I've one Chronograph (FM 8885 C CC DT - no laughing at the back please). And despite it being worn rarely, I don't mind the look of it too much. Maybe the fact it's 2miles wide helps it accommodate the extra dials. I dunno.
But some watches seem to be chronograph for the sake if it. Almost like the complication (and resultant extra dials) are shoehorned in just _because_.
Does anyone genuinely ever (regularly) use their chrono features?
Maybe its just that I prefer simple dials and each to his own and all that. But when travelling around and casually glancing at folks watches, there seem to be so many superfluous sub dials out there cluttering up perfectly nice primary dials - that they clearly are popular.
So in less waffly summary (IMO):
1) they look cluttered
2) I'll wager hardly anyone ever uses the 'feature'
To those that love and 'get' chronos - what is it that draws you to them?
PS - post prompted in part by LTF's SC Daytona. I drool at the images of it but then there's a nagging at the back of my brain, an itch which reminds me I don't like chronos..../shrug/
At least half of my watches are chronographs, but I've probably used the chrono feature a dozen times. I just like the look of them.
I have a load of watches rated to 200m water resistance too, yet don't even shower in them, let alone dive to depths of 20 atmospheres of pressure.
Go figure.
Last edited by kevkojak; 3rd September 2013 at 11:13.
Hi, to be fair i think you have some valid points there, and to be honest I only have some chronos because i like the extra dials. In my eyes it makes it look more complicated and so like it. This ties in with your point and it is true, i rarerly use that feature.
I think it can make the dial look more interesting, but it is easy to mess up a dial with this feature. Some I like some I hate. Chrono or not seems to divide wis, should be an iteresting thread.........
Luxury egg timers - gotta love 'em!
See, look how cluttered and nasty they look....erm...no wait...hmmmOriginally Posted by learningtofly
And those Tachy bezels won't be used either....I understand exactly what you mean, and can only way... well, look...
I use mine most days, for cooking and timing my cycling trips. Also use them to time longer journeys in the car.. no real reason, just makes adds a tiny bit more interest to the day.
I have had quite a number and TBH rarely (if ever) use the chrono. I probably run it for the sake of it as opposed to timing anything. I really don't need to the second (or 10th) timing.
If anyone fancies one then here are a few for grabs.................. (see my signature)
A man who doesn't love buttons....
I use mine for cooking and the like. I always have the feeling that non-chrono watches are visually missing something, even if they are stylish. My small collection is about half and half.
There are much more pointless features out there then the chrono. Moonphase for one, power reserves indicator on an automatic is another
It tends to happen in bursts but I do use the chronograph function if I need to do acceptance testing on the response time of a computer application or network cutover. Haven't used it for a couple of months but was using it almost every day for a week or two then.
For the timing of sporting (cycling) activity I'm happy with the data generated by Strava but then I'm happy to have survived the outing - I don't need either any greater detail or the impetus to go faster. For cooking I normally use the bezel with the exception of eggs. For these I have this.
Last edited by Carlton-Browne; 3rd September 2013 at 12:09.
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
Hmm (and I'm also no fan of either) isn't it the case though that at least those complications are always in use?
Whereas (if un/rarely used or unless left constantly running) the Chrono sub dials just sit there doing nothing?
I love complications, and being a motorsport fan a chrono is the perfect watch. I love the look of them and their development history, even though I rarely use them myself...
Love them, never use them. But then, I don't really use them to tell the time even.
Ugly things !
Don't have any with power deserve but surely quite useful on a watch not worn constantly.
I use mine all the time, most recently on Saturday morning seeing how long it took me to get from one end of a traffic jam to the other, while avoiding it completely and following someone else who looked like they knew where they were going (they did). Took just over 30 minutes though, according to one of my Heuers.
"A man of little significance"
Did you go to the Dirk Gently school of motoring?
Edit. In an effort not to be overly obtuse
Adam's Dirk gently
The main understanding of Dirk Gently involves the “interconnectivity of all things”. Basically this means that the full picture of a problem may involve what at first seems like completely irrelevant aspects which are in fact crucially, though imperceptibly, related. Thus, we see this in his method of driving where when lost he follows anyone who “seems to know where they’re going” with the thought that one will not get to where one wants to be, but will get to where one needs to be in order to find a solution to the problem. Life is not compartmentalized, but rather is composed of vitally interrelated aspects which influence, even if slightly, everything else. Thus, his attempt to be holistic in his approach, acknowledging everything as being possibly crucial to his quest, including what we could consider the supernatural.
Last edited by java; 3rd September 2013 at 12:44.
I use mine regularly. Mainly for timing how long my tea has been brewing for.
But the "for the sake of it" philosophy is critically important to the wristwatch enthusiast. You get a really expensive one for the sake of it (Ł15 watches do actually work very nicely). You get one that's waterproof half a mile down when you don't even wear it in the bath - for the sake of it. You wear a watch even though you have a clock on a mobile phone that you have to carry around anyway, for the sake of it.
I have a few chronos. I find digital chronos much morea usable and readable so if I know I'm going to be timing something, I'll use a digital. I did manage to break the chrono function on my Poljot simply by using it - I must have twanged the second hand timer a bit too far round the dial - and since I had it repaired, I haven't touched the chrono on it again, or on my Speedmaster either.
I hav no qualms about using an analogue chrono on a quartz, but again I don't find them as usable as digitals.
I'm sure people buy Speedmasters (for example) because they're an iconic, classic watch - not because they regularly need to time things. That was certainly the case for me. But the extra dials give a certain serious instrument-ishness appeal.
