Flyback Chronographs - Simple Chronos or Masterpieces

Oct 09, 2006

What is Flyback?
Revue Thommen Airspeed Flyback Chronograph
Officine Panerai Luminor 1950 Chrono Flyback
Maurcie Lacroix Masterpiece Flyback Annuaire and Aviator
The Chronograph Masterpiece from Blancpain
The Advantages of a Flyback Chronograph

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The flyback chronographs are considered to be among the most complicated watches. They are used mostly in those activities, where people need to instantly restart the chronograph, such as aviation, diving and so on.

When watch connoisseurs speak about chronographs, they don't mean it as the most simple complication. A true connoisseur knows its true price. Assembling a chronograph is a very complicated task. Despite that many watchmakers don't stop on it and add to this function also others, like calendars. Combining these two complications is also a very difficult task, as they are meant to perform absolutely different tasks.

What is Flyback?

The chronographs have also a function, peculiar only for them - the Flyback function. This function enables the chronograph to perform three actions via one single press of the button. It stops, resets and restarts the chronograph in an instant.

The majority of flyback chronographs have 3-4 buttons on their sides. Usually the 4 o'clock button controls the flyback function.
Additionally, there are some watches, called double chronographs. These timepieces have a function, which is sometimes called flyback. The flyback function on these watches consists in the following: the watch has two central seconds' hands and when the wearer presses the 'flyback button' one of the seconds' hands stops, whereas the other moves on, thus measuring a short period of time. By the second press of the 'flyback button' the respective hand flies back to the moving hand to catch up with it.

Here are some descriptions of several flyback chronographs from famous watch-making companies:

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Revue Thommen Airspeed Flyback Chronograph

The first representative of this group is the Revue Thommen Airspeed Flyback Chronograph, which is considered among the best pilot watches. The manufacturer recommends this watch to everyone fond of or related to aviation or sports, though it would also pass to anyone, who likes a decent looking watch.

The timepiece looks classically and combines this with a good functionality. It has a mat black dial and also black sub dials, contrasting to each other due to the white indexes on the sub dials. The red-tipped chronograph hands also make a good color combination of black, white and red.

The sub dials are situated at 6, 9 and 12 o'clock having the functions of 12 hours counter, small seconds and the 30 minutes counter respectively. The day and date display are at the 3 o'clock position, along with the Revue Thommen and the Airspeed logo. The additional small seconds sub dial is the normal seconds dial, whereas the centralized half black half red sweeping seconds hand is the 60 seconds elapsed time counter.

The sporty dial is covered with an antireflective sapphire crystal. The chronograph has also a screwed in case back and crown. It is water resistant down to 164 ft. (50 m). The leather strap is signed, as well as the case back, the crown and the butterfly deployant buckle.

The Flyback Chronograph is powered by the modified Valjoux 7750 movement. The original 7750 does not have the flyback function that is why it had to be modified in particular for the Airspeed Flyback Chronograph. It proves the high Swiss engineering expertise and the valuable watch-making traditions of the brand.

It is worth mentioning that this is a limited edition watch to commemorate 150 years of the manufacture. This chronograph has proven to be highly reliable and many people have chosen such chronographs to accompany them on the wrists and to perform different measuring tasks, of course, if the material side of their status can allow this.

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Officine Panerai Luminor 1950 Chrono Flyback

The Luminor 1950 Chrono Flyback is the continuation of the traditions of the legendary Luminor series from Officine Panerai, though this item stands out of almost all the Panerai watches - it has a flyback button.

In 1999 this chronograph has made it for the first time on the shelves of the Panerai boutiques all over the world. It has at once proven that despite the fact that the Luminor line has been started almost a century ago the Luminor 1950 Flyback Chrono is a modern and highly technological model. The Panerai watchmakers have used all of the knowledge and experience of the brand to create this sporty timepiece.

It is available in several versions: 40 mm in titanium or steel and 44 mm completely in steel. This chronograph has a feature, which is characteristic for the majority of Panerai's watches - the protecting device of the winding-crown and of the case. The chronograph buttons were carefully integrated onto this device, so that the wearer would not have any obstacles while enjoying all the functions of this timepiece. The flyback button is situated at the 4 o'clock position.

The dial consists of two additional sub dials for seconds and 30 minutes and of the tachymeter at the fringe of the dial. All the markings on the dial and the hands are luminescent for high visibility in dark conditions. The sapphire crystal is 2 mm thick and has an antireflective coating from both sides. The back of the watch is also equipped with a sapphire crystal for the wearer to see the movements of his watch.

