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The BeckerTime Guide to the Top 5 Chronographs of All Time
Regular visitors here will already have read our list of the top 5 dive watches ever made. This time around, we are going to look at one of the few categories of timepiece which can rival that one for expanse, popularity and variety; the chronograph.
Of the two genres, it is hard to choose which has the more practical day-to-day complication. A dive watch’s rotatable bezel is eminently useful for a wide array of simple time measurement tasks. But the chronograph’s split second accuracy will always be more precise for those situations which require it.
On a pro and con basis, there is a complete lack of rules and regulations dictating what a chronograph must have, as opposed to the official ISO standards a diver needs to fulfil, meaning designers have more freedom to come up with some truly diverse styles.
On the other hand, the added complexity needed to build a chronograph movement is usually factored into the price, making them, pound for pound, the more expensive of the two.
Of course, we can throw all of that boring stuff out the window for our list, one which will be based on emotion rather than logic, as all luxury watch issues should be!
5. The Zenith El Primero A385
It is a strange irony that, for many people, the name El Primero is more immediately associated with another watch, from another brand, than it is with its actual creator, Zenith.
However, the Swiss manufacture, still very much in business today, can lay claim to one of horology’s biggest leaps forward when, in 1969, they rolled out the first self-winding mechanical chronograph movement ever made.
It was a mission which had been embarked upon from three directions at once at the start of the ‘60s.
Zenith, in conjunction with Movado, had publicized their intention of cracking the problem in time for their centenary year in 1965. At the same time, the Chronomatic Group, consisting of a consortium of Swiss brands such as Breitling, Heuer, Dubois Dépraz and Hamilton-Buren, threw their hats into the ring, as did Seiko in Japan.
In the end, all three missed the target having underestimated the immensity of the challenge, but in 1969, each competing side brought automatic calibers to market—the Calibre 11 from the Chronomatic Group, the Cal. 6139 from Seiko, and from Zenith, the 3019 El Primero.
In reality, while Zenith had been first to announce they had completed their movement, they were technically last to bring it out. Nevertheless, it was by far the most accomplished. The fully-integrated, column wheel-controlled, self-winding mechanism, complete with date function, beat at a frenetic 36,000vph, allowing for chronograph timing down to an unheard of 1/10th second.
That year it was fitted inside three new watches, the A384, A385 and A386.
The latter was a traditionally shaped round model, with the trademark overlapping, tricolor subdials you will find today on the contemporary Chronomaster Sport line.
The other two had more futuristic (for the near-‘70s) squared-off tonneau style 37mm cases, the A384 with a relatively conservative Panda dial setup, the A385 with the most era-appropriate smoky brown fumé face you can imagine.
Of the three, you can’t make a wrong choice. But in terms of getting the most watch for your money, the A385 stands out with superb examples going for less than $5,000 these days. By comparison, the A384 and A386 start at about $6,000 and $10,000 respectively.
Obviously, the El Primero is better known as the movement powering the second generation of Rolex’s Daytona (we might be hearing a bit more about that later on) but it is, and will always be, a revolutionary achievement in its own right.
4. The Heuer Monaco 1133B
Undoubtedly the most famous square watch ever made, the Heuer Monaco also came out in 1969 and was one of the models into which Heuer set their new Calibre 11 self-winding chrono movement.
The mechanism was, in fact, destined to sit inside another of Heuer’s iconic stopwatches, the Carrera, but was found to be too big. Hunting for a solution, legendary head of the company Jack Heuer got in contact with Swiss case specialist Piquerez, who came up with the concept for a world’s first; a square watch that was waterproof to 100m.
The resulting collaboration brought us the debut Monaco, the ref. 1133B, with a blue dial and square white totalizers, with handsome splashes of red to give it a pop. And, as a self-congratulatory little aside, Heuer made sure to fit the winding crown on the left side of the case, telling wearers that they wouldn’t need to use it much.
Yet, any watch, even one as revolutionary and avantgarde as the Monaco, needs to be marketed. And the 1133B picked up just about the best endorsement around in 1971 when the King of Cool himself, Steve McQueen wore one throughout his movie Le Mans. Basing his character of Michael Delaney on one of Jack Heuer’s closest friends and the brand’s first ever ambassador, Formula 1 driver Jo Siffert, McQueen somehow contrived to ensure the Monaco was shown onscreen for an incredible 15-minutes of the movie’s 1hr 46 mins runtime.
After that, the watch has remained in the public’s consciousness and is still one of TAG Heuer’s biggest sellers. Today, you will find more than a dozen different iterations in the line-up, including a faithful reproduction of that timeless original.
A true standout in a saturated field, the Monaco is a watch to get you noticed.
3. The Breitling Navitimer
Breitling’s inimitable Navitimer is not only one of the greatest chronographs of all time, it might well be the greatest pilot’s watch ever made too.
It is certainly the most distinctive, with its bewildering looking dial which, combined with its signature slide rule, can be used to calculate anything from fuel consumption to rates of ascent and descent to average speed.
The Navi made its debut in 1954 at the behest of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), an advocacy group who approached Willy Breitling, then brand CEO, with the request for a dedicated aviators’ timepiece. Breitling was the obvious choice for such an appeal, not only because of their long track record in chronograph innovation (the first to time to 2/5ths of a second, the first twin pusher chronograph, the first to include a tachymeter scale) but also because of their ground-breaking Chronomat model, a very similar watch to the Navitimer released in 1941 which also featured a logarithmic scale on its rotating bezel which could be used to make calculations.
