Interesting Dials

[ASWatchName]

Hi all,

I have some questions for the forum. I was flipping through the Omega catalog and noticed this:



This is the "MD's watch," and you use it in a similar way you would use a tachymeter: you start the chrono, count 30 heartbeats, and stop the chrono. Whatever number the chrono hand is pointing at is the frequency of your patient's heartbeats per minute. I suppose this feature can be used to count the frequency of anything measured on a per minute basis -- curse words in a Scorsese movie, body count in Kill Bill Vol. I, etc.

My questions to the forum are as follows:

(1) Aside from the tachymeter, which is on virtually every other chrono I have ever seen, are there any other interesting dial annotations out there that measure anything else?

(2) What other mechanical watches can be used to measure frequencies in this manner? I noticed on the cover of Gene Stone's "The Watch" a Vacheron Constantin with a pulsations meter. Is there anything else out there like this? (and as an aside, what is this type of dial annotation called anyway? Does it have a name?)

Thank you, and may the new year bring to you all the watches you desire!

[ulackfocus]

[QUOTE=ASWatchName;3580693 I noticed on the cover of Gene Stone's "The Watch" a Vacheron Constantin with a pulsations meter. Is there anything else out there like this? (and as an aside, what is this type of dial annotation called anyway? Does it have a name?)[/QUOTE]

The Pulsometer - a journey

[ASWatchName]

Pulsometer! Thank you. That's an awesome post that I think closes the book on question 2.

As for question 1, I also found this: "Telemeter." From Wikipedia: "The telemeter chronograph is a feature of a wristwatch, which allows the user to approximately measure the distance to an event that can be both seen and heard (ie a lightning bolt or a torpedo strike) using the speed of sound. The user starts the chronograph (stopwatch) at the instant the event is seen, and stops timing at the instant the event is heard. The seconds hand will point to the distance measured on a scale, usually around the edge of the face. The scale can be defined in any unit of distance, but miles or kilometers are most practical and commonplace."

The typical busy Breitling dial has this. Pretty mind-blowing that a watch can be used to measure the distance of a lightning bolt. What other dial annotations are out there?

[Xspect]

Darn the OP.

After reading about a pulsemeter, and being in the medical profession. I now have put the Ball trainmaster pulsemeter on my 2011 want list.

[ASWatchName]

Just found this, which was coincidentally posted almost exactly 2 years ago:

https://forums.watchuseek.com/f20/tel...er-217504.html

Any other useful bezel or dial annotations out there?

[emarti17]

Darn the OP.

After reading about a pulsemeter, and being in the medical profession. I now have put the Ball trainmaster pulsemeter on my 2011 want list.

The only way to do it would be to take the watch off so you can work the pusher with one hand and hold a finger on the pulse with the other, seems inconvenient :\

[Sodiac]

My wife's a nurse, she said all you need to do is count the pulse or respirations for 15 seconds using any watch with a seconds hand, then multiply by 4.

[drster]

My wife's a nurse, she said all you need to do is count the pulse or respirations for 15 seconds using any watch with a seconds hand, then multiply by 4.

Well that's not much fun!

[ulackfocus]

The only way to do it would be to take the watch off so you can work the pusher with one hand and hold a finger on the pulse with the other, seems inconvenient :\

No, you can use your left hand to take the pulse while using your right hand to work the watch.

[ASWatchName]

My wife's a nurse, she said all you need to do is count the pulse or respirations for 15 seconds using any watch with a seconds hand, then multiply by 4.

Sure, you and I can multiply all sorts of numbers by 4 while sitting idly by our computers. But would you trust a resident who's at the tail end of her 24 hour shift to get that one right in a crowded, noisy ER room with life and death on the line at every turn?