I'm issued with a pilot's chrono for work and never use it, mainly because the dials are too small and the aircraft shakes like a s***ing dog, rendering them unreadable!
Not true, I used to use the moonphase on my Temption to work out when I will be going fishing next, now I just look up into the night's sky!
True. It's human nature. People climb a difficult cliff face to arrive at the top, where on the other side there is an easy to walk pathway.
If watches were about needs and function, there would never have been a renaissance of modern mechanical watches.
I'm with the poster who said that non-chronos often somehow seem to be missing something.
For instance, the non-chrono Monaco looks all wrong to me, although I find the non-chrono Breitling Transocean more attractive than the chronos.
I don't often use the chrono feature, but it's nice to have I think and my favourite watches are chronos.
M
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
Half of my collection are chronos and I use mine a lot, cooking, timing car parking Etc. Etc. This one even has handy three minute markers on which are brilliant for timing my porridge ! Now that's what I call useful...
Absolutely. Well, actually, it is a technique I picked up from my mother. Once I remember we set off round a huge jam in Ringwood (there's a theme here) some time around 1980, following the driver in front, who must have been rather surprised to park up outside his house in a cul-de-sac and find a number of cars had been following him on a cunning short cut past the jam.
I still don't use satnav unless I'm going into a city, following a map or getting hopelessly lost is so much more fun.
And twice I've had to leave sofas stuck in stair wells.
"A man of little significance"
i never use the function either but I just find chronographs beautiful, especially these...
Me too - and after years of looking at diver's watches, even though I still like them, my Speedy is more visually interesting.
David
Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations
I regularly use the bezel on my Sub to time things, and it functions perfectly - I don't need to know something 'to the second' ever.
I'm with the OP - I just don't 'get' Chrono's and find them too cluttered for a (to me) useless feature.
If I time something more 'crucial' I need a beeper to indicate the correct time has elapsed which is where one if my (many) g shocks comes in.
I love Swiss mechanicals, I love Japanese digitals but analogue Chrono's? Nah. And for every admittedly beautiful chrono posted in pics above there are a couple of fancy covered in dials 'look at me I'm complicated' horrors IMHO of course!
Fixed that for you. How about one of these instead ? :)
I like clean clean and busy dials, Clean say panerai, busy says Daytona, even though I can not see the Chrono on any of my watches (need glasses) I know they are there.
Infact I should have a Fiddy big clean dial easy to read.
I do love it for sure !The 806 is without a doubt my favourite ever chrono. Lots going on but the dial is surprisingly legible despite that.
How can you not love this?
... and trust me I have far more worse...
... in term of readibility I mean ;)
I use chrono features all the time, for sports incl motorsports, refereeing (I have stopped using a dedicated ref digital watch), timing distances in traffic, cooking etc. I also use timing bezels, tachymeters and even the incomplete Jeppesen on a Seiko. As it happens, I also look at the time, day and date on my watches.
It must be said that I am somewhat picky, as I would agree that many if not most chrono dials are not very well designed from legibility/usability pov. I am not Bauhaus only, but unnecessary clutter and bad visuals are a turn-off for me.
Guess what I use my "pulsemeter" chronographs for?
Moonphase maybe, but completely disagree on power reserve.
I've found I'm less drawn to chronos than I used to be, but still very happy with the de luca and de ville two register chrono in my collection.
Other than aesthetics, I don't understand chronos either I suppose that's missing the point a little. I also don't understand why more watches don't have alarms as, particularly before smartphones, an alarm function would surely be more useful. Coincidentally, I was in Mappin & Webb in Manchester today and the very nice chap showed me the JLC Memovox - it's beautiful and the alarm sound sent me back to my grandad's house when I was a kid; it was so evocative.
Mechanical moonphase watches probably are a waste of time (though I still like 'em), but some of my digital moonphases allow you to display the moonphase on future dates - useful if you like to do a bit of amateur astronomy or go looking for meteors.
You forgot the most important thing you can use the chrono for; when ordering Pizza and the guy says -"15minutes"
I ALWAYS forgot when i called so a life without a chrono means cold pizza for me, which is no option :D
Im no fan of cluttered up chromos either, they remind me of politicians, look very busy but actually useless ..
my egg/pizza timer
I think the only chrono I'd choose, if pushed, would be a sinn diapal, looks very tool watchy
Likewise - I've always thought that a measure of the remaining power reserve was completely independent of the winding methods on offer. If the watch is running flat, as per the dial - you merely wind it up using whatever winding-up mechanisms are available, and if wearing it is one of those options, why not?..
Oh, per the thread... if you have a chrono, you find reasons to use it. Parking, cooking, sports, running...
Last edited by andrew; 3rd September 2013 at 20:46.
...but what do I know; I don't even like watches!
Love em. Don't use the functionality that much, but who cares?
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
I'm another one who is a fan of chronos, but they need to be easy to read at a glance.
Like my PAM says hours and minutes are enough
At one time the only watches I had in my collection were Chronographs! I love them and the early Lexus 200 dashboards, must be something to do with symmetry or dials within dials?
I agree Tony. Everyone should have at least one 806!The 806 is without a doubt my favourite ever chrono. Lots going on but the dial is surprisingly legible despite that.
How can you not love this?
Some can be too cluttered and difficult to read granted.
But not all.........................
I use the Chrono on my Speedie at least a few times every week.
Maybe it's becuase I drive a lot and always parking on meters, it's a God send to avoid Penalty Charge Notices on the windscreen!
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