(Vintage) chronographs for everyday use

[Robertus]

Hi, an interesting thread was going on on the Omega Forum on the usability of different chrono calibers:

http://forums.watchuseek.com/showthread.php?t=19533

It mentions a few calibers which can be "Vintage" too, so I hope to continue this thread here too.

I think - though I like El Primero Chronomaster - that the El Primero is not the best for everyday use when outdoor activities (golf, tennis, etc.) are involved too. I miss the widespread calibers like Vj7750 or LWO5100 from that list.

My interest turned more and more to vintage chronos, mainly with calendar or at least date feature, some still in production, some not.

Now I think that a very understated watch for everyday use of this category is that I've purchased recently, and this is the Certina DS-2 Chronolympic with Valjoux 234 (see scan). It has a rubber ring around the movement, has a robust chrono movement with date feature and can be brought to a waterresistant status again.

Of course other understated watches are on my wishlist, some can be never reached (excluding jackpot...), some are reachable.

Mainly steel-cased Valjoux 72C/723/730 Wakmann, Breitling Datora, Heuer Carrera and lots of others, Venus 191 Breitling Datora, Lemania 1863 Omega Speedy Pro Moonphase, El Primero (both auto and hand-wound) mainly Chronomaster and earlier models, Prime too (I don't play tennis of golf...) are on my wishlist. Killy and Patek QP chronos are far out of reach...
Unfortunately spare parts supply and waterresistance are drawbacks for models out of production.

When going out for swimming I usually wear one of my Valjoux 7750 non-vintage chronos though, mainly my Breitling Chrono Superocean...

Any pros and cons are kindly welcome!

Happy New Year!

Regards: Robertus

[Ray MacDonald]

Call me a worry-wart I suppose but these days when you can buy a Casio G-Shock or cheap quartz chrono why would you want to subject any vintage watch to water or rough handling? That goes double for mechanical chronographs which already have more complex machinery inside.
Just my 2 cents worth.

[georges zaslavsky]

The 7750 is the most common cam operated chrono movement you will ever found. It doesn't have however the robustness of the 5100 and the service intervals on this movements are a mandatory every 5 years. Its finish is pretty average and its maximum power reserve doesn't exceed the 42 hours. The 5100 is the tallest movement available in a chronograph, it offers many more functions and far better legibility of the chronograph functions than the classic 7750. The 5100 was mainly built to resist high shocks and high G's which explains why it was chosen by the military nato air forces pilots. Several firms like Lejour, Tourneau, Porsche Design, Orfina, Tutima, Sinn, Bell and Ross, Omega, Fortis, Revue Thommen, Alain Silberstein and Heuer used the 5100. The valjoux 72, 723c, 730 as well as the valjoux 23, 234, 88 and 92 spare parts are getting rarer and tougher. Plus price of repairs on such movements is very high. Just an example, if you have a 6238 or a 6263 daytona powered bya rolex cal 727 (rolex version of the valjoux 72), you will pay almost 1500$ for the repair/service for a non rolex brand it will be between 300/400$ and perhaps more if there are spare parts to change.

[Axel66]

Talking about robust vintage chronos, don't forget the seikos and particularly the Citizen 8110 (or 8100)!
The only problem is that the cases, and there in particular the pushers, are not really designed for water sports imho. However, these are damned good working horses and the Citizen offers Flyback-functinality on top.
But of course the 5100 is an icon of robustness (and ugliyness :) )!

Cheers,

Axel