Tissot PRX Triple Pointer Date Moon phase

Today let us talk about a piece I am so glad and ecstatic to own.
It is a Tissot PRX Triple Pointer Date Moon phase  R80 quartz watch , with is a Swiss made chronometer in stainless with gold tone bezel and day date.
I have been finding or trying to get my hands on a vintage moon phase timepiece.
I am glad to announce, I now finally have it.


Though it may not be that old, it is still a 26 year old piece in good working condition.
What makes it all the more special is that, I received confirmation from Tissot on this piece.
At first I was a rather sceptical, as little or close to no info was available online for this particular piece.


There were many PRX models but one with moon phase seemed almost impossible to find any information.


I wished to be able to have more info on this lovely looking piece, to understand its history more.
Unfortunately I really could not find anything online or anywhere else to help ease my queries.
As of now, all I got are little bits and pieces from here and there.
Though I am thankful to have a valuable source of information directly from Tissot.
Their reply to my enquiry gave some basic info on my timepiece.
Below is a response I got from Tissot in Switzerland,
“
We can inform you that this model PRX is a Tissot production from 1989.
The watch is fitted with a quartz movement,  and is 10 bar (100 meters) water resistant.
The case are made of PVD/steel. This model was also available with gilt, white or black dial.
”

Though I can only think of one set back, which is that the watch size is a little small but this was the case for timepieces made back in the day up till the 90s.
So unlike the big watch faces we are used to seeing these days or the heavy size, back then it was somewhat petite.


Personally gold coloured moon phase watches looks a tad more classy and gives it a luxurious feel.


To further break down this timepieces below are its specs;
Tissot PRX - Quart 7 jewel Swiss movement.
Dual tone colour combination “18K Gold electro plated and Steel”
White dial with three sub dial indicator column for “Month, Day and Moon phase”.
The second hand sub-dial located at moon phase, while the long needle with a tip resembling a red crescent is a hand pointer date, date version of the circular dial.
Index Strip hours marker.
Solid SS bracelet with a variant of the gold-steel tonnage segment.
Three folding clasp.
WR100m, scratch-resistant glass (sapphire crystal).
36mm diameter crown. 7mm thickness.
Fixed bezel ring pattern formation 12 angle.

If anyone out there has more info on this lovely timepiece, I am all ears!

Rado Voyager

Time to review another vintage piece, this time it is a Rado.

The Voyager has been a Rado model that has been around for a long time.

Strangely enough it is one of those models which has had different variations released along the years yet hardly any concrete info of it can be found online.

I have tried reading about it, to find out more of the story behind this piece but it is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Just some back info on what shot Rado into “stardom”. Back in 1962, Rado produced the world’s first scratch-proof watch, the DiaStar, since then Rado set an industry standard in scratch proof watches and is still a market leader in scratch proof watches. Rado today still produces fine Swiss luxury timepieces, with multiple styles, having tough, sporty and timeless classic pieces as well.

Today we talk about the Voyager, which sounds somewhat like dive or boat watch or perhaps even to space, in reference to the term, “To voyage”.

As the golden age of space travel as set in the sixties, when Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon.

Voyager is the name of a model line by Rado, this particular model was around from the late 1960s towards the end of 1980s.

At the beginning, it was just one of many models. It did later it became s.th. like an entrance class model which was marketed for the Fareast markets.

There are countless variations of this piece. All have automatic day/date movements. This model was somewhat like a mass produced model, for the everyday man. There were literally tons of these watches by the end of the 1980s. The Voyager was in my own opinion and this may be true, was the most produced piece in their range.

With the never ending variations, the Voyager was more than just a model but an entire product range of one type of model.
For an everyday watch, it was a practical model and better yet, Swiss made and automatic as well.

For a piece which seems to be selling really well, it was a surprise it ended production.
Though if you think about it, it probably happened due to the Quartz Crisis back in the day.
So what did Rado tell me about my piece, they said

“Yours is from 1982 or later, inside should be an ETA 2836-2 automatic movement with day/date, as the first three digits of the reference number(636.xxxx.x). This movement came 1982. Snap on backs were usual at that time at Rado. From what I can see, it is completely authentic.

The water resistance is always a problem at vintage watches. If you want to have it waterproof, you need new gaskets for the back and crown and a hydrostatic test to be sure. That´s expensive. If you want to wear it regularly, you should have it serviced(cleaning, oiling, adjusting) by a good watchmaker.

