How does this chrono work?
Looking around for affordable chronos on AliExpress (the stinker from Ochstin was not going to cut it for me) I stumbled across the depicted one from Merkur. This has no subdials, so how does that even work as a chrono? The pushers are supposedly chrono pushers, the ST1901 movement is a chrono movement. There is no video showing this in action - any ideas how that would work?
On a somewhat related note, I also found this quartz chrono from Wwoor
This has subdials - but for minutes and hours. So, is this really just a chrono for people with a very slow pace of life? Your two cents please.
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Balthazar
UK-based German expat. Likes cheap watches. Not bothered about brands.
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Last active: 4 hrs ago
On most chronographs, the central seconds hand is the chrono hand, and if the watch includes a regular running seconds, it is usually implemented in a sub-dial. Based on that, I would assume that this could be a chrono that is only capable of recording events up to 1 minute in duration.
Most ST19 chronos will include 2 sub-dials. The sub-dial at the 9 o'clock position will be the running seconds, and the sub-dial at the 3 o'clock position will be the elapsed minutes counter, allowing for timing of events up to 30 minutes duration.
Most chronographs with only 2 sub dials will be limited to recording relatively short events, since they generally won't have an hour counter. Some are restricted to 30 minutes, some to 45. Notable exceptions are many of the Omega chronographs which include both an hour hand and a minute hand in the single sub-dial at the 3 o'clock, allowing for timing of events up to 12 hours in duration. The JLC Polaris chrono is another example of a 2 register chrono capable of recording up to 12 hour events, however it doesn't include a running seconds indicator, and uses the 9 o'clock sub-dial for recording hours, while the 3 o'clock sub-dial records minutes (up to 30 minutes only, so the hour sub-dial shows half hour increments).
The more common 3 sub-dial chronos usually have one sub-dial for running seconds, one for minutes, and one for hours. Usually the minute sub-dial only counts 30 minutes, so the hour sub-dial allows for display of half hours.
Regarding the Merkur: yes that is labeled as a 60sec chrono, so that makes sense.
The Wwoor being able to record up to 24h events seems rather unusual.
There is probably no second hand and thats the chrono hand which only does 60 second counts. The 1963 chronos sell for around 200 with better features and 2 subdials. Or a Japanese powered chrono like this which wont cost you an arm and a leg to repair.https://www.aliexpress.com/i/4000714776567.html
Regarding the Merkur: yes that is labeled as a 60sec chrono, so that makes sense.
The Wwoor being able to record up to 24h events seems rather unusual.
The Wwoor must be for smoking ham hocks.
The Wwoor must be for smoking ham hocks.
I would bet a nontrivial sum of money that the 24 hour subdial on the Wwoor is actually a fancy AM/PM indicator (nonadjustable military time subdial tied to the main dial.)