Wearing a chronograph watch gives a statement of sophistication! Many rich and prominent individuals wear chronographs because of its exciting and adventurous look. Yet, not only because of its glamorous image is a chronograph a valuable timepiece, but it is also due to its craftsmanship and complex mechanism.
A chronograph watch is not just a simple timepiece. It is a timepiece with a stopwatch function in addition to regular timekeeping. This feature allows one to measure elapsed time - for example, measuring the duration of a sporting event. Therefore, chronographs have become very popular by many great athletes.
Although a chronograph watch might appear to be very complicated with all its buttons and sub dials, it is actually very simple to use. Following is an easy-to-understand explanation on how this watch works.
Chronograph watches have two buttons on the right side of the case. The top button, the one positioned at around two o'clock, starts and stops the stopwatch. When the button is pressed, a large seconds hand starts moving around the dial, finishing a full round of the dial in 60 seconds. When the button is depressed again, the hand stops moving. So if you want to time the duration of a short event, just depress the top button at the start of the race and again at the exact moment the finishing line is crossed. Now look where the hand stopped - that is how many seconds the race took. Once you have recorded the elapsed time and you want to reset the chronograph hand to its zero position, at twelve o'clock, press the lower right button. You are now ready to start timing your next event! It is that simple! Just start, stop and reset!
Now, what are all the sub dials for?
Firstly, you will see one sub dial which runs continuously in seconds intervals and is not affected by any of the buttons. This is your seconds hand, as opposed to a large hand on the full dial as it is on non-chronographs.
Next, your chronograph might have a sub-dial which is your minute counter. The minute sub dial is used to record events lasting between one to thirty minutes. You press the same top right button which starts the large chronograph hand. Every time the large chronograph hand reaches its zero position again, meaning another minute elapsed, the minute sub dial will move one mark. At the end of the event, press the top button again and both the large hand and the minute sub dial will stop. Now check the readings on the minute sub dial in addition to the number of seconds. Once you have recorded the duration of the race, press the reset button. The minute counter and the large hand are now back to its zero position and it's time for the next dash.
Some Chronographs may have additional sub dials. You might have one sub dial showing 3 or 12-hour calibrations. This counter records longer events, like airplane flights. It takes the large chronograph hand to circle the dial 60 times for this sub dial to move one notch, showing one hour elapsed.
You may realize that one of the sub dials moves rapidly when the stopwatch function is stopped. You are probably seeing tenths or hundredths of a second being measured.
Since each chronograph watch has a different number of sub dials and features, you should read the watch manual for the exact functions of your watch. Just remember - your chronograph is not just a simple timepiece. It is a sophisticated timepiece with "complications", yet simple to use.
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