Hope this helps. Enjoy it and wear it in health!”
 
I was ecstatic to know that I have yet another original vintage piece in my possession. Plus the last bit from their staff was kind of quirky, wear it in health!

For now this piece is kept in my collection, it is not a piece that I wear frequently as it is too small for my wrist, nonetheless it is a lovely piece that I love admiring.

If only they made the back case transparent or see through, that would have been brilliant.

As this was a widely produced piece, its price is somewhat challenging to discuss. What factors encompasses a Voyager worthy of a mentioning.

It all comes down to the same few factors for every piece I guess? The rarity, condition and current market demand. As we speak, there isn’t really a hype or excitement surrounding vintage Rado pieces except maybe the old DiaStars. Then again in about 10 years, the picture may be totally different?

You may come across many Rados online, especially on eBay. If you think it suits you and the price is right, why not go for it.

This is a nice piece to have for anyone beginning a collection. It isn’t something really fancy or pricy.

I see it as a quintessential piece that perhaps set the tone for automatic watches back in the 1960s, it was an everyday watch. It was somewhat like what our Seikos are today.

Below are some pics of my Rado, it is still in a fairly good condition.

The automatic movement works well and it can run well.


Condition perhaps 7.5-8 out of 10. There are some signs of wear on the face and some visible scratches

 

 

 

Seiko Criteria, Chronograph.

Let’s talk about Seiko today. The game changer, the Japanese power house!

Seiko almost wiped off the existence of automatic watches back in the day. Aptly known as the ‘Quartz Crisis’ in Switzerland and the ‘Quartz Revolution’ outside of Switzerland. The invention of the Seiko Quartz watch changed watch history forever in terms of Horology. The world’s first quartz watch was released by Seiko, call the Quartz ASTRON.

From then on Seiko has never looked back, developing so many other interesting timepieces like the Seiko Kinetic as well.

Today I won’t go into deal on how fantastic Seiko has been over the years.

I am going to talk about a Seiko I own. So this is my first ever Seiko. A Seiko is somewhat a watch for the everyday man and here in Singapore I see a Seiko or Citizen on the wrist on the average man on the street. Well growing up no one in my family really cared much about timepieces and we had really basic watches on our wrist, just to tell the time. The first ever watch I had as a kid was probably a digital Casio watch.

Well since then, I have come a long way. I have had a deep interest in Horology and in the arts of fine watch making. Though Seiko may not fall into the category  of fine watch making. It definitely deserves a place in Horology history for their contributions to the Horological world.

The watch at hand is the limited edition Seiko Criteria SNDG13P1, number 2041 out of 3600.


Below are the specifications of this timepiece

 

Quartz movement.
Calibre: 7T92.
Black ion-plated stainless steel case.
Blue ion-plated stainless steel unidirectional rotating bezel and inner ring with tachymeter.
Black ion-plated stainless steel bracelet.
Three-fold clasp with push button release.
Screw case back.
Blue dial with luminous hands and indexes.
Date calendar display at 4 o'clock position. 1/20 second chronograph, up to 12 hours.
Sapphire crystal glass.
Water resistant to 100 meters.
 

Visually the piece looks amazing, I feel the colours of the dial and the bezel match together very well. That metallic shine makes this piece stand out more as compare to the other similar models which are not limited edition. The Black ion-plated steel bracelet gives sort of a gun metal finish colour which once again I find visually stunning. So aesthetically the colours are nice and vivid. There is a nice extra touch with the blue dial having luminous hands and indexes.

For the technical side, the Calibre 7T92 has the sub dial at the 6 o’clock has the hour and minute hands that track the chronograph elapsed time up to twelve hours. The sub dial at the 12 o’clock is the 1/20 second indicator. The interesting this is that the second hand does not measure the time but is used to measure the second for the chronograph movement. Where else, the sub dial at the 9 o’clock is actually the one which shows the seconds for the time.

On the bezel there are Arabic markings and seconds hands in multiple of fives.

Inside on the dial there are more markings for the Tachymeter function.

This is a nice weighty piece, as for me I like big heavy pieces that has a little more weight on the wrist.

The steel bracelet does surely add more weight on this piece. Making it a little bulky and stand out slightly more.

So overall this is a nice piece with great chronograph and
 tachymeter functions.

