Who created the first chronograph watch?

Q

Who created the first chronograph watch?

Questioner: Naver AAR Cafe Juul*

A

The world's first chronograph was invented by Louis Moinet in 1816. It is said that Muanet's chronograph was created for the purpose of tracking the movement of celestial bodies during navigation.

ⓒ Louismoinet

However, this watch was not in the form of a wristwatch. So which brand was the first to apply a chronograph to a wristwatch?

Longines 13.33Z, the first chronograph for wristwatches
ⓒ Cars and Watches

It is said to have been invented in 1913 by none other than Longines. And, the first automatic chronograph was released relatively recently, in 1969.

The first automatic chronograph was released by Zenith, the commercialized version was released by Seiko, and the companies that participated in Project 99 (Tag Heuer, Breitling, Hamilton-Buren) followed suit and entered the market. The first automatic chronographs have now become popular lines for these brands, including Zenith's El Primero, Tag Heuer's Carrera, Autavia, and Monaco, and Breitling's Chronomatic and Navitimer.