Since its inception in 1816 by the watchmaker/astronomer Louis Moinet, the chronograph has been in constant evolution in terms of both its purpose and its design. The early 20th century shaped it into a purely tactical instrument spurred on by the world of aviation as pilots needed reliable instruments that were crucial for navigation. After World War II, the chronograph saw a dramatic shift away from the tool watch towards the elegance of a gold dress watch that took on the role of the ultimate gentleman’s accessory. But at the end of the 1960s, into the 70s, all that would change again.
Breaking Boundaries
1969 was the year of the Apollo 11 moon landing, the first Concord test flight, and the first Woodstock music festival. The possibilities were limitless. Groovy replaced classic, steel replaced gold, and functionality replaced style. Astronauts were exploring the universe, racing drivers were breaking speed records, and more accessible and affordable commercial air travel opened up the world to the masses. Watchmaking didn’t escape these revolutionary times, especially not the chronograph, which was the most popular complication of the decade.
Groovy Case Shapes
Pre-1970, the vast majority of timepieces came in a round case, but post-1970 everything was permitted with cases taking on square, tonneau, and cushion shapes. In square chronographs, there were the Heuer Monaco, the Breitling Chrono-Matic, and the Zenith El Primero A385, and for the tonneau/cushion shape, the Omega Seamaster Chronostop, the Heuer Autavia, the Hamilton Fontainebleau embraced the groovy.
Daring Dial Designs
In terms of dial designs, things were changing too as the hands and indexes started to become squarer and fatter to accommodate the need for luminescent paint. Numerals were out, baton indexes were in; white dials were pushed aside for black dials (for better readability with luminescence), and the three sub-dial architecture gained ground over the two sub-dial format. Futuristic and edgy were cool as watchmakers broke with old conventions and reinvented the wristwatch.
Movement Advances
It wasn’t only the design that was making advances; however, as technology was also moving ahead in leaps and bounds. Automatic chronograph movements became more widely adopted than their manual counterparts, providing greater convenience and practicality. High-beat frequency movements with 36,000 vph also became more popular as the higher beat rate offered enhanced accuracy and smoother sweeping seconds hand motion. It was also during this time that integrated chronograph movements started to replace the previous base movement + chronograph module formula.
Colours, Diving, and Integrated Bracelets
The 1970s also saw the arrival of bright colours; don’t forget this was the disco era! Diving watches also became increasingly popular as the sport developed and new frontiers opened up in the exploration of the underwater world. This was also the decade that saw the arrival of the integrated bracelet which is seeing a massive revival today.
The 1970s laid the groundwork for many of the chronographs that we see today. It explains our passion for vintage chronograph, our current love for crazy colours and concepts, and gives us a renewed desire to time things again…or to at least have the technology to do so, if ever the need arises!
