Iconic Watches: 5 Iconic Cronographs

Top 5Chronograph
Written By Andrew Smilinich

Throughout history and since inception of the wrist watch there have been many pieces with historical significance, whether that be through their style, utility, popularity, or any combination of these. One style of watch that always seems to make that list over and over again is the chronograph wrist watch. Through it’s undeniable practicality, it is long considered one of the most critical tool watches, especially in a time previous to any reliable electronic timers. While the history of the chronograph is vast and is far beyond the scope of this article, we will highlight five of the most iconic chronographs, giving a brief history to show how they shaped what the chronograph watch is today. Without further ado, let’s get into it.


Omega Speedmaster

History:

As you may have guessed, this list cannot start without first mentioning the Omega Speedmaster. Arguably one of the most iconic watches thanks to the rather unique history behind the face. This history began in 1957 with the Omega Speedmaster reference CK2915, which was used extensively as a sports and racing chronograph, servicing many timed events such as car races and Olympic racing events. This particular Speedmaster used the Calibre 321 movement which would become an icon and eventually experience a re-issue thanks to it’s significance in the watches history.

After the initial release of the Speedmaster, it would undergo a few iterations in the following order until reaching its historical reference number:

1959: Release of reference CK 2998.

1962: Release of reference ST 105.002.

1964: Release of reference ST 105.003.

1964: Release of reference ST 105.012. Most similar to current production, had “Professional” written on the case.

1967: Release of reference ST145.003. Similar aesthetics to the ST105.003 above.

1967: Release of reference 145.012. A watch with “Professional” on the case and the iconic “First Watch on the Moon”.

1968: Calibre 321 movement replaced by the Calibre 861 creating reference number 145.022.

1969: Special edition 18K yellow gold reference BA145.022 was release to commemorate the moon landings.

Referencing the brief guide above, significance starts in 1962 when NASA began purchasing chronographs from various manufactures to find the ideal watch to that could withstand the rigorous requirements of a space mission. After filtering out various watches for not meeting the prerequisites and conducting extensive testing on the remaining, only 3 watches were left, one of those being the Omega Speedmaster. After the qualification process, the Speedmaster would be used on a handful of space missions.

After finding out the significance the Speedmaster was playing in NASA’s programs, Omega decided to add the word “Professional” to the watch on the new reference 145.012. This same reference sub-sequentially would be the watch worn by Buzz Aldrin as he stepped onto the moons surface, cementing it as the first watch worn on the moon.

Shortly after the landing, Omega would dedicate part of the Speedmaster brand around this, making the case backs read “The First Watch Worn on the Moon” and even dubbing it the “Moonwatch”. These details paired with a whole host of special editions, anniversary editions, further iterations, and special re-issues has developed this watch strongly around its significance in space. However, while this watch is popular thanks to it’s illustrious history, we must not forget that it is also one of the most robust watches and one that is know to stand the test of durability through it’s passed testing within various space programs.

Current Offerings Overview:

Since the “Moonwatch” legacy has been established the Speedmaster has undergone various iterations, released various sub-models, and released various special editions and classic re-issues. The current lineup is rather expansive and can be summed up in the following categories/models:

  • Moonwatch

  • Heritage Models

  • Dark Side of the Moon

  • Speedmaster 38

  • Two Counters

  • Instrument

While these comprise the Speedmaster lineup in it’s majority, all of these models are not representative of the Moonwatch. The Speedmaster lineup tends to blend the space heritage with the racing heritage that came prior, with no clear distinction between them. The traditional Moonwatch is lived on through the moonwatch professional, the heritage models, and the dark side of the moon models.


Moonwatch Professional

The Moonwatch Professional is the modern yet classic version of the original Moonwatch. These pieces are offered in stainless steel and Canopous Gold, hesalite or sapphire crystal option, display back or metal case back, and offer with a band or leather strap option.

All watches in this lineup are manual wind chronograph’s featuring either the Calibre 1863, Calibre 1861, or the Calibre 3861. The Calibre 1863 and the Calibre 1861 both have the same specifications just with the 1863 having improved finishing for the display back case option. The newly developed Calibre 3861 is the improved manual wind chronograph movement which interestingly enough is the same finishing between between case back and display back variants, and the same between gold and stainless steel variants. A few of the current offerings from the Moonwatch Professional lineup are shown below:

Heritage Series

The Heritage series lineup includes a vast array of classic re-issues and special edition watches that relate to the Moonwatch. One distinctly important watch within the lineup is the Calibre 321; a re-issue piece that pays homage to the classic Moonwatch used during the 1965 space walk. This re-issue features the original Calibre 321 movement, built to the same specifications as the original and is offered in stainless steel and platinum.

