Chronograph Watches. What they are, how to work them, and why it matters.

Okay, so you bought a watch, and you find out it is a chronograph. Or, you are browsing watches and find chronographs. What is a chronograph, and why do you care? We'll tell you.

To get the technical part out of the way, we will give you the actual definition of a chronograph first.

Chronograph: a timepiece capable of measuring extremely brief intervals of time accurately, as a stopwatch able to record fractions of a second as well as elapsed time.

Okay, now that that is out of the way, we will explain it in much simpler, easy to understand terminology. First things first, let's look at a picture of a men's and a women's traditional chronograph:

As you can see, there are three small circles on each watch face. In watch terms, these are called "subdials". Each subdial has a function. However, it is important to note something here: just because a watch has the chronograph function does not mean you have to use it. I own the women's DKNY watch pictured here, and I have not used the chronograph once. I bought it because I liked the look of the watch, plain and simple.

However, it doesn't hurt to know how to use the chronograph. Many people use the chronograph function often! Okay, before we explain this, we do need to have a disclaimer -- there are several types of chronographs. However, today we will explain how to use the traditional chronograph, pictured above.

Simply put, a chronograph watch is a fancy term for what most of us think of as a stopwatch. Also, some common functions of the subdials on a chronograph watch include a moon-phase dial and a second time-zone dial.

How to Use the Chronograph: Okay - with a true chronograph watch, it will have the crown (which is what you use to set the time), a button above that and a button below that. (See the watches pictured above.) Now, if you press the top button, it will start the stopwatch feature. If you press it again it will stop. Press it a third time and it will begin again.

If you want to stop the stopwatch and reset the second hand to the 12 o'clock position, press the bottom button when the hand is stopped and it will reset.

Important Note: It is oftentimes assumed that the second hand should be ticking, and if it is not the watch is broken. This is a common misconception. So, if you receive a chronograph watch, and the second hand isn't ticking -- don't fear! This is not broken! On most chronograph watches, the large second hand that you think of as the watch second hand is actually for the chronograph. Meaning --

You should think of your chronograph as two different devices. One part is the timekeeper. This involves the hour hand, the minute hand, and usually a very small hand in one of the small subdials that ticks away the seconds. The second part is the chronograph. This involves the large second hand, and the other two subdials. Typically these other two subdials are for minutes and hours, or for partial seconds and minutes.

One last piece of info that is very helpful -- If your chronograph hands do not line up, meaning they are not all pointing straight to the 12 o'clock position, this is easily fixed. Basically, you just have to calibrate it to get everything to line up. Do this by pulling out the crown to the first position (which typically sets the date) or the second position (which sets the time) and pressing the top/bottom buttons. Chronographs vary from manufacturer to manufacturer on which buttons change which subdial -- but -- if you simply pull the crown out to the 1st position or the 2nd and press the buttons you should be able to figure out and calibrate your chronograph in no time!

Hopefully this clears up some questions regarding chronograph watches. If you still have some questions or comments, please feel free to comment on this post! We are happy to hear from you!

Until next time....

How do I know if a Website is For Real? 5 Red Flags Telling You When to Run and When to Buy.

It's happened to all of us. You are looking to buy something online, and you come accross this website with awesome prices. It's almost too good to be true! But in reality, it is too good to be true. Read on for warning signs of bad websites and how to avoid them.

Red Flag #1 - No Telephone Number

First things first, if the site doesn't have a telephone number anywhere, that is not a good sign. MrWatch has a telephone number, and it is shown in large font at the top of our website. Even better, we man our telephones with customer service staff. How does this prove anything? Well, many websites which are not reputable do not have any customer service staff, and good luck finding a telephone number at all anywhere on their website. Additionally, they will not respond to your emails, etc. Basically there is no way to contact them.

We at MrWatch offer three separate ways of contacting us. You can reach us via telephone, toll free. We also have a livechat feature where you can instant message with a customer service representative. Lastly, you can email us at any time. We resond to 99% of our emails the day they are received, pending it is received during business hours. 100% will be responded to by the next business day at the latest. (Our customer service team is available Monday through Friday, 9AM to 5PM EST)

Red Flag #2 - No Policies or Information Listed Regarding the Company

Many websites where the prices are very low will not have customer service staff (as mentioned before), they will not take the time to have real policies and will not tell you anything about their company. To be a real, functioning company you must have return policies, shipping policies, etc. MrWatch has all of our policies listed, has an FAQ section and has an "about us" section.

Red Flag #3 - Just a Plain Bad Website

Website design is another factor you should watch out for. If the website has a very simple, rudametric design, and just doesn't look very good, this can be an indicator of a site you should run from. However, if you view our site, http://www.mrwatch.com/, you can see that we have a great design platform and have a lot of detail, brand information, and the like. This is something that is important in separating the good websites from the untrustworthy.

Red Flag #4 - The Company Hasn't Been Around / Has a Bad Reputation

Reputation and longevity of the business is something else that is very important when making a buying decision. For example, we at MrWatch sell on Amazon.com. Our feedback rating on Amazon.com is 98% positive feedback. Additionally, we have a high customer service satisfaction rating on bizrate. MrWatch has been in business since 2003 - almost nine years. If we weren't reputable we would not still be in business!

Red Flag #5 - No Secure Checkout

This is a big one, and a very concerning one at that. If the checkout is not secure, basically your information is not secure either. How do you know if a company has a secure checkout? That's easy. First, the URL address at the top of your screen should change from http to https during checkout. Secondly, you should see an icon of a lock at the end of the URL. Both of these factors indicate that it is a secure checkout. Here is a screen shot to show you what to look for:




Hopefully these tips will help you stay safe and buy from the right companies online. Feel free to post below any tips you may have that we didn't mention. We always want to hear from you!!