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Joël Pynson
First published: December 2005
Updated: November 2025
The first chronographs, produced in the second half of the 19th century, had only one hand, for counting seconds. They are called "simple chronographs" as opposed to "chronograph counters," which have an auxiliary counter for counting minutes and therefore allow longer times to be measured.
The advantage of a minute counter over a chronograph is such that the simple chronograph was quickly supplanted, and as a result had only a relatively short existence.
Ascot simple chronograph, late 19th century. Ascot was a brand owned by Henchoz Frères in Le Locle.
With the advent of the wristwatch, however, it enjoyed a resurgence of interest from the late 1930s onwards, and a variant was even developed in the form of "stop" watches, where the central seconds hand can be reset to zero, but where the three functions of the chronograph—start, stop, and reset—are incomplete.
Although relatively unknown, these watches are nonetheless of considerable historical and technical interest. Studying them provides insight into much of the 20th century of Swiss watchmaking and reveals the destinies of many companies that paved the way.
For ease of presentation, these watches, which are quite numerous, will be classified into three categories: chronographs without counters based on Ébauches SA movements, chronographs without counters from Manufactures, and "stop"watches and their variants.
1. Chronographs without counters based on Ébauches SA movements
Ébauches SA played a central role in Swiss watchmaking in the 20th century. Its history is worth examining because it shows how a nation's official structures can mobilize around an industry deemed to be of national interest [1].
In the early 1920s, the Swiss watch industry was in crisis. While strong demand was expected after the First World War and many companies had invested to increase their production capacity, the market collapsed and prices fell. There was actually an overproduction of watches, and especially of movements. This led to the idea of creating a holding company to control the manufacture of watch movements.
Ébauches SA was founded on December 27, 1926, in Neuchâtel, following the merger of three major movement manufacturers: A. Schild SA, Fabrique d'Horlogerie de Fontainemelon, and Michel SA. Together, these three companies produced more than 50% of Swiss movements at the time. The strength of Ébauches SA lay in the fact that it was a private company and, with the help of banks, was very wealthy. In the field of chronographs, for example, it bought Charles Hahn (Landeron) in 1927 and Vénus the following year.
In 1931, a super holding company, ASUAG, was created with the mission of consolidating rough castings and all supplies. ASUAG needed a lot of money to succeed, more than the banks could advance. But the situation in 1931 was dire, with 20,000 watchmakers unemployed, and it was the Swiss Confederation itself that stepped in to help by acquiring a stake in ASUAG and granting an interest-free loan of 7.5 million Swiss francs.
Ébauches SA continued its acquisitions: examples include A. Raymond SA with its Unitas movement factory in 1932, Eterna with its ETA movements, and Valjoux SA in the chronograph sector in 1944. The situation was now under control, helped by the devaluation of the Swiss franc in 1936 and an economic recovery that would not be affected by the Second World War.
1938
1938
In the 1930s, there were two manufacturers of chronograph calibers within Ébauches SA: Landeron and Vénus. These two companies played a key role in the popularity of chronographs by supplying watchmakers who did not produce their own movements with reliable, reasonably priced movements that were easy to repair thanks to the extensive after-sales service structure set up by Ébauches SA. It was in this context, in order to provide even more affordable movements, that Ébauches SA offered chronograph calibers without counters.
The attribution of certain movements is actually quite complex because some companies, particularly Marcel Dépraz, based in Le Lieu in the Vallée de Joux, developed chronograph mechanisms without counters in the 1930s that could be adapted to Ébauches SA calibers.
Verbania chronograph without counter, c. 1935, movement attributed to Arogno (Ébauches SA)
Anonymous chronograph without counter, c. 1935, Arogno movement (Ébauches SA)
Mundus chronograph without counter, c. 1940, Marcel Dépraz caliber
The first chronographs without counters whose origin can be dated with certainty appeared in 1935, and they were made by Breitling.
