Why the Chronograph is a Beguiling Complication

Think of what is out there, automatics, triple calendars, perpetual calendars, sidereal watches, travel watches, only a handful can be utilized to change the mechanism of the watch. 

The chronograph (or stop watch ) can be used to stop and start timing either with the second hand ( think – the new PP ref 5975), or utilize a second dial ( think of 99% of your chronos out there). 

 The minute repeater, when activated allows us to hear the time. 

The travel time can change the hour hour to show a second time zone 

But of these three complications the chronograph is the one, which is most accessible in terms of cost and also the complication that gives us “power” over the watch and the time it measures. 

 By pushing the start button we enter into a new time frame, by stopping the time we vicariously are playing with time measurement and by restarting the whole mechanism we are masters of time on our wrist. 

 Now I am not saying this is the most useful complication we can get on our watches. Indeed it is probably one of the least utilized complication we have- in terms of its original design 

 Tachymeter- we have a speedometer in our cars for that. 

 Pulseometer – have you ever seen a doctor or nurse measure a patients pulse that way these days. Patients are hooked up to oximeters, BP measuring cuffs , hear rate monitors these days to continuously measure patients vital signs including the pulse 

 Telemeter – yup that is really useful today on the battle field. And the distance to the lightning strike helps us how??

 Some would say they use their stopwatch to boil eggs correctly or to check the parking meter. While this may be correct, I bet you over 99.9% of all people having a chrono function on their mechanical watch do not use it. They play with it! 

 So of all the complication why is it that the most common one - the chrono - is the most beguiling 

 Now I am not sure when my collection got so chrono heavy. I tend to focus on vintage pieces and usually simple watches only , focusing on the case differences ( think PP ref 9-90) or the movement ( think PP 12-600 ) or the Prince from Rolex. But over time I noticed that I had amassed a fair number of chronos.

I think the fact that one of my first watches was a Chronograph Suisse helped. This watch is 18 kt gold was a gift from my dad. I remember him taking it out only on special occasions and allowing us to play with the stop / start mechanism. It was magic in the days when most watches I saw were simple time only pieces. When he allowed me to wear it outside for a day or two , I was completely spell bound by this new complication which seemed so sophisticated and complex.

 When all was said and done these old swiss chronos were really a shell of a watch. The gold case was so thin it had a second metal back , The lugs were hollowed out so save on the gold usage ( and the cost I would imagine). 

 But I was hooked 

 I have been collecting for many years now. To give you an example. When I started collecting watches, Paul Newman daytonas were around $7 000. I thought that was crazy and an inordinate sum of money. Bubble backs were all the rage and I invested my hard earned money into 18 Kt BB ref 3131 – a much better investment or so I thought. How wrong was I ! As the price of these Paul Newmans sky rocketed , I was always one step behind . $25000 – way too much. Then $75 000 – ridiculous . So I never entered into this heavenly realm of chonos BUT along the way I compromised and bought the lowly Daytona ref 6263 and 6239 ( pre Daytona)

Along the way I saw the most stunning ref 4062 in pink gold with milled edges. I fell in love with it and had to have it. I traded my 6239 into this piece and loved wearing it.

But I started missing the old pre Daytona and started looking for a replacement. Finally salvation in the way of Jed came to my rescue and I found another one. Mission accomplished.

But no – I was still drawn to this most useless but most interesting of all complications. I now wanted the “new “ Rolex cosmosgraph with an automatic movement. However I wanted something special. How about one in gold, how about one with a ultra rare porcelain dial. Eventually one came up for sale and it was in the collection.

Now I started thinking, could I get a PP chrono. I had foolishly passed on the 5070 J when it came out. Who would like this large sized chrono and the black dial – terrible . so even though I never saw this piece in the flesh and was offered one when it came out in the late 90’s . I passed. Boy was I sorry. Maybe I could find a reasonably priced second hand one – hah. Not in the real world. 

 So when PP brought out the ref 5975 I really liked the new design. A stop watch with no sub second dial., a tachymeter, pulsometer and telemeter all rolled into one , I put my hand up and after a long wait received one from my local PP agent ( Thanks JFP)

Along the way I snagged a ref 321 Speedie and recently on a whim purchased a 1970’s Omega ref 176.005 (not the Jedi!) A huge watch but interesting to wear

So that is the state of my chrono collection at the moment

It continues to evolve (rather than grow – I hope) 

 I still have my eye on that damned Paul Newman but I have made the decision that if I want one I should trade in few other chronos to obtain it. It is frivolous to continue to add pieces with out pruning others – besides being extremely expensive. 

 So maybe in five years my collection may look different. Why do I need 4 Rolex chronos when I could trade 2 or 3 in towards a PN ? Am I Mike Woods in training wheels??

 Maybe I will find that reasonably priced ref 5070 then what do I let go? 

 I am very lucky that I am able to collect so freely and appreciate that these issues are not important at all in the grand scale of life ( or even in the minor day to day events ) but I do feel very fortunate that I can continue to collect as my heart desires ( within reason) and that these are the irrelevant issues which I deal with when collecting 

 Thank you for reading 

 Julian