Always Trending: Chronographs

Since the first chronographs were introduced, they became hugely popular and with good reason. Some feature a tachymeter scale with which lap times can be calculated, some show chronograph hours and minutes, some only minutes. All of them feature subdials and a small second. Apart from these functions, chronographs are also popular because of there sporty looks – but many of them can also be worn to the office without difficulty – they are just gloriously versatile.
We are introducing five of them today.

Two chronographs of Chrono Diamond made the cut. The first one is the Argos, named after the hero of the same name and fellow of Jason from the argonaut myth of Apollonios of Rhodos. And the watch ought to accompany its owner just as reliably. Its design is reduced and simply elegant. It shows hours, minutes, the running seconds at 9 o’clock, the chronograph minutes at 3 and the chronograph hours at 6 o’clock. The Argos shows day and month in two windows at 12 o’clock; the date is shown by a fourth central hand with a small crescent moon tip.
The Argos is powered by a quartz movement and you’ll have the choice between twelve different models: in stainless steel, with gold and pink gold PVD-coating and different coloured dials. All variations come with a leather bracelet.

The Chrono Diamond Nestor stands out with a dial that accentuates the functions of the subdials extravagantly. At 2.30 o’clock you’ll find the running seconds, at 6 o’clock the chronograph hours and at 10.30 the chronograph minutes. At 4 o’clock a small date window is placed. The dial is textured and of course, it bears the for Chrono Diamond characteristic diamonds.
Chrono Diamond offers nine different versions of the Nestor; with dark and fair dials, in stainless steel and with gold PVD-coating, with a metal bracelet or leather strap. All of them are powered by a reliable quartz movement. All-Chrono Diamond watches are Swiss Made.

The Festina Chrono Bike-Line has a longstanding tradition and is a hommage to bicycle racing. So it is no surprise that the watch manufacturer could win Richard Virenque as ambassador. The french road racing cyclist was a climber, winning the King of the Mountains competition of the Tour de France a record of seven times. During his active time he was part of the Festina Team and the partnership between them remains to this day.
The Chrono Bike chronographs come in a variety of designs. The latest model features a stainless steel 44-mm-case, the dial is protected by mineral glass. The subdials for the running seconds, chronograph minutes and chronograph hours contrast sharply with the rest of the dial.

The Longines Conquest V.H.P. comes in many different colours and designs; some in stainless steel and some in black PVD-coating. The sober case is complemented by an articulate dial. Except for the big Arabic 12, Longines opted for plain indices which are equipped with the same greenish lume as the minute and hour hands. Red accents highlight the chronograph functions – the central seconds hand, the hands of the chronograph minutes at 3 o’clock and the chronograph hours at 9 o’clock. The subdial at 6 o’clock shows the running seconds.
The Conquest V.H.P. is powered by an reliable, high-quality ETA quartz movement.

The last chronograph we’re introducing in this feature is the rugged Mathieu Legrand Avant-Garde. This model is for fans of larger, more masculine watches. The indices, the big Arabic 12, as well as the hour and minute hands are generously coated with lume, so perfect readability is given at all times, even in the dark. The chronograph seconds and the subdials are highlighted with colour. At 4.30 you’ll find a big date window.
The Avant-Garde is powerd by a Swiss made quartz movement and comes in four different versions – three with a black, one with a fair dial; in stainless steel, with a PVD-coating in gold or in a bi-colour design.

Oris and the Mechanical Alarm in a Wristwatch

Oris revived one of its most hirstorc complications, the mechanical alarm. The new Big Crown ProPilot Alarm Limited Edition breathes new life into a complication that Oris first introduced in the 1940s. Fans of the manufacturer will be pleased that Oris has based the new Alarm on the Big Crown ProPilot, the company’s iconic pilot’s watch.
After all, the story of Oris is closely linked to that of the aviation. The company was founded in 1904, at the dawn of aviation, and made its first pilot’s pocket watch in the early 1910s. That was followed by the company’s first pilot’s wristwatch in 1917. The Oris Big Crown debuted in 1938 with its oversized crown that allowed gloved airmen to make adjustments quickly and easily. Today, Oris’s pilot’s watch collection is full of watches that delights pilots and watch enthusiasts equally.

The Big Crown ProPilot Alarm Limited Edition is the latest expression of Oris’s pilot’s watch tradition. The watch has two distinctive features. The first is its alarm, indicated by a central pointer hand with a bright yellow tip. The alarm can be set to the nearest 10 minutes against a scale that runs around the outside of an aperture in the middle of the dial. That aperture houses the watch’s second key feature, a circular date display. Underneath it is a rotating disc with a yellow date marker that makes a full tour of the dial once every 31 days.
As mentioned before, the Big Crown ProPilot Alarm Limited Edition is aesthetically based on the familiar design of the Big Crown ProPilot. In this case, the watch has two stainless steel oversized crowns, one to set the time between 2 and 3 o’clock, and a second to set the alarm between 3 and 4 o’clock. Both crowns are made of stainless steel and screw to ensure the watch’s water resistance to 10 bar.
Otherwise, the watch retains the recognisable ProPilot look. Its signature bezel motif is inspired by jet engine turbine blades; the classic round stainless steel case and tapered lugs give the watch its stylish gait; and the fundamental dial design elements, such as the straight-edged hour and minute hands and large, luminescent Arabic numerals, remain clear and functional.

The case houses the Swiss Made automatic movement Oris Kal.910.

The Big Crown ProPilot Alarm Limited Edition comes on a dark brown croco leather strap with a stainless steel folding clasp.
Oris will only be making 250 pieces of this watch.

Astronomical Single-Hand Watch: MeisterSinger Lunascope

German watch manufacturer MeisterSingers crafts mechanical watches for people who aren’t interested in counting seconds, but see the bigger picture and want so stay on track. MeisterSinger builds single-hand watches – and follows a longstanding tradition in doing so. Although the movement of the long, single hour hand is hardly noticeable to the human eye, it is as relentless as the passing of time on ancient sundials.
Our division and representation of time always followed the movement of the stars. Even back in the Middle Ages, tower clocks emulated astronomical models, preferring to recreate the mechanics of the heavens on Earth rather than wanting to show single minutes or even seconds. Now, the renowned watch designer is presenting its first astronomical watch – the Lunascope.

The slender 40-millimeter-stainless steel case of the Pangaea family forms the ideal backdrop for the dial with its unusually large moon-phase display. The upper half of the dial features a dynamic cut in which the moon moves across a dark blue, starry background. The generous diameter of this timepiece allows a realistic depiction of even fine details of the moon’s surface – just like when you’re looking up at the full moon on a clear night.

The natural impression of the Earth’s satellite corresponds to the astronomical precision with which the Lunascope presents the moon’s various phases. The moon takes 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 2.9 seconds to circumnavigate the Earth. A lot of watches round this figure down to 29.5 days, which means their movements deviate by eight hours per year and need to be corrected by one complete day every three years. The movement specially designed for the MeisterSinger Lunascope is far more exact. Its moon-phase indicator only needs a slight adjustment after 128 years – a short period of time in astronomical terms, but a very long time in the world of watchmaking.
Since the Lunascope comes with a glass back, the Swiss automatic movement ETA 2836 can be viewed. And it provides a power reserve of 38 hours.

MeisterSinger offers the Lunascope in two versions: with a sunburst dial in the dark blue of the moon’s background or with a silvery opaline dial, on which the circular date window at 6 o’clock forms an optical contrast to the astronomical display. Both watches are completed by a calfskin strap.