The Luminor 1950 Flyback Chrono is powered by an automatic mechanical movement, based on the Panerai OP XIX caliber. It is very shock resistant due to the Incabloc anti-shock system. The Glucydur alloy makes the watch resistible to various magnetic fields and the time won't deviate under any magnetic action. It is certified by C.O.S.C., which makes it a very reliable chronometer.

This timepiece has many valuable features and its no wonder: it is a Panerai watch. Panerai is renowned for its highly reliable timepieces and the Luminor 1950 Flyback Chrono is a good example for this.

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Maurcie Lacroix Masterpiece Flyback Annuaire and Aviator

The Masterpiece Collection from Maurice Lacroix contains two models with the flyback function: Annuaire and Aviator. The Annuaire series is the first wrist watch from Maurice Lacroix having the flyback function, whereas the Aviator is the 'small brother' of the former, which means that the Annuaire was the fundament for creating the Aviator.
The dial of the Annuaire is equipped with three additional sub dials, which are:

- small seconds at 3 o'clock;
- 30 minutes counter at 9 o'clock;
- 12 hours counter at 6 o'clock.

The dial has big Roman hour indexes and small Arabic indexes for minutes on the outer circles.

But the flyback function is complemented with some other useful abilities of this watch. The fact that this chronograph is called Annuaire (Fr. "annual") is not to wonder, because in addition to the chronographs functions it has also a one-year calendar, which should be adjusted only once a year (end of February). The month display is situated between 3 and 4 o'clock with big date situated at 12 o'clock. Many mechanical chronographs are able to show the date, but not many are also able to display the month (an exception might be the Zenith Chronomaster XT and Chronomaster GT).

The Aviator Model has actually the same inner parts:

- the automatic ML 15 movement, decorated completely by hand;
- blued steel screws;
- Glucydur balance wheel for anti-magnetism;
- an Incabloc shock protection and other features.

The only thing that the Aviator has in addition to all the mentioned parts is the skeleton rotor.

The same refers to the functions of the two related watches: the functions are almost the same, but the Aviator is equipped with a tachymeter on the bezel.

As for the look of the watches, you can easily trace the common origins of both flyback chronographs: the additional sub dials and displays are positioned in the same order and at the same places. There are also Arabic hour numerals instead of Roman ones at the Annual Calendar (Annuaire).

Another modernization which got the 'little brother' Aviator is 100 meters water resistance, whereas the Annuaire is only 50 meters water resistant.

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The Chronograph Masterpiece from Blancpain

Blancpain is very well-known for its high-end watches and sophisticated complications. One of such watches is the Leman Flyback Split-Second Chronograph. The mere name of this timepiece says a lot about the abilities and functions of this little "time machine." It has everything mentioned in the name: a chronograph with the flyback function, split-seconds and in addition also a date display.

The black dial of the watch contains other three sub dials, performed also in black. The Arabic numerals and the central hands are rhodium-plated, i.e. they glow in the dark. The sub dials are positioned at 3, 6 and 9 o'clock, which are the 30 minutes counter, the small seconds and the 12 hours counter respectively. The date display is positioned at 6 o'clock, where is also the small seconds sub-dial.

The two push pieces controlling the chronograph are situated at 2 and 4 o'clock. At 3 o'clock, right between the two pushers there is the winding-crown with the case protection. The button at 10 o'clock controls the split-seconds counter. The curved sapphire crystal glass has an anti-reflective coating. The case back is also a sapphire crystal. The watch is 100 meters water resistant.

The automatic movement uses the Caliber F186, with the rotor patterned with Cotes de Geneve.

With this watch Blancpain has once again let the world know about the high watch-making traditions inside its manufactory and also the highest level of knowledge and experience the watch masters from the manufactory have.

It is also worth mentioning that at the moment Blancpain is the first and only watchmaker to create a wrist flyback chronograph for ladies. This way Blancpain has shown that the ladies are not only chasing diamonds and gold, but they also need some practical things, which can be helpful in everyday life.

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The Advantages of a Flyback Chronograph

These were the four series of watches, which could candidate for the title of the most impressive flyback chronographs. However, it is actually impossible to just tell that this or that chronograph is the best in its field, because not only Maurice Lacroix, Revue Thommen, Blancpain and Panerai have assembled flyback chronographs. They are many and from various famous watchmakers, such as Zenith, with its Chronomaster XT and Chronomaster GT, such as Corum with the Classical Chrono Flyback or many others.

The above described chronographs are not just simple chronographs, for measuring time. They are designed for those who need a very fast restart of time counting. In such domains as aviation, diving, racing and even athletics, the flyback function spares the specialists from much trouble with stopping, resetting and restarting the chronograph.

Actually, minimizing the time used to perform a certain action has been always highly estimated, but the fact that uniting three separate actions into one using the pure system of levers and wheel inside a limited space is surely to be highly praised.

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