Aside from the Calibre 321, there are various sub-models and special editions such as:

  • Silver Snoopy

  • Apollo 11 50th Anniversary

  • Mark II

  • First Omega in Space

  • Apollo XVII

Dark Side of the Moon

The Dark Side of the Moon series is one of the least traditional watches in reference to the “classic Moonwatch”. These watches utilize abstract designs, advance manufacturing techniques, and technology that goes beyond what you would find on a traditional Moonwatch. A few offerings within this category feature the classic 3 sub-dial layout, similar to the Moonwatch, however a handful feature a dual sub-dial display making this series have some discontinuity to a “traditional moonwatch”.

This lineup features both manual wind and automatic chronograph movements, featuring the Calibre 1865 and 1869 for the manual wind pieces and the Calibre 9300 for the automatic two sub-dial chronographs. Below are a few examples of what can be expected from this lineup:

“Tag” Heuer Monaco

History:

The “Tag” Heuer Monaco is a standout piece, namely for it’s square case design and innovation contained within. The Monaco was launched in 1969 out of necessity to hold the newly developed Calibre 11 movement and to have a unique offering in comparison to the surrounding watch landscape of the time. In conjunction with the new automatic chronograph movement, the square case was also innovative in it’s own right, being the first square case design that was water resistant to 100 meters (a requirement for all Heuer watches).

While the Heuer Monaco checked the boxes for having various innovative characteristics, it was not immediately popular with consumers. In fact, between 1969 and 1975 the Monaco would only sell in the ballpark of 4500 units before being discontinued and replaced by the Heuer Silverstone. However, during it’s time a few key pivotal moments allowed the Heuer Monaco to gain popularity later in it’s life. Those iconic moment would be when the Monaco was worn by Steve McQueen in the 1971 movie “Le Mans” and the watches presence in the scene of Formula One. These moments would serve as the foundation for the Monaco’s popularity, later allowing the piece to achieve a cult like following.

The Silverstone’s attempt to replace the Monaco would last until 1983, a near 10 year run from it’s release in 1973. However, after the conclusion of the Silverstone, the Monaco would not see an immediate comeback; it wouldn’t be until 1998 (after TAG Group acquired Heuer in 1985) that the historic Monaco model would be re-released. Though the brand was now “Tag Heuer”, the Monaco would be a classic re-issue with the original Heuer badge. It wouldn’t be until 2003 that the Monaco would get the newly minted “Tag Heuer” badge branded on the dial. Without going into the nitty gritty details, after receiving the Tag Heuer logo the Monaco would go on to fully develop underneath the new name, releasing concept watches (V4 concept), receiving the new Caliber 12 movement in 2009, experience a few more classic re-issues with the original Calibre 11, and release the newest Calibre Heuer 02 movement.

Current Offerings Overview:

The Monaco lineup is very much alive today and popular among watch enthusiasts for it’s deep rooted history in the early 1970’s. The current lineup is comprised of various offerings which feature classic re-issues with the original Heuer logo on them and current iterations of the iconic Monaco. The current iterations feature Tag Heuer’s new Heuer 02 automatic chronograph movement, while the re-issues feature the original Calibre 11 automatic chronograph movement. Aside from the Heuer versus Tag Heuer logo being the most apparent difference, the Calibre 11’s distinctly feature the crown on the left hand side of the watch. This was a distinguishing characteristic in a world dominated by hand wound timepieces that would remind the user it was an automatic time piece and did not need to be wound.

Shown below are some of the various offerings within the current Tag Heuer Monaco lineup:

Zenith El Primero

History:

The Zenith El Primero is one of the most iconic chronograph watches, virtually pioneering (along with a couple other brands) the automatic chronograph movement. This should come as no surprise as the name El Primero quite literally translates to “The First”. Though Zenith started it’s humble beginnings in 1865 in Le Locle, Switzerland, it wasn’t until nearly a decade later in 1962 where the company would start developing their iconic history for years to come.

In 1962 Zenith started formulating plans for the first fully integrated automatic chronograph movement with plans to release in 1965. Due to some minor setbacks, the movement would not release until September of 1969, just months after competitors Seiko and Chronomatic Group released their versions of the automatic chronograph movement. However, regardless of the importance of being “first to market”, Zenith was a pioneer in their own right, making the first high frequency automatic chronograph movement oscillating at a frequency of 36,000 Vph making it capable of 1/10th of a second resolution (both Seiko and Chronomatic Group had a lesser frequency of 21600 Vph and 18,800 Vph respectively). The Zenith 3019 PHC “El Primero” movement would live up to it’s name “The First”, offering a level of ingenuity that would surpass other releases of the time and go on to be one of the most iconic movements, still considered a marvel by today standards.

