Longines is reissuing the Pulsometer Chronograph. It stands out for its retro-styling dial that features an unusual chronograph scale. Although a tachymeter, used for measuring speed over a known distance, is a common chronograph scale seen on sports watches, there are other types of scales that look more at home on the face of a dress watch.
The Longines Pulsometer Chronograph is a reissue of a watch once used by medical professional to test a patient’s heart rate. The design is based on a watch from the 1920s, putting its faith in bold, contrasting colors.
The steel hands are Breguet-style and they are looking beautiful against the clean background of the dial and the dial printing in black and red makes this watch legible despite having a lot of information displayed in a small space.
The scaled-back design makes the Pulsometer Chronograph elegant; the designers have removed extraneous components. The chronograph counter must be eminently legible for medical use, so the 3 and 9 hour markers have been removed to give the sub-dials space. The 6 o’clock marker gives way to a date window.
The pulsometer function is easy to use – you start the chronograph and count 30 seconds heart beats. After stopping the chronograph the blue chronograph-seconds will be pointing at the correct heart rate.
Inside is the L188.2 movement working, a self-winding colum-wheel chronograph with a 54 hour power reserve. The movement layout is that of an ETA 7750, but Longines has made a couple of major alterations to it.
The watch is smart and simple, made of stainless steel. It is water resistant to 30 meters. The case is 40 mm in diameter not including the crown at 3 o’clock. So the Pulsometer is designed to fit smoothly under a sleeve without grabbing much attention. The strap is made from brown alligator leather which compliments the color palette of the dial.