« Clearing Up the Terminology »
Terms like rattrapante, split-seconds or flyback may draw nothing but puzzled looks from many people, yet they make the eyes of countless watch enthusiasts light up. After all, they refer to nothing less than complications found only in certain particularly high-end mechanical watches. But what exactly lies behind these names – and what practical use do these complications offer?
When the Hands "Play Tag"
The French verb "rattraper" translates roughly as "to catch up" or "to recapture." When a watch is said to have a rattrapante hand, the term alludes to that hand's function. It is a second chronograph seconds hand that can be stopped independently of the first and is found only in certain chronographs of especially elaborate construction.
Because of this second seconds hand, such a chronograph is also referred to as a double chronograph. The purpose of a rattrapante hand is to let you time intermediate intervals without having to interrupt the overall timing. Once the split time has been recorded, another press of the pusher sends the second hand racing forward until it catches up with the first and continues running alongside it. As soon as it has done so, it is ready to measure the next split time. Because the first hand effectively "drags" it along until it is needed for the next split, this type of hand is known in German as a Schleppzeiger ("dragged hand"), and in English as a split-seconds hand – accordingly, a double chronograph can also be called a split-seconds chronograph.
Given its purpose, the rattrapante is by no means limited to mechanical wristwatches; it is also found in classic pocket-watch-style stopwatches, some of which are still used today in school sports or athletic clubs.
Rated "Especially Valuable"
Among watch connoisseurs, this complication is considered particularly demanding, which is duly reflected in both the retail price and the value appreciation of split-seconds chronographs. Historical models from renowned manufactures in particular are highly coveted by collectors and often fetch top prices at auction.
One auction that caused a particular sensation was the sale of a 1922 Patek Philippe rattrapante wristwatch at Antiquorum on November 14, 1999.
The price achieved, $1,918,387, was the highest ever bid for a wristwatch at auction up to that point. Even if such a result is far from typical, a well-preserved, fully functioning double chronograph "from a good house" can still often deliver attractive value appreciation for its owner.
Mono-Rattrapante – the More Affordable Alternative to the Double Chronograph
A technically less complex and therefore more affordable variant of the double chronograph is known as the mono-rattrapante. These watches have only a single chronograph seconds hand and, at first glance, look little different from conventional chronograph wristwatches with two pushers and a central seconds hand. Nevertheless, they can measure split times without interrupting the overall timing.
If you hold down the lower chronograph pusher on such a watch, the seconds hand stops and the split time can be read. When you release the pusher, the hand jumps ahead to the position it would have reached had it kept running without stopping. In a sense, the hand catches up with itself. This solution does come with one limitation, however: the interval cannot exceed 60 seconds.
Flyback – Flying Back to Zero
The so-called flyback function also deserves mention here, as it too is considered one of the more elaborate chronograph complications. Flyback chronographs feature a complex mechanism that allows the seconds hand to be returned to zero with a single press while a timing is in progress, and to start a new measurement instantly when the pusher is released. Normally this would require three separate steps – stop, reset and restart – whereas a flyback chronograph combines them into one.
So "flyback" has to do with flying only in a figurative sense – though there is still a practical connection to aviation. Until the dawn of the computer age, pilots readily used this time-saving function to record split times quickly and easily. Today the practice is likely found only in sport and recreational flying, if at all, but it may be reassuring to know you could still take such measurements without a computer in an emergency.
An Enduring Fascination
The tasks these complications were developed for have long since been taken over by electronic timers and computers. Even so, mechanical watches with this especially ingenious technology have lost none of their fascination for lovers of fine luxury watches.
And models such as the Glashütte Original Senator Rattrapante, the Zenith El Primero Rattrapante and others show that watch manufactures continue to display their ambition by bringing such models to market. Somewhat more common – and less costly to acquire – is the flyback function, featured for example in the Zenith El Primero Stratos Flyback, the Tag Heuer Carrera Calibre 36 Flyback and the Tudor Grantour Chrono Fly-Back.
