0 Chronograph Watches

The World's Most Popular Chronograph Watches

"The Rolex Daytona is one watch that will never go out of style, regardless of the model."

Together with luxury watch market platforms Chrono24 and Ebner Publishing (known for WatchTime magazine), I started a company calledChronolytics to analyze and structure Chrono24 users' behavioral data. We had noticed that there was no real information source regarding consumer behavior in the watch market, so we decided to fill that gap for watch manufacturers.

Besides being a data vendor for the watch industry at large, Chronolytics also culls data that we consider of interest to everyday watch fans -- such as the brands that are generating particular interest within specific timeframes.

In each week of March, we will show you the most popular complication timepieces based on the data we’ve collected from watch enthusiasts' behavior in 2012.  This data consists of millions of watch queries performed by U.S. visitors to the world’s biggest luxury-watch-market platform.

This week, we start with the top five chronograph watches. The chronograph is one of the most popular watch complications (besides a date feature). Although originally meant for recording time during sporting events like car or bike racing, the most famous "scientific" use of the chronograph was probably during the Apollo 13 flight in 1970.

The recorded time can be read from so-called (sub) registers, or recorders. They record the elapsed seconds, minutes and, in most cases, hours. In almost all cases, the large second hand is the chronograph hand while the normal seconds are shown in one of the sub registers. There are, however, also cases in which the chronograph minutes are also recorded by a large minute hand (for example, the Sinn 140).

A very useful complication, as we love to time things. Whether it’s at a sports activity, while traveling or when making a pizza, a chronograph can always come in handy.

Omega Speedmaster

Introduced in 1957, the Omega Speedmaster was meant to be a chronograph for race car drivers. What Omega didn't know was that this model would become one of the most famous watches on Earth (and the moon). In the 1960s, NASA chose the Omega Speedmaster as their official chronograph for astronauts and their EVA activities. In 1965, Omega therefore added the word "Professional" on the dial.

In 1969, the Omega Speedmaster Professional accompanied astronauts Collins, Armstrong and Aldrin to the moon. On the wrist of Aldrin, it became the first watch worn on the moon.

Although Omega has introduced several versions of the Speedmaster since the 1970s, and also recently introduced a Speedmaster model that has Omega's own in-house developed and manufactured movement, the original hand-wound "Moonwatch" is still in the collection.

We’re not surprised that the Speedmaster is the most sought-after chronograph, though it is very close to No. 2 on this list.

Rolex Daytona

The Rolex Daytona turns 50 this year, as the first Daytona was introduced in 1963. This watch is as iconic as it is mysterious, for no one knows exactly when this watch gained such hype. Some people say it’s because of Paul Newman wearing it on the cover of an Italian magazine; others say it started later on when the collector community started showing interest in the hand-wound models from the '60s and '70s while they were still affordable.

In any case, the Rolex Daytona is one of the watches that required a waiting list at authorized dealers. People were even prepared to pay more than the list price. The Rolex Daytona was hot and still is -- as this list proves, demand is still high. But the waiting lists have disappeared and you can now even buy them for less than the list price.

The price for vintage Rolex Daytonas is still impressive. An early Rolex Daytona with hand-wound movement and screw-down pushers (ref.6263) from the 1970s fetches between $30,000 and $40,000. The Rolex Daytona is one watch that will never go out of style, regardless of the model.