With stark colours to make it shine, it has a nice sporty feel like an aviator or motor GP watch.

This can be worn both with your suit to work or for a game of golf.

Take a look and judge for yourself.

Valjoux, who?

One of the first movements that I began to hear a lot when I was reading up on timepieces and how many automatic watches ran was the term “Valjoux”.

It is one of the names I have heard many times and is a movement used in my timepieces, usually for chronograph movements.

Valjoux was a fabled movement maker and was part of the behemoth ASUAG group known today as Swatch Group.

The piece de resistance of the Valjoux movement is none other than the ETA 7750.

How this movement was conceived tells an interesting tale. At that time, Valjoux was a leader in the manual wind chronographs.

It had already produced the manual wind Valjoux 7733 movement which doing amicably well. In the 1970s, they wanted to spearhead a development of a new movement, one which would be reliable and cost effective. This movement is also acclaimed to be the first to have been designed with the aid of a computer back in the seventies.

Sadly it was short lived, it did sell well in the beginning with an estimated of around hundred thousand pieces in 1974. In the following year, production stopped and this movement went bust. At that time, the demand was so low that supplies lasted well into the eighties. Imagine if your Grandad or dad actually bought those pieces when nobody actually wanted them, they would have gotten them at a steal. Today you would be seating on a ‘goldmine’, as the demand for automatic timepieces were somewhat resurrected, so the ETA 7750, somewhat like the phoenix rose from the ashes. (Thankfully the people of ASUAG kept the dies and equipment so they could restart production seamlessly).

Thanks to its ingenious design, this was both durable and economical to produce, along with great support from Swatch Group the 7750 became the most movement in the Swiss automatic chronograph movement. It could be said to be the most successful automatic chronograph movement, perhaps period.

Here are some of the brands out that which use this fantastic movement in the timepieces; Breitling, Cyma, Hamilton, IWC, Mido, Omega & Panerai to name a few.

Deconstructing the Tachymeter

Alright today let’s talk about the tachymeter complication.

A tachymeter gives a timepiece a sporty look, something that when you look you associate with sports such as racing or for the military.

It add lovely contrasts to many timepieces, making the overall look more sophisticated.

Though a lovely complication which adds dimension to your timepiece, it may be totally foreign or alien to some on how to use it.

Like seen from the below picture, my Seiko Criteria SNDG13P1 (which I will write about soon)

 

Some people go out having their timepiece without ever using the tachymeter function.

To a major share of watch uses, they may simply purchase a timepiece with the tachymeter function due to the fact that it add aesthetic value to their timepiece.

So let us cover how a Tachymeter actually works.

A tachymeter scale is a scale sometimes inscribed around the rim of an analogue watch. Usually with Arabic marking around the dial as well.
 
This function is used to either measure a distance based on speed or speed based on travel time. The markings have spaces in between them on the tachymeter dial are consequently proportional to 1/t where ‘t’ is the elapsed time.

A tachymeter’s performed function is independent of the unit of distance be it kilometres, miles or any other only as long as the unit of measure is equivalent for all calculations. In essence, a tachymeter is a way or means of converting ‘elapsed time in seconds per unit to units per hour’.

To get a little mathematical below is some info on calculations to work it out;

“To use a tachymeter function to measure speed, start the chronograph at a starting marker of a known distance. At the next position, the point on the scale adjacent to the second hand indicates the speed of travel between the 2. The typical scale on a timepiece converts between the number of seconds it takes for an event to happen and the number of times that event with occur in a hour. The formula to create this

kind of tachymeter scale is     T = 3600/t   

Where ‘T’ is the tachymeter scale value and ‘t’ is the time in seconds that it takes for the event to occur and ‘3600’ is the number of seconds in an hour.

So lets work out an example, if it takes 35 seconds to travel 1 kilometre then the average speed would be 103KM per hour. Do take note that the tachymeter scale only calculates the average speed.”

So with that, we are more or less through with the practical of a tachymeter.

Lastly, just some history, the first rotating bezel tachymeter was introduced by Heuer, now Tag Heuer which was back in 1958.

By the late sixties chronograph timepieces where sky rocketing, demand grew invariably and watch manufacturers around the globe were contesting to opportunities to patent automatic versions and wanted exclusive rights. It has to be known that without the chronograph the tachymeter complication would have no place as well.

Let me share a little fascinating history on some very lovely chronograph movements which came into being.

