Everyone knows that the word “chronograph” is rooted in the Greek words “chronos” (time) and “graphein” (to write). This term was coined by Nicolas Mathieu Rieussec (1781-1866), who up until last week was revered as the inventor of the chronograph. In 1821, he used his chronograph—which dropped a spot of ink on the dial when stopped to mark the timed interval—to time horseraces held on Paris' Champs de Mars. Just one year later, he received a patent for a “timekeeper, or counter, called chronograph with seconds, indicating the length of several successive events without necessitating the attention of the observer.” In other words, his invention was intended for recording the timing of events like a stopwatch and it was accurate within one second. His device was large at 112 x 85 x 58 mm and encased in a mahogany box, which almost gave it the appearance of a marine chronometer.
Breguet's Type XXII 3880, debuting at Baselworld, is the brand's newest chronograph and beats at the high frequency of 10 Hz © Breguet
His invention spurred London-based watchmaker Frederick Louis Fatton to make a pocket watch-style version of the ink-bearing timer. As Rieussec perfected his invention, historical Paris-based watchmakers such as Abraham-Louis Breguet and Abraham-Louis Perrelet also worked on pocket watch-style chronographs equipped with inking hands.
Last week, CEO and creative director of Louis Moinet, Jean-Marie Schaller, made an astounding public announcement at the Neuchâtel observatory: he had found a chronograph at a May 2012 Christie's auction that dates from 1816 – making it the first timing instrument of chronograph style in watch history. Moinet's should, however, have been rightfully called a “chronoscope” – using instead the Greek word “skopein,” meaning “to see” – since it did not leave ink on the dial. In fact, Moinet's invention resembles a modern stopwatch in many ways; it was easily a hundred years ahead of its time.
Moinet was a true academic renaissance man: a Frenchman who practiced horology, sculpting and painting. He also dabbled in astronomy. And he became a personal adviser to Breguet during his heyday. Like Breguet he made timepieces for the Murat family, the horologically enamored rulers of Naples. In 1848, he published the “Traité d'Horlogerie,” a watchmaking encyclopedia. In this reference work he mentioned his chronograph – which is the reason historians were aware of it – but the piece itself had been lost in the sands of time, and without knowledge of its physical existence there could be no proof.
Montblanc, who acquired Rieussec's name, boasts a unique line of modern chronographs: here is the newest, the Nicolas Rieussec Rising Hours © Montblanc
Unlike Rieussec's chronograph, which could only show timing intervals to the nearest second, Moinet's can time 1/60th of a second, which is indicated by the central hand on the pocket watch-style timepiece. The elapsed seconds and minutes are recorded on separate subdials, which lend it the appearance of a modern chronograph. Elapsed hours are displayed on the subdial at the 6 o'clock position. Until the time of Schaller's record-shattering announcement, the modern chronograph set-up was popularly thought to stem from a patent registered by Swiss countryman Adolphe Nicole in 1862.
How was Moinet's chronograph able to display to such a small division of time? By its frequency, which was set to an astounding 30 Hz (216,000 vph). A solid one hundred years would pass before another watchmaker would achieve this feat – thus making Moinet also the father of high frequency alongside the chronograph.
The modern Louis Moinet brand's unique chronographs are often combined with another function like this Geograph © Louis Moinet
Because Moinet embarked upon his invention out of astronomical need – he used it to measure star transit rather than timing races or sporting events – it also needed to have at least 24 hours' worth of power reserve. In fact, it boasts 30 hours, in great part possible due to the use of lubricated ruby jewel bearings.
All of these chronograph pioneers are still at it today with modern incarnations of the chronograph – the most popular wristwatch complication outside the date. “Today, [independent watch company] Louis Moinet's means are limited, so we will not be ‘exploiting' this find in a marketing sense,” Schaller said of the historical timepiece now in his brand's possession. “We just want to put watchmaker Louis Moinet on the pedestal he belongs on.” If you attend Baselworld 2013, you may view the historical piece on display at Louis Moinet's booth (Hall 1.1, E50). After the fair, Schaller will place it in the company's museum.