Shortly after the release and manufacture of the 3019 PHC, Zenith along with all other manufacturers would be hit hard by the quartz crisis. With everybody opting for the more accurate, cheaper, and far less exciting quartz movements, it was impossible for mechanical movements to compete. Zenith along with other manufacturers were force to create quartz movements of their own while pausing mechanical movement production. This caused many companies to consolidate to avoid going out of business at the hand of the changing market demand.

Through it’s resilience, and from the help of a man named Charles Vermont, Zenith would survive the quartz crisis and save the El Primero movement tooling for future developments. Saving this tooling proved to be a rebellious yet well worth it undertaking of Charles Vermont, because in the 1980’s the quartz demand would slow up as people began to shift their interest back to mechanical time pieces. With demand going up, Rolex was releasing their own automatic chronograph movement and decided to source Zenith’s 3019 PHC El Primero movement with a few changes for the Rolex Daytona, which would be used exclusively until 2000.

Along side of this outsourcing, Zenith started back up the production of the El Primero model and throughout the years has created various iterations, sub-models, special editions, and re-issues. The El Primero model has became the central platform for the brand, and has been the basis of their on going innovation with current models like the El Primero Defy.

Current Offerings Overview:

The Zenith El Primero lineup has expanded well beyond the original made in 1969, with the current Chronomaster lineup resembling and paying homage to the original El Primero. Though the El Primero is the central entity of the brand, Zenith has a few other lineups which are beyond the scope of this article, if you want to check them out go here.

The current Chronomaster has numerous offerings from classic re-issues to current renditions with updated technology. The model breakdown for the current Chronomaster lineup looks like this:

  • Chronomaster El Primero

  • Chronomaster El Primero Open

  • Chronomaster Original

  • Chronomaster Revival

  • Chronomaster El Primero Grande Date Full Open

  • Chronomaster El Primero Chronomaster 2

  • Chronomaster Sport

The images below show some examples of the above categories even though each model has various design offerings:

“Tag” Heuer Autavia

History:

Previous to being Tag Heuer, the brand was independently Heuer and made a handful of iconic watches, one of those being the Heuer Autavia. The Autavia name was originally introduced in 1933 when Heuer was making dash counters for race cars, boats, and aircrafts. Embodying the essence of it’s target market, the name “Autavia” was made by combining the industry names of “AUT”omovitve and “AVIA”tion. Despite the Autavia name being used on dash counters and stop watches initially, the name would also be used on a wrist watch variant unveiled by Heuer in 1962.

After it’s initial conception, the Autavia would experience three separate generations, each having their own unique iterations and offerings:

First Generation (1962-1968):

The first generation featured all manual wind movements Valjoux movements such as the Valjoux 72, the Valjoux 92, and the Valjoux 724 GMT. This generation would pave the way for the design nomenclature to follow, and would experience a few of it’s own iterations within it’s existence from 1962 to 1968.

Second Generation (1968 to 1969):

The second generation would be produced for just under 2 years and again feature manual wind movements only, utilizing the Valjoux 72, the Valjoux 724, the Valjoux 7730, and the Valjoux 7732. Ironically, even though these pieces were produced for a span of two years, they are easier to find in comparison to the first generation Heuer Autavia’s.

Third Generation (1969 to 1985):

The third generation Autavia would come as a necessity to debut the brands new automatic chronograph movement, the Calibre 11 developed in “Project 99”. This would be the first automatic chronograph movement used by Heuer even though it was originally intended for the Carrera (couldn’t be used because the Carrera’s smaller case size). The caliber 11 movement used in this piece would oscillate at 19800 Vph and have a power reserve of 42 hours. This Automatic Calibre 11 would be distinctly differentiated from the rest of the 3rd generation offerings thanks to the left facing crown. This would indicate that the watch did not need winding like the manual wind pieces, which were positioned on the right side of the watch.

Along side the Automatic offering for the 3rd generation, Heuer also had a list of manual wind movements such as the Valjoux 7733, Valjoux 7734, Valjoux 7736, and the Valjoux 7741. As mentioned above the manual movements feature the crown on the right side, distinguishing it from the automatic offering in the Calibre 11. The production of the third generation Autavia would last until it’s discontinuation in 1985, remaining unseen again until a 2003 re-issue.

