Chronograph and tachymeter

A chronograph is a stopwatch built into the watch. The upper pusher starts and stops it, the lower one resets it; the large central seconds hand belongs to the stopwatch, while the subdials typically show the stopwatch minutes and hours and the watch's own running seconds. Do not press the pushers under water, and if they screw down, screw them in before the watch goes in water.

The tachymeter scale on the bezel measures speed: start at one kilometre marker, stop at the next, and the number opposite the hand is your speed in km/h (if you pass the kilometre in 30 seconds, the hand points to 120). A telemeter measures distance in the same way, using sound (lightning to thunder). See chronographs.

If you have a question about a particular watch, ask Nord, our assistant, at the bottom right — or write to us.