Do you know which brand first produced the chronograph?

[Oceanklassik]

This article is a little long but an interesting read to me. Take your time to read when you can. I wish to state that I am not out to 'poison' anyone ..


Allure of the vintage chronograph

For all its complications, it is simply irresistible. WONG WEI KONG explains why

Time, arguably, is the most precious of all things. With each ticking second, the clock winds down on an event, a life, an era or an age. And we have long been obsessed with counting the passage of time. Perhaps that explains the fascination many watch collectors have with the chronograph. Of all the complications ever made for mechanical watches, chronographs are undoubtedly the most well-loved.

The Greek words 'chronos' and 'graph' stand for 'time' and 'writing'. A chronograph is a time-measuring device which contains a mechanism that allows the user to stop at least one hand to facilitate reading of the elapsed time.

The chronograph was invented by a Frenchman, named Rieussec, back in 1821. In 1822, Rieussec was granted a patent for his invention. Around 1910, the chronograph, also referred to as a stopwatch, was introduced as a wristwatch, and its basic form has remained unchanged. Chronographs measure time in different ways. Besides normal timekeeping, they can be used for one or more specific time measurements. For this, the dial has several sub dials with a scale, from which the measurements can be read. A central second hand can be started and stopped, without interfering with the continuous time.

While simplicity is embraced, the chronograph, with its complications, has an allure that is often irresistible. While this is true of today's modern watches, it is even more so for vintage chronographs. These are watches that are both beautiful and purposeful. And because of their vintage, they have stories to tell. Chronographs were tool watches, used by their wearers as they raced, flew or invented. Chronographs were tools of war, used in the great wars of the last century, and in many smaller ones. The fact that many vintage chronographs can still be worn today as an everyday watch, is a marvel in itself.

Chronographs were tool watches, used by their wearers as they raced, flew or invented. Chronographs were tools of war, used in the great wars of the last century, and in many smaller ones. The fact that many vintage chronographs can still be worn today as an everyday watch, is a marvel in itself. For me, the most remarkable story of the chronograph took place over 40 years ago.

The 1960s was a decade of fierce rivalries. There was a struggle for nuclear supremacy, and to put a man on the moon. There was a race to build the world's biggest passenger plane, and the first supersonic airliner. Speed records were set, and beaten. On famous tracks around the world, the racing heroes of the time challenged each other and death. And away from the headlines, a secret war of equal ferocity was being fought in the world of watchmaking - to create the world's first automatic chronograph.

It is no accident that the greatest breakthrough for the chronograph coincided with the age of technical prowess in the 1960s. Chronographs were regarded as precision instruments, used by racing drivers, pilots and astronauts. But the watches still had one limitation - they had to be manually wound. Up until the early 1960s, the challenge of combining the self-winding, or automatic, movement with the chronograph function in a watch was seen as too formidable or costly. Indeed, adding a rotor and gear train to the barrel that would clear the many gears, levers, springs and chronograph components, while still keeping costs at a reasonable level, did seem a hurdle too high.

But with automatic watches growing in popularity, and sales of manually wound chronographs starting to flag, the leading watch manufacturers realised they had no choice but to develop the automatic chronograph.

The race to produce the world's first automatic chronograph in 1969 has been recounted in detailed accounts by respected watch journals like International Watch and WatchTime in articles commemorating the 40th anniversary of the event a few years ago. It is a story with plenty of intrigue, secrecy, invention and - long before globalisation became a catch word - international rivalry.

In the race were three teams: Heuer, the forerunner of today's Tag Heuer, working with Breitling in a partnership with Buren and Dubois-Depraz; Zenith, another Swiss manufacturer; and an entry which may come as a surprise to some, Seiko in Japan.

While Heuer and Breitling were direct competitors then, both realised they could not develop the automatic chronograph on their own. The resources of both brands were then combined with the expertise of Buren, the leading manufacturer of thin automatic movements, and Dubois-Depraz, the leading specialist in chronographs and other complications, to form what was known as the Chronomatic team. Heuer and Breitling were responsible for designing an entirely new series of cases and dials for the new Chronomatics, as well as preparations for serial production of the new watches.

Unlike Heuer and Breitling, Zenith was a relatively smaller player in the chronograph market. But in 1960, Zenith acquired Martel Watch Company, a producer of movements for chronographs and other complicated watches. With that, Zenith was able to increase its offering of chronographs. The acquisition also enhanced its capabilities in chronograph movements, and led to its ambitious plan to produce the world's first automatic chronograph, a project which it started in 1962.

The challenge from Seiko was even more remarkable, given that just 20 years before, industrial Japan laid in ruins after the Second War World. However, by 1955, Seiko had produced Japan's first automatic wristwatch. In 1964, it introduced its very first chronograph. Seiko also began to compete in the Swiss Observatory Chronometer competitions and enjoyed remarkable success. It was the official timekeeper of the Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964, and with its rising confidence, the company aimed to beat the Swiss to producing the first automatic chronograph.

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[Oceanklassik]

Part 2 : Do you know which brand first produced the chronograph?