The Navi took much of its foundations from that piece and updated elements to suit pilots. The slide rule calculator was recalibrated, the bezel was given a beaded edge so it could be turned while wearing gloves and the Chronomat’s two register setup was swapped for the more traditional tricompax arrangement, showing elapsed minutes, hours and running seconds.
The original reference, the ref. 806, was initially offered exclusively to aviation industry professionals but was opened up to the general public in 1956. And despite (or perhaps because of) its unconventional looks, it became an instant hit.
Today, it is still arguably the number one image of a pilot’s watch in people’s minds, with a genuinely useful functionality for those who set aside enough time to learn its talents. The collection is now over 40 models strong, with everything from 32mm non-chrono ladies models, through carbon copy replicas of the earliest examples and on all the way up to solid gold perpetual calendar editions.
But the most characterful elements are present and correct throughout, an unmistakable assembly of stunning watches.
-Joint 1st
The Omega Speedmaster Professional
Yeah, yeah, I know!
Call me all the names you want, but with the current antagonism and divisiveness in the world, I don’t feel like adding to it by trying to choose between the two best and most significant chronograph watches in history!
Omega launched the Speedmaster in 1957, one third of a trio of models that made up their Professional collection, along with the first appearance of the Seamaster 300 and the Railmaster.
All three were ground-breaking, but it was the Speedy which would become the most influential. Chronographs with tachymeter scales had been made before, but it was Omega’s idea to move it from the dial to the bezel to free up space and better the overall readability. That one simple adjustment would go on to be emulated by just about every other watchmaker in the industry.
As with all chronos released around this era, the Speedmaster’s natural home was the racetrack. But it was another destination entirely which launched the watch, quite literally, into the stratosphere.
In 1962, the newly-formed NASA space agency began searching for a standard issue timepiece for their astronauts. Dozens of brands sent their best, but it was only the Speedmaster which was found capable of surviving the battery of assessments thrown at it. By 1965 it had been declared ‘flight qualified’ and four years later its legend would be cemented into horology folklore when Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the lunar surface with his trusty 105.012 strapped to the wrist of his spacesuit.
From that moment on, the Speedmaster Professional would be known as the Moonwatch and a version would be worn on every subsequent NASA mission.
As is typical over at Omega, countless different models based on the Speedy have been created over the last nearly 70-years. Some look to the future with hybrid analog/digital models with names like Speedmaster Marstimer or Skywalker. Others hark back to the very beginning, with period correct recreations of the Professional collection’s pre-Moon watches. And others still contain the same legendary Calibre 321 movement from inside those NASA-certified examples, faithfully rebuilt from the original blueprints.
But the biggest draw to Omega’s boutique network is still the wonderful Moonwatch, that paragon of design simplicity which has never been improved upon. Perfectly balanced, achingly stylish and fairly modestly priced (so modest, even I have one) it is arguably the most liked and most likeable watch of all time.
-Joint 1st
The Rolex Daytona
Unlike the Speedmaster, the Rolex Daytona did not hit the ground running.
It was, in just about every way, the Speedy’s equal in technical terms. Its downfall came with it being released six years later.
Six years, as it turns out, is a long time in horological terms. At least, it is if the years in question fall between 1957 and 1963 when the Daytona debuted.
This was the beginning of the Space Age, the whole thing started by the Soviets launching the Sputnik 1 satellite in the same year Omega brought out the Speedy. All at once, everyone’s eyes were on the stars and watches powered by springs and gears looked like antiquated relics; especially those you had to wind yourself.
By the ‘60s, the least customers wanted was a watch with an automatic movement, and the Daytona did not have one. Of course, neither did any other chronograph, including the Speedmaster, but the fact was the Speedy was already well established by then, and it was heading into the great beyond itself.
It was a particular irony being that it was Rolex who had brought the first workable self-winding calibers to market in the 1930s, the Perpetual movements. However, the upshot was that the Daytona died a death sales-wise while the Speedmaster went to the moon.
The turnaround didn’t happen until 1988. That was the year the second generation of the Daytona hit the stands, powered by a heavily reworked version of an old friend, Zenith’s El Primero.
Suddenly, the Rolex was the watch to have and before long demand outstripped supply by a huge amount. It is a pattern which has continued to this day.
Those so-called Zenith Daytonas were superseded by the third iteration, powered by an in-house engine, in 2000 and almost improbably, their popularity grew higher still. In fact, the Daytona was already one of the most sought-after watches in the world before a certain link with Hollywood royalty cropped up.
Paul Newman had been photographed a number of times wearing first generation references, and that happened to awake something close to hysteria in the 2010s. Soon, those early pieces were changing hands for astronomical amounts, with a snowballing effect onto later examples. And it all came to a head in 2017 when the first of several Daytonas Newman owned went up for auction, smashing every record in the process when the hammer dropped at $17.7m.
These days, the model is still arguably the most in-demand and difficult to officially obtain of any of Rolex’s stable of unbuyable sports watches. Although things have calmed down a little from the 2022 peak, casual buyers can still only dream of purchasing one at retail prices—the most popular steel examples command premiums which nearly doubles their boutique cost on the preowned market.
Are they worth it? Oh yes. The Daytona is not only a massively desirable chronograph, it is also a hugely capable one. Subjected to the same obsessive drive for perfection as all Rolex watches, it is an exceptional performer, wrapped up in a design both beautiful and legible.
A watch of almost mythic importance, the Rolex Daytona is an elite creation.
Featured Photo: Mixed art by Oriol Mendivil for BKT Archive.
