Perhaps one of the most interesting timepieces is the stopwatch.
Unlike a regular time-telling device, this timepiece is capable of counting time backward and forward. Most people think of an athletic sprinter running when they hear the word “stopwatch”; perhaps those who are old enough to remember the early 1980s may associate the word with the infamous Stopwatch Gang. This group robbed many banks, setting an amount record at a Bank of America branch in San Diego, robbing the location for $283,000 in 1980. The Stopwatch Gang received their nickname for the stopwatch they were noted carrying during each robbery.
Over the years, stopwatches have seen many improvements and have evolved into the precise and reliable devices they are today. Since we couldn’t find any information on the subject, we thought it’d be a good idea to write a blog post about the History of Stopwatches.
Before the first genuine stopwatch was released, another similar timepiece set the mold for the stopwatch’s design and function: the chronograph.
While it is known that the first chronograph surfaced in 1821, there is much controversy over who is credited with inventing it. Popular belief insists that it was created by Nicolas Rieussec, a royal French watchmaker, but this is not true. Rieussec’s model was actually designed as a specialized and improved model over the first chronograph, and was intended specifically for King Louis Philippe who used it to time horse races. Osvaldo Patrizzi, one of the world’s most renowned horological experts and the chairman of Patrizzi & Company, verified that the first chronograph was actually created by the Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet.
The Chronograph
The chronograph was similar to the stopwatch in its ability to measure time both forward and backward. There are two things that set apart the early chronographs from early stopwatches. First, the chronograph was able to tell time in addition to recording time increments, while the first stopwatches merely counted time increments. Early chronographs often recorded time lapses by way of an ink pen on an index; today the chronograph has evolved into digital and wrist-worn devices. To make the point simplified, a chronograph was originally intended to actually record the time increments and the stopwatch was created to simply show the time increments.
Stopwatches were intended to be an easier and more practical method for keeping track of time intervals.
Evolved from the chronograph, the first actual stopwatch was crafted in 1869 by TAG Heuer, a famous Swiss luxury timepiece company. This device was used to measure intervals of time in fragments equal to 1/5th of a second. Later in 1916, TAG Heuer also created one of the most well-known stopwatches in history – the Micrograph.
The Micrograph
Capable of measuring time intervals in 1/100th of a second, the Micrograph set the trend for stopwatches. Within a short amount of time, a new design was introduced by TAG Heuer: the Semikrograph. Also called “Semicrograph” and “Semicrosplit”, this design offered a completely new concept. While the Micrograph was capable of counting down time, the Semikrograph was capable of counting down two separate sets of time by way of a split face. At 180,000 vibrations per hour and time fragments measured in 1/50th of a second intervals, this device was a revolutionary piece for time comparison between two factors or competitors where a fraction of a second could make a difference. Later in 1958, TAG Heuer also introduced the first 12-hour stopwatch, the Monte Carlo, which counted the passing hours and displayed them by way of a rotating disc.
The Semikrograph
Early stopwatch designs were mechanical in nature, powered by a mainspring. Mainsprings are torsion springs that must be wound, after which they unwind themselves. Mechanical stopwatches utilizing a mainspring generally had a loop or knob atop the face, which was used for winding the device. Once the device was wound, a side button used for the initiation of a countdown was then pushed. Once the time interval was over, the button was pushed again to stop the countdown.
Mechanical stopwatch designs were crafted until the early 1970s and soon lost popularity to the new digital stopwatch. Before the digital stopwatch became a concrete new trend, one similar device was used that surpassed all previous second fraction measurements. Developed by American timepiece company Cox Electronic Systems, the Digitimer was a digital timer able to measure time in 1/1,000th of a second fractions. First it was utilized by ski racers, then soon after adopted by the NCAA and used for the World University games in Moscow.
Released in 1972, the first digital stopwatch was patented and introduced to the public by a Northern California company called Accusplit. This company continued to make quality sports stopwatches, later being endorsed by famous athletes such as Jackie Joyner-Kersee and being named the Official Supplier to the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta, Georgia.
A Modern Digital Stopwatch
Digital stopwatches are powered by a crystal oscillator element, which is a small electronic unit that works in unison with vibrating quartz to produce a very consistent and accurate electronic frequency. The crystal oscillator is the prime component that set the accuracy of the digital stopwatch far above the mechanical version. Many digital stopwatches today also have a function to display the actual time and the date. Most digital stopwatches count time in intervals of 1/100th of a second; those used in racing require more precision and often measure 1/1,000th of a second fragments.
Since the mid-1970s, the components and structure of stopwatches have remained mostly the same, with specialized designs being crafted for specific reasons, such as sporting events, racing competitions and scientific experiments.
Although hand-held stopwatches are being increasingly replaced by computer applications of all kinds, such as our online stopwatch with alarm, the old-fashioned hand-held devices are still very useful today to athletes and the scientists who rely on them.
So there you have OnlineClock.net’s short, but we hope very informative History of Stopwatches.
We urge all of you to go hug a stopwatch today!
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