Around that time Breitling, Heuer and Hamilton partnered up with Dubois Depraz to develop the first ever self-winding chronograph. It was a clandestine affair in which only a handful of professionals involved on a need to know basis. This great development was unveiled in Geneva and New York on 3rd of March 1969. Called the Chrono-matic, the Calibre 11 movement would wind itself using an off centre micro rotor.

Soon enough, Zenith had produced the El Primero (Which might I add, is absolutely stunning!) which used a central mounted full rotor and was capable of measuring time to one tenth of a second.  Seiko the Japanese giants also released their automatic chronograph called the 6139 Auto-Chrono.

Out doing themselves once again, Seiko created the world’s first quartz watch, a giant breakthrough in Horological history, thanks to this hefty invention it somewhat marked an end and seemingly rendered chronographs virtually obsolete with the Seiko Quartz Astron 35SQ.

Back to our modern day and age, the chronograph is making a comeback and is appreciated by many once again.

With many lovely pieces from Tag, Seiko, Breitling, Hamilton and so on.

Though some of us may not entirely know how it functions or its practicality, it may serve as an aesthetic feature. Nonetheless the tachymeter is a lovely complication, you will never know when it may come in handy.

My Batman Timepiece

If anyone of you out there are a batman fan, then you would have known that in 2014, was the 75^th anniversary of Batman.

Hence a whole range of products were launched and labelled limited edition. These items included some gnarly looking timepieces.

This isn’t your usual lovely classy timepieces, it’s the Dark Knight we are talking about here, so it has to be quintessentially dark, rugged and manly. Everything that encapsulated Bruce Wayne’s alter ego Batman. Also did I mention, I am a huge Batman Buff.

I am a fan, so yes you are right, I definitely had to get my hands on some kind of Batman Limited Edition merchandise, sadly yes I am a sucker for such memorabilia.

Firstly, let me say that Romain Jerome was the right choice for this collab project. As few of their other timepieces have a rather sinister and alluring look about it. Go check it up and you'll see what I mean. 

There was the big hype about the release of the Romain Jerome collab with DC comics timepiece, it matched the dark side of Batman, as shown in recent years with the image portrayed in the Dark Knight installment played by Christian Bale. The watch looked so sweet, it was in the distinctive matt black, nice scratched edges looking somewhat carbon fibre-ish. Topped off with the newer batman logo seen in the recently Dark Knight movies. It was lovely, plus the strap looked perfect all crumpled and crackled like the batsuit or cape after a night long of vigilante chasing.

 It was only limited to 75 pieces and cost roughly 19,000USD, you can see a picture below.

(taken from : HTTP://blog.luxurybazaar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/RJ-Batman-front-3.jpg)

Well, that wasn’t the timepiece I got, since I did not have 19,000USD lying around.

What I got myself wast the HCG Batman 75^th Anniversary Chronograph.  So more details into the watch, the back case logo was designed by Jim Lee, with a serial number, limited to 100 pieces. It is a quartz movement made ny Miyota Japan. It came in a nicely packed comic stlye book style box.

The features are as follows;

 - Case: 46.5mmx 55mm
- Movement: Japanese Chronograph JS50
- Super Luminous : C-3
- Water Resistance: 200m
- Band: Anti-Alergic Silicone
- Limited to 100pcs worldwide

 

So my watch was numbered 25, pictures above. From the way I see it, this was released to target the Asian Market and I have been seeing it mostly on websites in Singapore, Malaysia and Hongkong. Though I would say little was really done to market this watch or advertise it as it would should have been done. With the correct marketing, I am sure this timepiece would have been snapped up in a heartbeat. As I myself wasn’t really aware of the release of this timepiece until much later and am glad to be able to still get my hands on it.

I must admit, I got the watch because it was a Batman colletor’s item and it only looked alright to me.

Since I have gotten it, I must say it has grown tremendously on me. The more I look at it and wear it on my wrist the more I love it.

The way it feels and the bulkness of the timepiece feels just right. I like that rugged look, yet I feel they did not go overboard, which actually makes the timepiece look quite contemporay. What do I mean by that, well it feels like a timeless Batman classic, meaning it matches the entirety of Batman from begininng till date. It did not lean nor focus too much on the recently darker image of Batman due to the Dark Knight series movies, like the Romian Jermoe piece. This piece stuck true to the original batman logo and yet managed to keep the look of the face current and all around as well. I though that the Silicone strap was a good move in making the piece look sporty, current and active to go along with the theme.

