Mechanical chronograph
Discussion
If you have a mechanical watch with chronograph function, and you have the chronograph running, does it reduce the time the watch will run for? Or is it driven from the same mechanism so makes little difference? Is it a significant effect, i.e. a watch that runs for 72 hours would only go for 36 hours with chrono functioning?
speedking31 said:
If you have a mechanical watch with chronograph function, and you have the chronograph running, does it reduce the time the watch will run for? Or is it driven from the same mechanism so makes little difference? Is it a significant effect, i.e. a watch that runs for 72 hours would only go for 36 hours with chrono functioning?
I have a speedy pro which for the past 25 years I mostly had the chrono engaged when wearing it. I didn't really notice any difference in running time with chrono or without. I was however told by the chap who recently serviced the watch that it would increase wear on some parts (I didn't have any issues without a service for 25 years until the main spring needed replacing). Depends on the mechanism but yeah it saps power reserve in most cases.
In general it will reduce the power reserve as you are moving more parts and sapping the power that reaches the escapement but there are some oddities (like the ETA 2894) where it makes little difference.
On older classic designs you might drop as much as 20 degrees of amplitude which would be like running the watch for a good chunk of the day.
On clutch type chronographs there is often little difference or even a slight jump when the chrono is engaged. In theory it's always running and the button just changes the position of the wheel to engage with the arbour running through the hand.
On traditional types engaging the chrono drops a train of wheels into engagement with the last wheel before the escapement which allows for precision at the cost of sapping power.
In the Speedy pro's case it's complicated by a brake that is applied to the hour counter in normal running which can interfere if the lubrication isn't quite right. So they're never running truly unrestrained.
In general it will reduce the power reserve as you are moving more parts and sapping the power that reaches the escapement but there are some oddities (like the ETA 2894) where it makes little difference.
On older classic designs you might drop as much as 20 degrees of amplitude which would be like running the watch for a good chunk of the day.
On clutch type chronographs there is often little difference or even a slight jump when the chrono is engaged. In theory it's always running and the button just changes the position of the wheel to engage with the arbour running through the hand.
On traditional types engaging the chrono drops a train of wheels into engagement with the last wheel before the escapement which allows for precision at the cost of sapping power.
In the Speedy pro's case it's complicated by a brake that is applied to the hour counter in normal running which can interfere if the lubrication isn't quite right. So they're never running truly unrestrained.
Edited by glazbagun on Sunday 6th July 11:28
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