Beyond the time, a chronograph makes it possible to measure the time elapsed. “The beginnings of so-called industrial society at the start of the 19th century generated the need to carry out mechanical measurements in various fields. The chronograph was born from these developments”, says Pascal Brandt, watchmaking consultant. And to list all those who contributed to inventing it: Louis Moinet, Nicolas Rieussec, Edouard Heuer, Léon Breitling…
At the time, these were still pocket chronographs. Until Gaston Breitling – Léon’s son – launched one of the first wrist chronographs in 1915. It was not until the 1930s that Rolex innovated with a waterproof chronograph, equipped with a monobloc case and thus inaugurated the Oyster saga. Finally, in 1969, Zenith’s El Primero caliber was born, the first automatic chronograph movement. It is also a modified El Primero caliber that will equip Rolex Daytona references between 1988 and 2000.
The iconic model of the brand with the crown celebrates its sixtieth anniversary this year. Among the novelties unveiled at the Geneva Watch Show, one caused a sensation: the Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona, equipped with the new in-house 4131 movement and an openworked oscillating weight. A piece only visible on the platinum version where – and this is unprecedented for this collection – the case back is transparent.
The influence of motor racing
It is probably no coincidence that, during the same year 1963, Rolex was inspired by car races on the beach at Daytona, Florida, to baptize its chronograph; while Jack Heuer chose the Carrera Panamericana road race in Mexico for his own collection. Unveiled in January 2023, the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph 60th Anniversary Limited Edition pays homage to one of the most prized references among vintage Carreras, of which this watch is a faithful reinterpretation.
As Pascal Brandt points out, “such a complication is certainly part of any self-respecting watch collection”. Also, rare are the houses that do not offer it in their catalog. One of the most notorious exceptions was until now the German watchmaker A. Lange & Söhne, but it has just unveiled the Odysseus Chronograph, equipped with the new caliber L156.1, whose particularity lies in an unprecedented reset , where the needles captivate the eye with their choreographed ballet.
Another big name in watchmaking – this time from Japan – has also sacrificed to the exercise of style. Grand Seiko presented the Tentagraph, its first automatic model, in March. Powered by the new caliber 9SC5, it offers a record power reserve of seventy-two hours.
Among the new items arriving on the market, that of Bulgari entered the Octo Roma collection. On the dial of this piece are a central seconds hand, a thirty-minute counter and another for the twelve hours. The windows are arranged in such a way as to facilitate rapid reading of the time indications. While Louis Vuitton also equipped its Tambour Street Diver with a function of this type, the diver’s watch which is distinguished by unconventional aesthetic choices.
At Parmigiani Fleurier, this complication has always met with some success. On the occasion of its 20th anniversary, the brand has designed the Tonda PF Chronograph Rattrapante model with manual winding and its two column wheels. Its movement beats at 5 Hz, in other words, at 36,000 vibrations per hour, a relatively high frequency.
Emotional motives
“Despite the performance of mechanical timepieces, the time will always be less precise than the one displayed on your mobile phone”, concedes Pascal Brandt. This is not necessarily a major handicap, notes the consultant, since “the original function of a watch is often diverted. Nowadays, we buy it above all for emotional motivations”.
For a long time, watch icons have been turning the heads of enthusiasts and collectors. Among them, the Omega Speedmaster embeds a whole imaginary which is due to the fact that this chronograph traveled on the Moon. And the watch consultant does not hide his admiration for those who imagined the Bioceramic MoonSwatch – a contraction of the Moonwatch from Omega and Swatch.
With this joint collection, the two brands have achieved “a masterstroke as there are few in the watchmaking world”. They dared to decline an emblematic model into an accessible product. The MoonSwatch is indeed modeled on the design of the Omega chronograph. Except that it works on quartz, with a case made of a mixture of bio-based plastic and ceramic. A sacrilege which nevertheless allowed Omega to increase its notoriety and to rejuvenate its public. As for Swatch, after having sold more than a million copies in a few months, the brand has won the moon…