It might sound obvious, but should you keep your chronograph function running for watches housing a movement with a vertical clutch, as opposed to horizontal clutch?
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No idea but I’d be interested to know as well, I know you can but I’ve got no idea if you should.
heres mine with a vertical clutch (on the right)👍
A chronograph with a lateral (horizontal) clutch only has the chronograph part of the movement working when you start it. When you do this it does take away some power from the gear train and effects the amplitude of the watch causing it to slowly lose time. If you kept it running all day you could lose a few more seconds a day to a minute depending on the movement.
A vertical clutch always has the chronograph running in the background and is designed as such. So you can have the chronograph running all day on a vertical clutch chronograph, it was built for it.
Hope that helps
Well explained! But, does it mean not keeping the chronograph function running is less ideal a condition for a movement with lateral clutch? Would it stress the mechanism, potentially causing premature failure?
Well explained! But, does it mean not keeping the chronograph function running is less ideal a condition for a movement with lateral clutch? Would it stress the mechanism, potentially causing premature failure?
Chronographs a built to be run, however engaging a chronograph is actually a very brutal action with levels and gears slamming into each other. If you use it all the time it might lead to premature failure. Not running it can cause oils to settle, just use the watch as intended and don't sit and play with the chronograph when bored and you should get a good 5-10 years between service like any other mechanical watch
So, rest assured, you guys and gals. Just take it easy and let it go...
Jack Forester had a really good explanation of vertical clutch/column wheel vs cam/lever chrono functions on Hodinkee a few months ago.
https://www.hodinkee.com/browse/hey-hodinkee
Jack Forester had a really good explanation of vertical clutch/column wheel vs cam/lever chrono functions on Hodinkee a few months ago.
https://www.hodinkee.com/browse/hey-hodinkee
Was going to link this too 😁
I had always been under the impression that it was totally safe to keep a vertical clutch chronograph running all the time, but wasn't aware of any potential issue with NOT using the chronograph. I have no idea how correct he is, but in this YouTube video from Federico Talks watches (aka "Delray Watch daaaaawwwwwwtttt com"), Fed mentions that vertical clutch chronos suffer from clutch wear when not engaged. His explanation makes sense to me, but I have no idea if watchmakers would agree.
https://youtu.be/T66YLjoW2t0?t=426