How do you recognize a chronograph? Is it that easy? It has pushers and counters. Closer inspection reveals that it doesn’t necessarily have two pushers or two counters, yet its appearance is codified and apparently set in stone. Nonetheless, a flood of new products in 2023 is ushering in a new type of chronograph: one that doesn’t look like one. While there are always clues betraying this dissimulation if you dig deep enough, they are increasingly subtle and spotting them requires a kind of mental gymnastics that plays on our cognitive biases. When it comes to watch design, and especially that of chronographs, we must be wary of traditional codes, habits and certainties.
Abracadabra
With one, two and even three pushers for split-seconds versions, chronographs can be identified by these protrusions along their flank, on either side of the crown. The new version of the Reverso Tribute Chronograph takes advantage of its nature to show a deceptive appearance: when viewed from the front with its solid, smooth dial, its two pushers seem to serve no purpose, while turning it over reveals a skeletonized chronograph face bearing inverted pushers. As for Montblanc’s Unveiled Timekeeper, it has simply solved the problem at the root: the chronograph has no pushers, hidden or otherwise, and is activated by the bezel.
Pushers or none ?
If you look at an H08 Chronograph by Hermès, the only element protruding from under a shirt sleeve is the crown. Although there is nothing apparently unusual about the latter, it contains the pusher that controls its chronograph – which is identifiable by its two counters. While this “co-axial” arrangement is not new, Hermès has taken it to a new level of concealment.
A. Lange & Söhne has indeed reached a peak in this respect. The original Odysseus model without chronograph featured a case with two small protrusions somewhat like crown guards whose purpose was not clear. Perhaps the answer was that the brand had anticipated the creation of the chronograph version, because the same two very subtle protrusions are still there and now each contain a pusher.
Counter Error
3,6,9 or 6,9,12: each of the two classic chronograph subsidiary register layouts has its fans. Sometimes, only one counter is present and it can potentially be confused with a small seconds display. This leaves two options: either it may indeed be the small seconds – which also keeps one guessing because of its 60-second graduation – and in this instance two superimposed hands serve to indicate all the chronograph measurements, as on the Odysseus Chronograph; or in fact this counter is not what it seems. Such is the case with the DB Eight, which De Bethune endows with a wealth of optical effects. Its only elapsed minutes counter is at 6 o’clock. While its crown also serves as a pusher, it protrudes so discreetly from the case that one has to press it to really notice it. At most, the apparent redundancy between the seconds hand and the small seconds hand will oblige you to rub your eyes for a moment before revealing the secret of this sleight of hand. Watchmaking magic is like any other: it is all about conjuring tricks.
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