The chrornograph was a nice added feature to add some complexity to the face of the timepice, which I could compare to Batman’s utility belt.  You can time how long your batarangs take to hit your target if you’d wish.

The surface is entirely black and has that nice smooth matt finish. With 3 nicely sized knobs for the time setting and the chronograph features.

I really like the feel of this timepiece plus it is a collectorable Batman memorabilia, what’s not to like.

My frist Swiss Timepiece & what is GMT

The first Swiss timepiece I got was a Cyma, it was a world time GMT in rose gold.

 

Just to share something on Cyma, so the back story of Cyma (in French meaning Summit) watches, is that it was founded by brothers Joseph and Theodore Schwob in 1862.  By the 1920s, Cyma’s strategy or route was  inclined to standardise watch part manufacture. For Cyma producing average parts wasn’t good enough. Precision was paramount to ensure long term accuracy. Though there was magnificent accuracy, it wasn't all that study and these wasn't something faced only by Cyma. Despite all these efforts, early timepieces were known to be vulnerable to damage when impacted upon.  Till there was a breakthrough technolody. A reliable and fantastic shock proofing system being used in 1930s, invented by Georges Braunschweig and Fritz Marti. From this creation it led to an in-house revolution by Cyma, in the 1950s, it developed its own shockproofing system known as Cymerflex. This is a true testament of Cyma’s pinnacle, sort of reaching its “Summit”. Thus till today, you hardly ever hear of a Cyma of the yesteryears giving you much trouble.

Today, having spoken to so numberous people it seems the name Cyma is somewhat a forgotten thing of the past.  In recent times, its prestige and presence has dwindled down over the years from the way I see it and am not entirely sure why so as well.

On to my first Swiss timepiece, it is a GMT World Time (pictures below).

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is a quartz movment, a beauty to behold, aesthetically to me it is lovely and classy. So after getting my hands on my timepiece, I had to figure out how exactly does one read the time on a GMT watch. So here I will try explain what exactly is a GMT watch and how it functions in lay man’s terms.

 

Firstly, “GMT” stands for Greenwich Mean Time and is the zero point on the 24 hour scale of international time zones. Greenwich is in England, and from there other time zones are plus or minus GMT. This was set in place so that travellers could tell time of the location they are in, where ever in the world. As long they knew the GMT time, they could then add or subtract from that time to get the local time or somewhere else. Point to note, GMT is also known as UTC ( Coordinated Universal Time), this may be a common sight in German timepieces.

 

Most GMT timepieces have two hands to display both the time in a 12-hour format and an independently adjustable 24-hour hand. If the 24-hour hand cannot be adjusted independently, its only purpose then is to solely indicate if the time is AM or PM. One of the primary reasons a GMT timepiece is used so that people can tell the local time along with other time zone that is not usually GMT. So this helps to tell the time in any two different time zone, which may be locally or internationally and doesn’t not have to be GMT.

 

Once you have accustomed yourself to reading two different time zone, since most GMT timepieces have a rotating 24 hour bezel (if a GMT scale is available on the dial) you can use it to follow a third time zone. Though this may need some calculations.

 

So basically a GMT timepiece shows you 2 times zone at the same time. This may be the second most handy complication out there in next to a chronograph. Or even the second most common?



 

Hugo Boss Timepieces

So I recently received a Hugo Boss Timepiece as a gift. I have been scratching my head to figure out where exactly the watch is made in?

Nowhere on the box, manual guide or watch does it state. I have not tried opening the backing of the watch, as I do not have the proper tools nor expertise for it.

I have a few pictures below of the watch I received, let’s see if any ne out there can help me out on this.

 

I have been doing some reading online, what I found out is that Hugo Boss has licensing agreements with Movado to help produce timepieces for them. This is the background except from Wikipedia, “ The brand's parent company, Movado Group, Inc., was founded in Switzerland in 1983 by Cuban-born Gedalio Grinberg. The company designs, manufactures, and distributes the following brands of watches in addition to its own: Ebel , Concord, ESQ Movado, Coach, Hugo Boss, Lacoste, Juicy Couture and Tommy Hilfiger.

