Pur avendo posseduto più di un cronografo nel corso degli anni vorrei rilevare, anzitutto, che cronografi non sono mai stati la mia prima scelta per tutti i giorni. Tuttavia, quando ho bisogno di indossare un cronografo per necessità, allora la mia scelta è sempre una equipaggiata con le mani al contrario di un affare digitale 1/100 secondi con una pletora di tempi sul giro e così via. Non ho bisogno che le funzionalità e come con molte persone (forse della mia generazione, ma sembra sempre più con le generazioni più giovani), allora io sono sempre più attratto da quelle cose semplici e tradizionali.
I allude for one moment to an Oris catalogue that I read in the late 1990s which stated something along the lines of the ‘fact’ that a mechanical chronograph is more accurate than a digital chronograph at measuring very short periods of time. Indeed, I saw reference to this on a watch forum and it made me smile to the point that I made a reply stating what I thought the facts to be: it is not the mechanical chronograph itself that is more accurate at measuring these periods; rather, it is the perception of the human eye in reading a moving hand and anticipating a button push in order to stop measurement at a given point on a dial. A quartz driven timepiece of almost any type is more accurate but in practical situations of relatively short duration then something ‘clockwork’ can be more than adequate and of course give the user that feeling of using a real machine as opposed to a soul-less, silicon chip based mini computer.
As with many items intended for practical use, often (but certainly not always) one can look to the military for examples of design simplicity which by default enable ease of use. Wristwatches are in my opinion one such product; there is (again, in my opinion) nowhere else to look but at what is, or has been issued by the military in order to select a visual design that is fit for purpose. Indeed, many watch manufacturers have done just this and taken the military ‘look’ and marketed whole ranges of watches based upon this. An injection of ‘fashion’ means that at the time of writing then these nods to military design have been christened with some interesting names (unfortunately, emblazoned on the dial in some cases) and have it seems, been given a course of steroids with diameters approaching what might be for many people the un-wearable.
Certainly in my case, I have a liking for the no nonsense, wearable proportions, easy time reading and ‘rugged functionality’ of military designs. Perhaps I am stating the obvious given other timepieces that I have owned or reviewed but the point being made is that I am prepared to wait for what I feel meets my requirements exactly before I outlay any money. Furthermore and just as importantly, I really do need a watch to excite me in some way before I feel any justification in owning one.
In the past, the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) had requirements for wrist chronographs which were met by various manufacturers including Lemania, Hamilton, CWC, Newmark and Precista. As with other forms of wristwatch, the military specification was relatively detailed and included drawings of how the required timepiece might look. It was not therefore unusual for watches procured from various manufacturers to look almost exactly the same. Today’s military watch collectors will often have the goal of owning one of each of a model which for all intents and purposes, is identical bar the name on the dial. Given this and the finite supply of genuine issued watches from the 1960s through to the early 1980s, then prices are ‘on the up’ so to speak and continue to be so.
In the early 1990s, British military chronographs were still relatively easy to buy as surplus equipment as opposed to collector’s items. My first brush with them came in the form of a printed stock list from a UK surplus supplier and it was the simple look and functionality that attracted me to the concept, as opposed to the watches themselves. I wanted something new, dependable and unworn. It wasn’t until around 1997 or 1998 that I discovered the ‘new’ CWC chronograph. Immediately I saw the watch that was manufactured by the company that continues to supply the UK MOD then I thought that it might well be worth owning and indeed I did so for a while but I was never comfortable with either the dial layout (sub dials at 9 and 12) or the price tag. Thus, the CWC departed. CWC do in fact now offer what the company quaintly refers to as a ‘remake’ of the originally issued mechanical chronograph which is visually very impressive (sub dials are at 3 and 9) but at £699.00 I feel is pushing the limits of reasonableness and is capitalising on the military connection.
