The chronographs - What is the chronographs

The word “chronograph” derives from the Greek words “chronos” and “graph” meaning time and writing respectively. By definition, the chronographic operate is essentially that of measurement the length of a specific event. This instrument, called a timer, was fabricated and after proprietary by Rieussac, the celebrated Paris horologer to King Joseph Louis Barrow, in 1821. Of course, watches capable of comparable functions existed before this date however their preciseness left plenty to be desired. Rieussac's plan was to form Associate in Nursing instrument that might not solely provide precise timings of horse races however additionally record the results. The “ink chronograph” was a device made up of two parts: the lower part held a chamber for the ink while the upper part was fitted with a fine needle that, once activated, ironed on the lower half therefore leaving the ink to flow. the road copied on the face, “marked” so to speak, the time. Greatly valued inside the planet of watches, the chronographic functions instantly found a large vary of uses. In short, the various ways in which within which it may well be used created it indispensable not just for temporal order, however additionally for measurement speed and distance. The attainable fields within which the timer are often used ar varied: from sporting events to competitions, from displays of assorted sorts to the calculation of production times. The story of the timer entwines additionally thereupon of the medical world wherever it's additionally used for measurement heart rates. the primary Chronographs were fitted with a ceaselessly moving needle. The re-setting mechanism was fabricated in 1844 by country horologer, Adolphe Nicole, UN agency had emigrated to London. In 1862, once he had punctually proprietary his invention, he bestowed it a Associate in Nursing exhibition in London beneath his trademark of Nicole et Capt. This new system allowed for the re-setting of the needle of the timer therefore facilitating ordered measurements. The timer has been the topic of abundant analysis. when the vital changes led to by Nicole's invention another vital leap forward was created in 1870 because of the French horologer Joseph Thaddeus Winnert, who, when years of analysis, managed to form a timer with 2 hands. The mechanism allowed for the simultaneous measuring of two events of different duration and was also capable of recording two different times and intermediate times: the “rattrapante” (split seconds) function was born. the primary chronographs of this genre were activated by 2 buttons: one for the start/stop commands and for the re-setting of the primary hand, the other for activating the “rattrapante” system (the second hand). once the timer was in use, the second user may well be stopped whereas the primary one continuing with the likelihood of reactivating the second user if necessary. The second generation of “rattrapante” chronographs were created also as wrist watches. They were fitted with 3 totally different buttons: one for the start/stop commands, one for re-setting and another (normally on the button for winding) for the “rattrapante” function. to satisfy with the necessities of the medical and emergency services sectors, sociologist has, because of collaboration with a celebrated Japanese company, created a timer fitted with a pulse meter and a metastasis meter. The timer has fascinated entire generations and can still do therefore, not just for collectors and specialists, however additionally for the Brobdingnagian public created of professionals and enthusiasts. the trendy timer, a word of dynamism, has noninheritable  immortality.

How do sundials work?

Part 1.  How Sundials Work.

From the earliest times people have regulated their lives by the apparent motions of the Sun and the shadows cast by its rays. We say ‘apparent’ because of course it is the rotation of the Earth on its axis which causes the moving shadows we observe every day. When the Earth rotates 15° it is just as though the Sun had moved 15° around its daily track. Diallists use both conventions but it is usually easier to regard the Sun as being in motion.

Perhaps the best place to begin an understanding of how sundials work would be to imagine a pictorial view of the Earth at the North Pole  In this diagram it is the Sun which seems to move at 15° every hour. The shadow-casting element of a sundial is usually called the ‘gnomon’ of which the edges are its ‘styles’.

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Part 2.  Polar View.

Four views of the Earth as seen from the camera
pointing downward from above the north pole.
In these images the Earth is rotating with a stationary Sun.

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Part 3.  The Equatorial Sundial.

It may be surprising that the sundial we visualized at the North Pole is actually referred to as an EQUATORIAL sundial.  This is because it is parallel with the Plane of the Equator.

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Part 4.  The Polar Dial.

The Equatorial Dial is sometimes said to be the ‘Master Dial’ because it can be used to delineate many other kinds of sundial.  This is done by projecting its hour lines onto any suitable receiving surface.  The Polar Dial below is an obvious example.

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Part 5.  The axis of the Earth.

Mid-winter in the northern hemisphere is when the Earth’s axis is tilted away from the Sun. The Sun never rises at the North Pole between October and March while at the South Pole the Sun never sets.
		Mid-summer in the northern hemisphere is when the Earth’s axis is tilted towards the Sun. The Sun never sets at the North Pole between April and September while at the South Pole, the Sun never rises.

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Part 6.  Dials at the poles and equator.

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Part 7.  Dials at other latitudes.

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Part 8.  Horizontal dials at other latitudes.

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Part 9.  Multiple Dial.

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Part 10.  Flat edged gnomons and the noon gap.  (Click to show larger versions)

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Part 11.  Horizontal dials at different latitudes.