Controversy

While all that is clear enough, considerable controversy still rages on over who actually won the race. Determined to be the first to make its announcement ahead of the April 1969 Basel Fair, Zenith, which by that time had Movado onboard the project, held a press conference on Jan 10, 1969 in Switzerland. There, the group showed a working prototype of their automatic chronograph. With the name, 'El Primero' (or 'The First'), Zenith declared that it was the first to produce an automatic chronograph. Unlike the modular design of the Chronomatic team, the Zenith design was an integrated one. However, the watch was still some way off from serial production. The press conference also did not receive broad media attention.

That, and the fact that the El Primero was not ready for production, meant that the Chronomatic team could choose to largely ignore Zenith's announcement. The group proceeded with its own plans to introduce the world's first automatic chronograph on March 3, 1969 as if nothing had happened. Unlike Zenith's low-key affair, the Chronomatic group made its announcement in press conferences in Geneva, New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Beirut. It created an instant sensation in the watch world. At the Basel Fair, held in April 1969, the Chronomatic group were able to show dozens of pre-production samples of Chronomatic watches powered by the new Caliber 11 movement, with multiple models from Heuer, Breitling and Hamilton (which had acquired Buren), in a variety of cases and colours.

At the time, little was known of Seiko's progress. It was only later, in company documents, that the Japanese manufacturer pressed its claims. While it had remained quiet while the Swiss groups were making their announcements, the Japanese company claimed that it launched its reference 6139 automatic chronograph for the Japanese market in May 1969 - thus making it the first automatic chronograph to reach retail channels. The early 6139 chronographs were called 'Speed Timers', had a 30-minute chronograph recorder, with a day-date at three o'clock, and a red-blue or 'Pepsi' outer bezel marked with a tachymeter scale. However, details of that initial launch in May 1969 are scarce. There is more evidence that worldwide distribution of these chronographs appeared to be in place by the end of 1969.

Despite the competing claims, what really mattered was that the era of the automatic chronograph had arrived, and consumers no longer had to choose between an automatic watch or a chronograph function available only in a manually wound watch. The decade that followed was somewhat akin to the golden age of the automatic chronograph. Of the 1969 rivals, both Heuer and Breitling launched a series of bold, striking designs, often colourful, and cases were large for their time. Seiko's chronographs were no wallflowers either, and the nicknames given to them by collectors later, like 'Helmet', 'Darth Vader' and 'UFO', give an idea of how extroverted some of the designs were. Zenith, in comparison, was more understated. Chronographs were offered by many other brands, establishing it as a main watch genre. As the 1970s drew to a close, Valjoux and Lemania movements began powering automatic chronographs, including those made by Heuer. By then, the situation had drastically changed. Under the onslaught of the quartz movement, some of the main players of 1969 were struggling to stay alive: Heuer tottered on the brink of financial collapse before being bought by the Tag consortium, becoming Tag Heuer in the mid-1980s; Breitling changed hands; Hamilton was taken over; and Buren ceased to exist.

While chronographs from the 1940s and 1950s can still be feasibly found and collected, it is the class of the late 1960s and 1970s that many find most fascinating. The watch companies themselves also realised the value of keeping the links with that era alive. Tag Heuer's re-editions of the Monaco, Carrera and Autavia hark back to that time, just as Breitling's Chronomat. And Zenith too recently launched an re-edition of its 1969 El Primero.

While today's chronographs bring levels of accuracy and sophistication unreachable four decades ago, the vintage watches from that period hold a special place in the heart of chronograph lovers. Of the 1969 rivals, vintage Heuer chronographs arguably have the strongest following, although Breitling and Zenith also count dedicated collectors. This may have something to do with the fact that more than any other brand, the chronographs that star racing drivers wanted and wore in the 1960s and 1970s were Heuers - a Heuer chronograph was the 'in thing' of its time. Today's vintage Heuer collectors are served by an independent reference website set up for collectors called OnTheDash, which lists out all major models with movement, case and period details, along with an active discussion and watch trading forum. Auction houses like Antiquorum, Bonhams and Patrizzi have also held vintage Heuer auctions, that have seen vintage Monacos, for instance, rising steadily in value.

Vintage Seiko

Not to be undone, vintage Seiko chronographs are also sought after. While the entry points may be lower, it can be a challenge finding original, unmolested 6139 'Pepsi' chronographs. The most common of these are the blue-dialed watches, while the most popular are the gold dials, with the silver dials being relatively rare. Many of the vintage Seiko chronographs are bought and sold on The Seiko & Citizen Watch Forum, which also contains valuable reference details for collectors.

It's a passion that requires dedication. The reality for vintage chronograph collectors is that parts are hard to come by, the movements require a skilled watchmaker to fix, and restoring a watch can cost more than acquiring it in the first place. But all that pales against the special feeling of keeping a heritage alive - a tribute to an era when men trusted their watches with their lives as they drove faster, flew higher, and pushed themselves beyond the limits.


The Business of Time
Published August 26, 2011

[Iceheller]

Darn I thought tag was first to produce watch chrono. in a collaboration effort with zenith or something. Looks like need to go and read watch history 101. Great article that you post.