As with many watches I own, the aura or the concept is just as important as the watch itself. In the past, I have bought watches which have been a modern version of those which I may have come into contact with in the past or indeed which have some connection with my interests in aviation. In the past, I would make regular visits to RAF Cosford Air Museum; walking around the hangars in those days one could almost hear the roar of the Canberra’s Avon engines. Many of the military aircraft there were of the age of ‘clockwork’ – indeed, an ex RAF navigator I once knew always alluded to the Canberra as the ‘Princess of the skies’ and made great store of the fact that equipment in the nav bay was ‘clockwork with cogs and springs’. As a small aside, he was still wearing his issued Seiko 7T27 quartz chronograph which in fact replaced the ‘clockwork with cogs and springs’ chronographs which Precista et al supplied until the early 1980s.
I have often wondered what the Vulcan crews of the Black Buck missions to Port Stanley were wearing on their wrists during the raids of May-June 1982. It is quite possible that one or more of them were sporting issue mechanical chronographs, possibly even Precista. At such tense times as those of the Falklands conflict and the risks and daring involved with such missions as Black Buck then for me, the watches worn during such hold just as much wonder for me as those worn during the Apollo space missions. In fact, possibly more given that events such as those that took place in the South Atlantic were so close to home in many respects. Walking around and underneath a preserved Vulcan, one can stop and imagine the crews clambering into the confined spaces of the cockpit in an age where indeed oiled gears and instruments (not just wrist) with springs were relied upon as a matter of course. At about the time the Vulcan bowed out of service then so did the mechanical chronograph issued to British Forces. The upside to the end of an era is that as time passes then the nostalgia (if that is the correct term) for those times gone can begin.
To me therefore there is great pleasure derived in having something which is new, yet as old fashioned as those things that were standard issue all those years ago. The bonuses for me are that I happen to love the designs that are the result of military specification and of course that the resurrection of the Precista brand has made these things accessible and affordable.
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Overview
Precista in its Sheffield based incarnation has now been around for nearly four years. In this time, a steady introduction of new models has taken place with the range now encompassing dive watches (modelled of course on the original issue Precistas of the early 1980s), a high specification quartz chronograph and two very special limited editions with mainstream variations of the same. Precista has also during this time obtained NATO Stock Numbers for the two diver models mentioned above – truly full circle and all the better for Precista’s approach of improving on the originals.
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Here at the beginning of June 2008 we have the introduction of what I see as the new Precista going back to its roots – that is to say, introducing a model extremely similar to one of the first that bore the brand name and was issued by the UK military. Let it be made clear however at this point that the new version isn’t intended to be a direct ‘copy’ of the original; rather, a modern, updated version with a twist.
The twist in this case is the use of a movement which in its original form would predate the issued Precista by 20 years or more. Furthermore, I do not see this Precista as an homage to the other watches issued at around the same time, e.g. the CWC or Hamilton chronographs (and the Newmark). The Precista, along with the others were watches in their own right, even if in many ways they look identical (there was in fact a Breitling which also looked identical to these).
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For those people with a purist streak then we have a manual winding chronograph with no date; plain and simple. The design is of course that which is illustrated in the relevant DEF STAN – in this case Def STAN 66-4 (Parts 1-3) which originally specified a single pusher chronograph mechanism. However, the use of a two pusher chronograph mechanism was acceptable (within an amendment to the Standard) and indeed illustrated.
Earlier Lemania chronographs had been of the single pusher type though by the 1970s the design above was adopted and executed by the brands previously mentioned, including of course Precista. The illustration at right forms the basis of what would be worn on the wrist of personnel within all armed forces of the United Kingdom when a wrist chronograph was required.
For me, as already alluded to, it has always been the concept of such a timepiece and its procurement by the UK military that I find so attractive. To use phrases such as ‘utilitarian’, ‘no nonsense’, ‘fit for purpose’ is perhaps taking the use of clichés to a limit; however, the nature of this design I fully believe to be all of the above and that is what makes it so attractive for me. In addition, I find the relevant DEF STAN almost compelling in its writing style – this was another age, these were typewritten and certain symbols had to be handwritten in!
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