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Part 12.  Solar Time, Correction for Longitude and Greenwich Mean Time (England).

The Sun takes four minutes to traverse one degree of longitude from East to West.
Sundials on the same line of longitude all tell the same time (shown on clocks for clarity).
Sundials on the 4° meridian are 16 minutes behind Greenwich time and those at 8° West are 32 minutes ‘slow’.

Example:  Plymouth is 4° 08’ West of Greenwich. Sundials in Plymouth are always 16 minutes 32 seconds slow.

In 1880, to avoid chaos when the first railways gave rapid east/west travel,
Parliament established Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) so all UK clocks told the same time as Big Ben.

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Part 13.  Introduction to the analemma.

The first accurate mechanical clocks were made in 1656 by Dutch Scientist Christian Huygens. His later models were accurate to within one second per day.  If he set the clocks daily by the sundial he may have initially thought that the clock was varying in accuracy at different times of the year when in fact it was the clock which was accurate and the sundial which was varying. 

We now know that all clocks are continually ‘out of step’ with the sundial because day lengths, measured by the Sun, increase by a few seconds over a period of about three months then decrease by similar amounts over the next three months only to repeat the process for the next half year. We can see what is actually happening on the next page. 

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Part 14.  The analemma.

If you were to take a photograph on the same piece of film at ten day intervals at exactly 12 Noon on the clock you might expect to see something like the picture on the right

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Part 15.  The equation of time.

The ‘figure eight’ is what would actually appear when the film was developed. The figure eight is called The Analemma. The difference between Solar Time and Clock Time is referred to as The Equation of time For practical purposes we need either a daily table of corrections in minutes & seconds for the sundial or a graph from which daily adjustments can be deduced.

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Part 16. Equation of Time graph.

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Part 17. Earth orbit diagram.

If the Earth stayed in one place and just rotated on an upright axis* then all days would have the same length. When we look at the Sun we are observing it from a moving platform. It is the varying speed around its elliptical orbit and the tilted axis which are responsible for the daily variations accounted for by the Equation of Time.

·         *Impossible of course as it is the orbital motion which prevents the Earth being dragged inwards by the Sun’s gravity.

·          

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Part 18. Introduction to decliners.

A vertical sundial on a truly south-facing East/West wall has a central
vertical noon line and a symmetrical arrangement of hour lines.
The hours will begin at 6am and end at 6pm

Sundials on walls lying at an angle to truly East/West are said to ‘decline’.
In most cases the noon line will still be vertical but the gnomon
will be rotated to so that it continues to align with the Earth’s axis.

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Part 19. Walls declined from East / West.

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Part 20. Sundial Examples.  (click on each image to see larger version)

A  Horizontal Sundial with Equation of Time graph.		B  Declined Vertical Dial   54° 20' N,  1° 26' W. Declination 14° East

C  Universal Equatorial Dial.  Adjustable for any Latitude.
   (Northern Hemisphere Summertime and Wintertime Faces)

D.Polar Dial with cranked ‘wings’ to show hours from 6am to 6pm. Flat polar dials cannot show early and late hours.		E   Bowstring Equinoctial Dial by sculptor Henry Moore. Adler Planetarium, Chicago. (Clutter removed electronically)

F   Analemmatic Sundial.  If the user stands on the current date on the central panel the shadow will show solar time.		Dateline Panel.

G   Polyhedral Sundial. Twenty equilateral triangular faces with several declined and ‘reclined’ (not vertical) dials on each face.		H   Portable Horizontal Dial.

l   A  Heliochronometer converts Solar Time to Clock Time.		J   The sloped & vertical gnomons of this replica Double Horizontal dial tell Sun time, Moon time and displays the Sun altitude & azimuth.

K  The Capuchin Dial has a scale resembling a monk’s cowl.		L   This ugly plastic ‘non-dial’ does nothing at all except display the ‘designer’s  ignorance and persuade the general public that ‘real’ sundials don’t work.

Frédérique Constant watches - Swiss watch brand with innovative watches

Switzerland is considered for centuries as the country's major watchmakers. There the art of watchmaking has a long tradition and many famous men have contributed to these developments. The watchmaker impress with their creativity and great innovative spirit of Swiss engineering. The Swiss watch brand Frederique Constant is one of the younger representatives.

History of Frédérique Constant

Frédérique Constant is a manufacturer of luxury watches and is located right in the Swiss city of Geneva. The company was founded in 1988 by Dutch businessman Peter Stas and Aletta Bax his wife. The company was named after the grandparents of the spouse Frédérique (carpenter) and Constant (Stas), already eighty years ago a company owned, produced the dials for big watches.

Time of expansion and world success

2002 bought the two founders of Frédérique Constant to another movement manufactory, the sports watch manufacturer Alpina watches and thus expanded the company's reach. Frédérique Constant moved with purchase much attention to the company and made it to a large Swiss watchmaker ascend. In 2011, production reached a new high: It produced 120,000 luxury watches and sold in over 2,700 retail outlets in more than one hundred countries around the world.