Breitling is one of Switzerland's leading chronograph manufacturers. The company was founded by Léon Breitling in 1884 in St Imier and moved to La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1892, setting up shop on Rue Montbrillant, which also earned the company the name Montbrillant Watch Manufactory. Breitling specializes in chronographs. For example, it produced the first wristwatch chronographs with a push-button at 2 o'clock in 1915, and was among the first to produce double push-buttons in 1933. However, Breitling is not a manufacturer and its movements are supplied by Ébauches SA, with whom the company works closely. It is undoubtedly these special ties that explain why the 12-line Venus movement without a counter, dating from 1935, was initially reserved for Breitling, which used it for its 711 model, of which there are several variants, the most characteristic being the 711 Aviation with an indexed rotating bezel and oversized pushers.
1936
In the same year, Landeron launched its own 12.75-line chronograph caliber without a counter, and from 1937 onwards, Venus expanded its range with 10.5- and 11.5-line calibers. These movements were used by companies such as Astin, Eloga, and many others.
Chronograph without counter, c. 1940, Venus caliber, 12 lines
Chronograph without counter, c. 1940, Landeron caliber 32
Gènes Watch, circa 1940, Landeron 32 caliber
Harman chronograph, c. 1945, Venus 196 caliber
These movements have a column wheel to control the central hand. This makes it possible to distinguish at a glance between chronographs without a counter, whose central hand can remain stopped at zero, and certain stopwatches, whose hand resumes its course as soon as the push button is released.
They also have only one push button, which means that once the hand has been stopped, it is not possible to restart the timing, as with a two-push-button chronograph, since the next push resets the hand to zero.
However, there is one exception to this rule in the form of a surprising watch that appeared in 1938: the Car-Chevassus chronograph, which has no column wheel but still allows timing to be resumed.
It was developed by Frenchman Henri Chevassus, who patented it in 1935 [2], and Landeron manufactured the movement after improving it in 1938 [3]. In fact, this chronograph does not have a push button but a bolt, or lock, which can be set in three positions: moving it down once starts the central seconds hand, moving it back up slightly stops the hand, and you can then either move it further up, which resets the hand to zero, or move it back down, which restarts the hand.
This small chronograph also has another distinctive feature, also patented by Henri Chevassus: it is equipped with a rotating bezel with graduations located under the glass. It is probably the first wristwatch to feature this device.
1938 Car-Chevassus chronograph without counters. Caliber without column wheel but allowing restarting of timing.
The profusion of chronograph-counter calibers made available to manufacturers by Ébauches SA became impressive in the 1940s, especially when Valjoux joined the trust in 1944.
The chronograph without a counter was therefore abandoned, and it was not until the late 1950s that two manufacturers took an interest in it again with watches aimed at a very specific target market: doctors.
The first of these watches was the Doxa Sfygmos, released in 1958. Doxa was founded in 1889 by Georges Ducommun-Droz in Le Locle and was a very active chronograph manufacturer in the 1930s and 1940s.
The Sfygmos model has no counter and a single push-button at 2 o'clock. A pulsometer scale is located around the edge of the dial. On this watch, zero is not at 12 o'clock but at 9 o'clock: this allows the most commonly used values, between 50 and 100, to be displayed in the upper part of the dial, making them easier to read. The glass also features a circular magnifying lens around the edge. The movement is a 13-line Valjoux 23 caliber, modified to remove the minute counter and second push button.
1958
Doxa Sfygmos, 1958. Modified Valjoux 23 caliber
A similar watch was released in 1962 by Angélus. For a long time, Angélus had been a manufacturer that produced its own chronograph movements, creating famous models such as the Chronodato and the Chrono-Datoluxe. But with the decline in popularity of chronographs, Angélus sold its movement rights to Ébauches SA.
A modified 14-line Valjoux 22 movement was used for this watch which, unlike the Doxa Sfygmos, features a small seconds hand at 9 o'clock and two separate scales, one for measuring heart rate and one for counting breaths. The glass also features a magnifying lens that occupies a quarter of the periphery, between 12 o'clock and 3 o'clock.
Chronograph without counter for doctors Angelus, c. 1960, modified Valjoux 22 caliber
To be continued…
[1] For the history of Ébauches SA, see Joël Pynson, La montre-bracelet suisse, published by Time To Tell, 2024.
[2] Swiss patent CH 192 885, priority FR 805 628, August 13, 1935.
[3] Patent CH 201 345.
Notes:
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