Of all the above brands, I only know Concord watches to fetch a hefty price tag. None of the other brands, like Ebel the principal brand of Movado have I really heard much of. Prior to this, I must admit I did think of Concord watches to be altogether an independent brand. I can’t seem to find a reference, link or connection on Concord’s website www.concord.ch tying it up with Movado. I guess this could be a marketing strategy, to make it seem like a totally independent brand from Movado. As who would want to spend 50 grand on a timepiece (Yes, I personally know someone who bought a Concord timepiece for 57Grand) to having later find out, that the watch they pay such dough for is linked to a company making “mediocre” timepieces for Fashion Label, who are finding secondary means to generate more revenue. On the other hand, some people may not even bother about such trivial things. Thought I can see myself being one of the lesser few who may be.  After some searching I did find it stated on Mavado’s website; http://www.movadogroup.com/brands/concord.cfm

While scavenging through some forums, some signs points to perhaps the Hugo Boss watch I received could have possibly be made and assembled in China. Which would be no surprise for me, but I don’t seem to be able to find any solid evidence for it.

Movado may be a Swiss company but I am pretty sure the watches under their account from Coach, Hugo Boss, Lacoste, Juicy Couture and Tommy Hilfiger are surely not Swiss made as it would surely add additional ‘zeros’ or well at least hundreds to the price tag to be modest. Also the most clearest indication would be to slap on the ‘Swiss made’ tag on the dial, which who wouldn’t right? On the other hand, some people in forums said they may actually be made in  Germany. Though at this point of time, I have no actual evidence of this. Having read several forums, many other people seem as puzzled as myself.

So this still have left me scratching my head. Never thought finding something like this out could be so tedious. It all seems a little jiggery-pokery.

What is a Chronograph?

So have you ever asked this question, what exactly is a Chronograph watch?

It may seem like a really absurd question to most people who know a thing or two about watches.

But guess what, I have been asked this question before. So why not explain it?

Firstly, before I carry on, yes I do know there are a ton of websites and books out there that already explain or give you the answer you are looking for with regards to “what is chronograph or tachymeter” and so on. Well yes it is true, there are so why exactly am I writing then?

I am doing this to help myself further understand and learn from what already little or much I may know. As you can never know too much.

Similarly I do live by the principle of, "We learn new things everyday". So writing helps me to learn and express. 

Carrying on, so the most basic kind of watches out there are the ones that only show you the time. It has numerals (most of the time, some omit numerals altogether) and 3 hands (Hour, Minute and Second) like shown below.

(TAKEN FROM : HTTP://Global.timex.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/product/t2p128_0.jpg  )

Some basic watches do have other patterns or designs, like the Nomos Tangente, which right now is one of my favourite pieces out there. This particular model has a separate second hand counter. ( On a side note, this is such a lovely and classic piece that I would really like to own, soon)

  (TAKEN FROM HTTP://WWW.nomos-store.com/out/pictures/master/product/1/tangente_font(1).png)

Before I carry on, we owe it all to Monsieur Louis Moinet, the inventor of Chronograph. So the back story was that in those days the "aristocrats" were interested in the cosmos, so this invention was actually used for tracking astronomical objects.

In essence, chronograph watch is basically a watch that has a stopwatch function added into it. Chronograph watches can be either automatic or quartz and feature various complications at once and have several sub dials to read off the measurements. The most basic chronograph has a separate or independent sweep second hand which can start and stop, and return to zero. There can be up to four dials on the face to indicate hour, minute, seconds and 24 hour indicator(some dials show even up to a tenth of a second), like the  Eberhard And Co. Chrono 4 Grande Taille 31052.1 shown below. 

                 (TAKEN FROM HTTP://azfinetime.wordpress.com/2013/02/09/eberhard-and-co-chrono-4-grande-taille-31052-1/)

Majority of the chronograph's  features works by pushing a start button. Usually most of the start buttons are placed at the Two O Clock position to get the timer moving to record time and by pressing the same button to stop the time recording and returning to zero by pressing it over.

Each individual function of the chronograph is independent of each other. What this means is that your timepiece can tell the time and function as a stop watch concurrently.

Not to be confused, Chronograph is known as a complication of a timepiece and not its movement (of the watch).

Just to add in some technical stuff, there are 2 kinds of chronographs the automatic and digital. Difference being, automatic chronograph depends only on kinetic energy as a source of its power. The digital on the other hand works very much like a common hand help stopwatch and is run by batteries.