Frédérique Constant it presents itself as a manufacturer of luxury products that are definitely not everyone can afford it. Prices vary in a range from 1,000 to 5,000 Swiss francs, ie from 900 to EUR 4,500. Yet in 2011 declared as official positions of the company tremendous growth of 25 to fabulous 50 percent per year, doubling every three years would mean for the company in the worst case.

Four pillars of Frédérique Constant

Frédérique Constant has a model consisting of four pillars. The first pillar is design - the company does not only on the functionality of watches great value, but also on their appearance. They plan their luxury watches carefully and want to create a certain touch of traditional and classical. In addition, each timepiece is made with attention to detail and a lot of passion.

The second pillar of the company is innovation. Frédérique Constant invested every year by its own account very much of the gain in the invention of new technology. They employ watchmakers that this creativity indulge fully and therefore can conjure great innovations from his sleeve again.

The third pillar is the passion that goes into each crafted watch Frédérique Constant. The chronograph from stand for high quality, precision craftsmanship and design and constant change, despite the preservation of old values.

The fourth pillar is the quality. Each watch Frédérique Constant is built by hand and carefully checked. This happened over a long period in order to provide the customer with a watch of the highest possible quality. This is one of the strict principles of Frédérique Constant, because no object leaves the company without proper control.

Heartbeat - The heart beats

Luxury watches, there are a dime a dozen, so that a manufacturer can stand out from the crowd, need innovations will be presented. This does Frédérique Constant in 2001 with a stunning new technology and a consequent collection. The "Heartbeat" series was developed in a collaboration of the company with the Geneva School of Watchmaking, the School of Engineering and the "Zadkine school" for watchmaking.

Each watch the Heartbeat collection has a characteristic window in the dial through which the balance spring of the movement can be observed in the motion. Significant was primarily the development of in-house caliber FC 910, which was published and patented by over two years of development. The mechanical movement has a diameter of 30.5 millimeters and a power reserve of 48 hours.

Collections of Frédérique Constant

The watchmaker Frédérique Constant spray seemingly with creativity. The best proof of the views of the collections of the watch brand. The brand relies on in-house automatic movements. A real highlight are the Horological smartwatches that have numerous additional functions. then the information can be accessed visually appealing About the smartphone.

Heartbeat today

The "Classic Heartbeat" there are for sale in three versions: in golden case with leather strap, stainless steel case with leather strap or bracelet. In the built-up movement is a FC-315 Automatic, with a characteristic opening for observing the balance spring. The accuracy of the clockwork roughly corresponds to +/- 2.1 seconds when the watch is worn regularly. The watch displays hours, minutes and seconds and has a date indicator on the six.

The dial is colored silver in all three versions and the indexes are large Roman numerals that are extremely easy to read. The housing is made from the finest stainless steel in combination with a high-quality sapphire crystal. It has a diameter of 40 millimeters and is to a depth of 55 meters waterproof, this corresponds to a pressure of 6 bar (~ 6 ATM). The back of the case has a sight glass sapphire crystal through which the movement can be observed in its full glory. In the golden version is a stainless steel that has been coated with 24 carat gold.

Carlo Riva's legacy

In the twenties was Carlo Riva is a small, wooden motorboat "Runabout" built that could accommodate up to eight people. Frédérique Constant and the "Riva Historical Society" wanted the legacy of Carlo Riva honor and therefore developed in cooperation the RUNABOUT watch collection. Since 2009, these are offered with a strictly limited number of items for sale. The RUNABOUT watches are available in two series, as simple chronograph or watches with moon phase display.

Pro series there ever a watch classic stainless steel look and ever a timepiece in rose gold. The chronographs have an FC-393 Automatic movement, which is equipped with 25 jewels and a power reserve of 46 hours. The accuracy of the gauge is approximately +/- 1.8 seconds. Furthermore, have the watch for hours, minutes and seconds display, a built-in stop function and a date display. The housing is made of stainless steel, with a diameter of 42 millimeters and a water-resistance up to about 50 meters deep (5 bar). The chronographs are limited to a quantity of 2888 pieces and offered for 2,750 euros.

Elegance and precision

The "RUNABOUT MOONPHASE" has built a FC-365 movement that has 25 jewels and a reserve of 42 hours. The accuracy of the work is approximately +/- 1.9 seconds. The dial is silver and the indexes are plated with 18k rose gold. The watch has four internal indicators that show the day of the week, the month, the date and the moon phase. The housing is made of genuine sapphire crystal and is water resistant up to a pressure of 5 bar, which roughly corresponds to a depth of 50 meters.

The diameter of the shell is 40 millimeters and has a height of 11.21 millimeters. The back of the watch is glazed, thus can be the masterpiece from the inside look. The housing is supported by a high-quality leather tape in place, which is fixed by a buckle. The number of luxury watch is also limited to 2888 pieces per design. The price of the watch is 100 euros cheaper than the chronograph with a price of 2,650 euros.