Chronograph: what is it and what is it intended for?

Since ancient times man has tried to master time, to measure and somehow, if not to control, then at least order it. For this purpose, calendars, various systems of time, solar, water and sand, as well as modern electronic, mechanical and quartz watches were invented. Thanks to them, a person can define himself and his life in the infinite time space of a huge universe. Chronograph - what is it? This is also a device that allows you to measure time. What is its difference from ordinary watches? How did it come about and how to use it? We'll talk about this today.

History of invention

If we take the entire history of the watchmaking business for a period, then the invention of the chronograph will be at its very end. The first device similar to it, allowing to detect time intervals, was invented in 1821. It was associated with the growing popularity of horse racing. The thing is that in those days the winner of the race was determined only by eye.

The founder of the mechanism, which became the "father" of the modern chronograph, was a fan of equestrian sport Nicholas-Mathieu Ryussak. At the races, and presented for the first time and tested a new device, similar to our chronograph. What was that then? Mechanism, similar to the watch, at the end of the second hand which had a small inkwell. When the arrow stopped, there was a small dot on the dial.

On this the inventors did not stop, and soon the wrist chronographs appeared. Created by their Englishman, watchmaker Georg Gragam - these were the usual wristwatch, with which you could measure time intervals with an accuracy of 1/16 sec. Also in the 18th century for the first time appeared devices similar to modern stopwatches.

What is it?

So, chronograph - what is it? This is a watch that has the function of fixing time. To be more precise, the chronograph is a special extra mechanism built into the clock. This is its difference from the stopwatch, which is a separate instrument without a dial and has only a second hand.

Chronograph is a wheel mechanism, controlled by levers. It can be a separate module in a wristwatch or built into the main mechanism (both quartz and mechanical).

Types of chronographs

Also these devices can be simple or additive. With the first option, everything is clear - launched, stopped, dropped the result. But the summing chronograph - what is it? It is controlled by two buttons (not one, as simple) and the most common.

How to use the summation chronograph? It's very simple: the first button is responsible for starting and stopping the mechanism. You can stop the mechanism countless times. At the last stop of the mechanism, the chronograph will count the sum of all the time intervals. The second button is needed to reset the readings to zero.

There are also single- and double-sided, split-chronographs. The latter has two second hands and an additional third button. This allows you to detect at once two time slices and stop one of the arrows regardless of the movement of the other. The split-chronograph is the latest invention.