air. The watch manufacturers invest too much in new models and design studies of the watch type for the chronograph to be no longer seen on any hand in the future.
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