First, lets make it clear we are talking about Chronograph, not Chronometer.
The Chronograph is essentially a stopwatch. It was the way people measured time before digital stopwatches.
The Chronograph was invented in 1700’s—-1776 to be precise, by French watchmaker Louis Moinet. He created it because it was needed for astronomers working with starcharts and measurements.
You can get a chronograph watch in a classic design, sporty, fashion, really any style.
Here is an example of a huge watch with a Chronograph.
58mm Case with Chronograph
Here is a really big Invicta. It has a 58mm wide case. That’s about as big as you can get. It also has a chrono.
This is a image that gives you a sense of what this Invicta looks like on a persons arm. It has some real presence.
Here are the different color variations that you can choose from.
Tachymeter + Chronograph
Many watches that have a chronograph also have a tachymeter. This is a raised bezel on the face of the watch. Not all tachmeters are raised, some are on the face of the watch.
Here is an example of a big face watch with a Tachymeter.
This can be used to measure the speed of a particular object traveling a fixed distance. You could measure the speed of a racecar, regular car, plane, speed boat. The Tachyeter is used in conjunction with a chronograph. You need to have a chronograph in order to use a tachymeter. The operation is actually very simple.
The main note here is that a Tachmeter is used to measure the speed of an object over a set distance (normally a mile field) and the Chronograph is a stop watch.
Chronographs will have small sub-dials that are on the face of the watch. These help you measure time more precisely. Some watches will have tenth of a second subdials, while others have seconds as their smallest dials.
On most average chronograph watches you will have two nobs on the side of the watch. One is used for stop/start and the other is used to reset the chronograph.
You can also pause the chronograph. Suppose you are jogging and take a pause, you can pause your chronograph and then resume.
Another feature is called a lap timer. This is different than a pause. It lets you keep the measurement for multiple events with breaks in-between and take note of the different individual times. This is good for joggers, runners, bikers, people watching a race, and other events.
Not all chronographs are the same. Some have lap timers, some don’t. Some people use them for aviation. Others simply like the look the chronograph. In fact, I’d say that most people who wear an Omega, Rolex, Brietling, or Hubolt are not out jogging and using them to measure lap times. You’d probably want a Timex Ironman or similar sports style watch.
Traditionally, chronographs were made for precise astronomical measurement. They were not used by people for racing. Later, pilots used them. They were instrumental for the person in a plane because they were small and could do precise measurements without taking up a lot of space.
If you are wearing a Brietling, you would be more likely to do a count of someones speech or lecture, or maybe the speed of a car.
Here is a video that shows you the chronograph on a Brietling.
The video will show you how you can measure up to time on a Brietling using the most common complication found on watches.
It used to be the case that the only watches that came with Chronographs were the really expensive ones: Rolex, Brietling, Hubolt, Patek Philippe . But now they are found on mid level priced luxury Swiss watches such as Omega and even some of the tough reliable Swiss Army styles. And, you would never see this years ago, you will see them on Timex, Seiko, and other modestly priced watches.
Most people like the complications for the intrigue or the fact that they want the watch to have the ability to do something even if they never use it. It’s like owning a Ferriai or Porsche 911. You aren’t likely to ever need to do 180 miles per hour, but its nice knowing you could if you wanted to.