Re-Issues:

In 2003 Tag Launched a re-edition of the Autavia (based on the 3rd generation) which was the first Autavia to display the Tag Heuer logo rather than the solo Heuer logo. This watch utilized the original Calibre 11 movement that was used in 3rd generation Autavia’s. In 2017, Tag Heuer celebrated its 55th Autavia anniversary with a re-edition of the iconic watch, the same Autavia worn by F1 drive Jochen Rindt. However, rather than a classic re-issue, it was fitted with the new Heuer-02 movement, a recreation for modern times.

The Heuer Autavia would live on to be a legend thanks to it’s iconic presence in the racing world and it’s ability to be versatile with it’s various bezel offerings. Regardless of what profession you were in or the reason you needed a tool watch, the Autavia would likely meet the criteria with one of the following bezel options offered throughout the history of the watch:

  • Tachymeter Bezel

  • 60 Minute Bezel

    12 Hour Bezel

  • Minutes/Hour Bezel

  • Diving Bezel

  • GMT Bezel

  • Decompression Bezel

Current Offerings Overview:

The Autavia collection has somewhat been brought back by Tag Heuer; However, other than the debut of the special editions in 2003 and 2017, the Autavia collection has not seen a long standing chronograph offering. Rather the current lineup pays homage to more of the aviation side of the history with a time/date only automatic timepiece. All watches in this lineup feature the Calibre 5 COSC automatic movement oscillating at 28800 Vph with a power reserve of 38 hours. These are offered in an array of designs, some of which are shown below:

Rolex Daytona

Edit From Here

History:

The Rolex Daytona has been one of the long standing iconic chronographs and a highly sought after piece within the Rolex brand. The Daytona dates all the way back to 1963 with the release of the Cosmograph reference 6239 (the Daytona) just a year after Rolex served as the official timekeeper of the Daytona 500. The original Daytona’s featured a Valjoux Caliber 72 manual wind chronograph movement as automatic chronographs were yet to be conceived. Throughout the early years the aesthetics of the design changed with some of the most notable being the addition or elimination of “Daytona” on the dial and the swap back and forth between normal pushers and screw down pushers.

That being said, the largest change for the Daytona came in 1988 when Rolex introduced an automatic chronograph movement for the illustrious Daytona. This would first be exhibited in the reference 16520, and would feature a re-designed version of Zenith’s El Primero movement. These changes to the El Primero movement were made to make the movement fit Rolex’s standards with the most dramatic being, slowing the movement down from 36000 Vph to 28800 Vph. Rolex would go on to use this movement for nearly 12 years until it released it’s own in-house automatic chronograph movement, the Calibre 4130 (still used in today’s pieces).

Below gives a 10,000 foot view timeline of the Rolex Daytona through it’s 58 year history:

1963: Release of the Cosmograph reference 6239, the Daytona.

1964: First time the Daytona name would appear on the dial of the 6239.

1965: Release of the reference 6240, which would feature screw down pushers. The Oyster.

1970: Reference 6262 produced for one year as a return to non-screw down pushers and an engraved steel bezel. This was also upgraded from 18000 Vph to 21600 Vph.

1970-1972: The reference 6264 was produced with screw in pushers and acrylic inlay bezel.

1988: Reference 16520 Rolex launches the Calibre 4030, their first automatic winding chronograph movement made from the Zenith El Primero base movement.

2000: Reference 116520 Rolex launches a fully in-house automatic chronograph movement, the calibre 4130 which is still used today.

Current Offerings Overview:

The current Rolex Daytona lineup offers a wide variety of options. To start off, case materials are offered in an array of standard and exotic material such as oystersteel, everrose gold, yellow gold, white gold, and even platinum. Aside from this, dial colors range uniquely with each offering, majority of the offerings are standard colors with the color scheme of the sub-dials matching the bezel or case material. That being said there are a few unique offerings which sport the meteorite dial, featuring a crystalline/geometric like aesthetic.

As stated briefly above, the movement that is used on the current Daytona is the Calibre 4130, the original in-house automatic chronograph movement from Rolex. This movement oscillates at 28800 Vph with a power reserve of 72 hours, features chronograph seconds on center, 30 minute counter at 3 O’clock, 12 hour counter at 9 O’clock, running seconds at 6 O’clock, and standard time on center.
The current case is offered in 40mm, featuring a Cerachrom bezel, screw-down crowns and pushers giving this piece 100 meters of water resistance. With all of these new and up to date characteristics, the DNA is still very much that of the original Daytona which shines through in the current pieces.

Andrew Smilinich
Previous

Hamilton Khaki Aviation: The Affordable Tool Watch
Next

Hamilton Khaki Field: The affordable Tool Watch