A chronograph is a particular type of watch that combines stopwatch functionality with the standard watch display, and this complication remains as one of the most popular and sought-after in the luxury watch industry. In this week’s blog post, we will be taking a look at what we consider to be the most iconic chronograph collections to be manufactured by Swiss watchmakers, with all three examples displaying the timeless aesthetics to be considered a classic.
Although the watch was originally introduced and designed to be used by race car drivers in 1957, the Omega Speedmaster would go on to make its name as the watch of choice for NASA astronauts, and it is still affectionately referred to as the “Moonwatch” to this day. The Omega Speedmaster’s reputation was further enhanced when it played an important part in rescuing the almost ill-fated Apollo 13 mission in 1970, with its accurate timekeeping ability proving invaluable to the spacecraft’s re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. The design of the Speedmaster has remained largely the same since it was first introduced, ensuring it has a recognisable presence of the wearer’s wrist.
The exemplary Breitling Navitimer was first unveiled in 1952, meaning that it is the oldest chronograph collection to appear in our list. The Navitimer collection’s robust functionality has ensured that it has endured and remains popular to this day, and Breitling still proudly talks of the chronograph’s aviation origins. The main feature, along with the chronograph function, was the inclusion of a slide rule bezel. This simple feature proved invaluable to pilots, as it allowed for important calculations such as ground speed, fuel consumption, miles per minute, and other important figures to be collected quickly.
The exceptional Rolex Daytona celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2016, and the brand introduced an eye-catching ‘Rainbow Everose’ model at this year’s edition of Baselworld. Boasting the formidable timekeeping qualities you would expect from the Swiss brand, the popularity of the Daytona really took off when Hollywood actor Paul Newman started to wear one on his wrist. As we have recently discussed in other blog posts, the Rolex Daytona has been immensely popular at luxury watch auctions over the last year, with one owned by the “Cool Hand Luke” star selling for an incredible £11.85 million in October 2017, the highest price to ever be paid for a wristwatch.
Click here to read our article on the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona.
