Today I'll be showing you exactly how to use a chronograph watch.
Essentially a chronograph is a watch with a built-in stopwatch. You can always tell if a watch is a chronograph if it has a set of subdials and these two pushers found on the side of the case.
I'll be using a Seiko Speedtimer as an example, but this tutorial should be applicable to all kinds of chronograph watches. No model is exactly the same, but the basic principles of this stopwatch will help you with any similar watch you decide to pick up.
Overview:
How a Chronograph Watch Works
To use your chronograph watch, you'll need to use the two pushers on the side of the watch case. These buttons can be labelled ‘A’ and ‘B’.
You can start your stopwatch with a press of the ‘A’ pusher and you should see your seconds hand beginning to move around the dial. This particular model, like many, also has a 60-minute subdial which will also start its movement when the stopwatch starts.
You can stop and resume with more ‘A’ presses. And, when you want to reset the chronograph, you can stop the seconds hand with ‘A’ and reset it with ‘B’.
How to Record Splits with a Chronograph Watch
You can also get a little fancier and record split times with your chronograph, which can be useful for grabbing lap times. You’ll start with an ‘A’ press to begin the timer, and when you’ve completed a lap or section of your task, you can press ‘B’ to get a split reading.
You can quickly write the time of the split, or just make a mental note, and then release the split with another ‘B’ press. The sports watch will keep ticking, and you are free to keep taking splits and releasing with your ‘B’ pusher presses. When you are done, simply push ‘A’ to stop, and ‘B’ to reset.
This is a very handy function, that’s not just for sports. You’ll find regular opportunities to use the stopwatch and the split function if you like to be time efficient. For that reason, chronographs like this Seiko watch are super popular, and really fun to play around with.
Hopefully, this guide has given you an idea of how to use your chronograph or helped you to decide on your next watch purchase.
