{"id":10895,"date":"2022-08-25T09:01:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-25T16:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bobswatches.com\/rolex-blog\/?p=10895"},"modified":"2024-04-23T15:09:07","modified_gmt":"2024-04-23T22:09:07","slug":"chronographs-actually-work-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bobswatches.com\/rolex-blog\/resources\/chronographs-actually-work-2.html","title":{"rendered":"How Chronographs Actually Work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Maybe the most common complication found in luxury watches<\/a> today, besides a date function, is the slightly anachronistic and slightly misnamed chronograph. A working definition of a chronograph is simply a watch with the capability to time events of short duration (elapsed time), while also keeping track of the time of day (which we\u2019ll call conventional time).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The word \u201cchronograph\u201d literally means time writer. The name was appropriate back when timers actually recorded elapsed time using a pen held against a moving sheet of paper. Nowadays, of course, nothing on your typical chronograph actually marks down the elapsed time. Rather, the operator sees it temporarily indicated on sub-dials. Thus, a more accurate name for the timer is \u201cchronoscope.\u201d A few brands have acknowledged this, with Omega and Chronoswiss being among them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now we won\u2019t quibble over a name, but just how do these \u2018time writers\u2019 actually work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t