Only watches that have been certified by an official organisation can have the word “chronometer” printed on their dials.Ī chronometer, in its modern definition, is a watch that has been tested and certified to meet certain precision standards. But “how inaccurate?” is the question that led to the creation of the chronometer. Mechanical watches are and always will be inaccurate. Precision has been and is an ongoing obsession for watchmakers, but the reality is that no mortal has been able to pull off 100% accuracy in measuring time, all the time, with a watch. Thus, you have two antagonistic concepts fighting here: the ultimate precision of time and the innate imperfection of a man-made mechanical device. What is time? A fixed norm, an agreed and averaged measurement of the length of our days, seasons or lives – all based on precise calculations. What is a watch? A device (mechanical in this case) that displays the time. The certificate of the first wristwatch to be certified a chronometer, a Rolex – 1910, Obervatoire de Montres Suisse, later to become COSC.īut what prompted the invention of chronometry testing? Let’s get back to basics. As it is an engine it will never be able to offer 100% performance, whether at a certain moment or during its entire life cycle. Friction will increase, oils will degrade and the moving parts will be subject to wear.Ī movement is also subject to external factors, like humidity, heat/cold, pressure, magnetism or gravity (the reason behind the invention of the tourbillon… but that’s another topic). Just like the engine of a car, its performance will, necessarily, decline over time. On one hand, it is subject to friction, to the use of oils to reduce the friction and to general wear and tear. Like every mechanical engine relying on moving parts, it is affected by internal and external factors. A mechanical watch, and more precisely its movement is a piece of micro-mechanics. To understand why the concept of “chronometer” was invented, we have to go back to the basics of watchmaking. What is a Chronometer?Ĭhronometer: “a piece of equipment that measures time very accurately” ( Cambridge Dictionary) This Omega Speedmaster is a chronograph watch. As a reminder, a complication is any feature in a mechanical watch beyond the simple display of hours, minutes or seconds – in this perspective, even the simplest date mechanism is a complication. It has nothing to do with the functions of a watch.Ī chronograph refers to a function of a watch, something it is capable of doing, a so-called feature or, in more horological jargon, a complication. This Omega Seamaster 300M is a chronometer watch.Ī chronometer gauges the performance of a watch and vouches that the watch movement has been tested and controlled by an official organisation, under defined rules. The terms chronometer and chronograph are precise nomenclatures, with precise definitions. The first thing to establish when addressing the question of the difference between a chronometer and a chronograph is that we are talking about two completely different concepts. Chronograph – Two completely different concepts But what about the others, the ones who want to start their horological journey and are coming to terms with the jargon? As we still get asked this question quite often, we thought that it would be good to clarify the situation and to provide an answer to “what’s the difference between a chronometer and a chronograph?” Chronometer vs. Certainly, most of our recurring readers at MONOCHROME have the answer to this question. chronometer” question is an important one.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |