IWI Chronograph

The original use for the Chronograph and the reason it was invented, was specifically for the French King, Louis XVIII. The King greatly enjoyed watching horse racing, but wanted to know exactly how long each race lasted. On a Royal command from the Court therefore, French watchmaker, Nicolas Rieussec, was hired to invent a device that would do the job. The first Chronometre was presented in 1821.

There are many modern uses for a Chronograph watch other than timing horse races but the ability to own a specific type of watch that can be used as an accurate stopwatch combined with a time display watch remains as strong as ever.

Our Britain Chronograph, no longer requiring a Royal command to be built, is one of the more extraordinary pieces in the Britain Collection. With the crown at the 12 o'clock position and the pushers to control the precision Swiss Chronograph movement either side of the crown, the watch is truly designed as a stopwatch with perfect and intuitive access to the stop, re-start and reset pushers just where you'd expect them.