Hi, I was sitting looking through various posts and I had the thought, why does anyone need a Chronograph and do the folks who wear them actually use the functions available.
Before I caught the pocket watch bug I only ever collected Omegas. I've now got about 50, mostly Seamasters in various guises, a few basic Geneve gold watches and a few 50's watches and steel Geneves in various patterns.
I did save my pennies for a long time and purchased a Speedmaster Chronograph which I kept for about a year but then came to the conclusion that I never used the functions and having 3 small dials they were impossible to read except with spectacles and bright sun. So I eventually sold it for what I paid and I've never missed it.
I know the movements are a work of art but what else attracts folks to them. Even everyday watches in the stores seem to be chrono's and most folks never look inside a watch.
I'm not criticising anyones taste or wishing to start an argument. I just wondered what others thought of the Chronograph phenomenon.
Back to my post reading. Isn't life wonderful?

Mike,
A great post, and a question I've never pondered. I own a few chronographs myself but rarely, if ever do I use the chronogaph function. I just like the way they look, especially watches with odd type dials like the Omega "Panda" dial or many of the different types made by Seiko over the years.

Same here eye candy

Hi Mike,

My daily wear watch for the last 4 years has been a ref. 3570.50 Speedmaster chronograph and I do use the chronograph function occasionally. To me the 3 register mechanical chronograph function is a classic complication and I love to visualize the internal action whenever I use it. A new moon watch is also pretty much identical to one purchased in 1970 which I also like.

William

Like William, with me it's the visual impact. The movements really are a work of art.

It seems like now days that has gotten lost as tons of watches are "chrono like". Wal Mart has many of them.

But just knowing you have a high grade movement on your wrist is enjoyment enough for me. Kind of like buying an SRT Challenger now days. Will you ever USE all that horsepower? No, but just knowing it is there....

does anyone on this page cook? lol I love to BBQ and do so all through the winter. I use my Longines 18k Evidenza 37j Chrono to cook my steaks, chicken and ribs.....on a weekly basis... and yes I need my specs to read the dials but I never burn my dinner. Without it I always get distracted and forget when I put the food on the grill....

I use my chrono when traveling. It has the 12 hour feature that is more than enough to figure how long we've been in the air or on the road on long trips.

I've also used it for cooking (or timing something my wife is baking), so it has its uses, and the chrono feature is used at least a couple times a week.

When it comes to wearing a wrist watch when travelling, I like a chrono for its functions that can be called on if needed.

Regards! Mark

Just got back from a trip to Disney World, courtesy of our eldest daughter, and used my chrono to help update wait lines for rides.

Regards! Mark

As an Aviator it's back up to my chrono mounted on my panel. I wear a Speedmaster 3570.50 and don't leave home without it, ever.

Were at PHX now waiting for passengers, its off to SFO for the rest of the week!

Why?....They just LOOK good is my only reason

Good point, Tom!

Regards! Mark

As a kid I was lucky in two ways. My Dad owned a music store I slaved at and our neighbor was Bill Savitt owner of Savitt Jewlers. I got hooked on Chrono's. My collection has survived to this day. I still wear my Omega Mk-4 daily. I would have to say it was the dials looks that got me to spend for them. I still have my Seiko with the pushers on either side of twelve o'clock but it only records for an hour.

That question.
It's like saying "why wear a watch?"
My favourite watch is a chronograph. It is a common "Chronographe Suisse", with a Landeron 48.
It keeps average time, has a pretty rough dial, is very banged up, as it is extremely thin 18K gold.
BUT IT HAS CHARACTER! So much fun, I look at it constantly, but not to see what time it is.

Robert,

I've had a few Landeron 48 powered chronographs. As you probably already know, These very reliable and rugged movements were used in many different brands of Swiss 2 reg. chronos. A very successful movement.

William

I purchased my first real watch in 1968. It is a Clebar two dial chronograph, with a Landeron calibre movement. I got a chrono because my cousin visited from Annapolis with a new shiny Omega chrono, and I developed a major case of envy. Saving up my shekels, I went to a local department store, to look at the Omegas. I didn't have enough money for an Omega, or even another watch with three sub-dials. The salesman said, why not try the Clebar, while it has no name recognition, it is well made, and stylish. So, I got it, and have worn it ever since. It has been cleaned a few times, and the pushers don't have waterproof integrity anymore, but it still looks snazzy.

William, Kevin, as at least we three know, the Landeron is a rugged and dependable movement.
I have seen it written elsewhere that Landeron is the "poor mans' chrono", but what is overlooked is just how many makers of chronographs used them, and how successful and timeless they are!
Show us your Landeron-based watches!

I have to laugh at the question itself. Doesn't your cell phone have a built in clock and stop watch function? Why even be wearing a watch?

I don't find anything in the question to laugh at. Read what I have said about Chronographs and the use of them, then if you have a comment to make please feel free to do so.
Of course phones have the functions you mention but they are cumbersome to use. A wrist watch is much more comfortable.
The question was not about wearing wristwatches but about Chronos. How many folks actually use the functions and how many use them as a piece of jewellery.

In day to day life we can get along without them, but the chronograph was built for a purpose, is a necessary tool in some jobs, and has saved many lives.
All hail the chronograph!

Hello Robert. I like your comments.
We are close neighbours.
I love Derbyshire and have spent many weekends with a walking group roaming the hills there.
Just a little better than Walsall!

Thanks Mike, glad you like the posts.
Nice to find a "neighbour" interested in watches! I too love walking in Derbyshire, a good job too as the buses are so expensive nowadays!
A very pretty county, and from my window I can see the church where D.H.Lawrence worshipped as a boy. His book The Rainbow is based in Cossethay, a mix of Cossall and Cotmanhay, which is where I live.
What do you know of the Bulova chrono in my last post? Anyone?
I ask as it is a particularly rare model, in fact, unique.

No takers?
O.K. this is what the Bulova chrono above is!

http://www.mwrforum.net/forums...wthread.php?p=205583