WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CHRONOGRAPH AND A CHRONOMETER?
A chronograph is a stopwatch, which permits the measurement of a desired interval of time. A chronograph has start, stop and reset functions. BREITLING chronographs measure time intervals to 1/100, 1/50 or 1/10 of a second. A chronometer is a high-precision movement, which has been tested and certified by the Swiss watch-testing bureau, COSC (Controle Official Suisse des Chronometeres). The COSC is an independent association that certifies and issues performance certificates for each movement that successfully passes the test.
A chronograph is a watch with hands that display hours, minutes and seconds, together with a mechanism for measuring elapsed time by means of a central chronograph hand, which records seconds, and 30-minute and 12-hour counter. A chronometer is a watch that has obtained an offi-cial rate certificate from the COSC (Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute) after having passed precision tests in different positions and at different temperatures, as well as water-resistance tests. These tests are conducted over a 15-day period.
A chronograph is a watch with hands that display hours, minutes and seconds, together with a mechanism for measuring elapsed time by means of a central chronograph hand, which records seconds, and 30-minute and 12-hour totalisers. A chronometer is a watch that has obtained an official rate certificate from the C.O.S.C. (Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute) after having passed precision tests in different positions and at different temperatures, as well as water-resistance tests. These tests are conducted over a 15-day period.
A chronograph is a watch with hands that display hours, minutes and seconds, together with a mechanism for measuring elapsed time by means of a central chronograph hand, which records seconds, and 30-minute and 12-hour totalisers. A chronometer is a watch that has obtained an official rate certificate from the COSC (Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute) after having passed precision tests in different positions and at different temperatures, as well as water-resistance tests. These tests are conducted over a 15-day period.
The simple answer is that a chronometer is a certified accurate timepiece, a chronograph is a timepiece with stopwatch functions. So for any watch, one, both, or neither terms may apply. Most chronographs have two or three subdials, or minidials, for measuring minutes and hours. When used in conjunction with specialized scales on the watch dial it can perform many different functions, such as determining speed or distance. Some can time more than one event at a time. As far as a chronometer, it is a timepiece that has met certain high standards of accuracy set by an official watch institute of Switzerland, called C.O.S.C. These watches are provided with a chronometer certificate detailing specific test results conducted by the C.O.S.C. Only a watch whose movement has been certified by C.O.S.C. can be called a chronometer. For a typical men’s-sized mechanical watch movement, it must have stayed within -4 to +6 seconds of variation per day during the COSC measurement at various temperatu
