S
Sports Time
Night Ops Special
An illuminated red dot at 6 o’clock, a push piece between 8
o’clock and 9 o’clock and the inscription “TIME VISION” at 12
o’clock are all indications that there is something a bit different
about this chronograph. Victorinox applies the same multifunction Swiss Army approach to the Night Vision Chronograph
as its time only predecessor. By pushing the extra button in the
correct sequence you can choose from one of 5 on-demand
LED options:
#1 A quick single press activates the dial’s LED backlighting,
enabling the time to be read at night. The dial of the Night
Vision Chronograph is illuminated in one of the eight colors
now available.
#2 Two quick presses activate the watch’s frontal lamp for two
minutes. It emits a white light with a range of around 3 feet
from the 12 o’clock position. Bright enough to find that key-hole
or even guide a person toward you in the dark.
#3 Three quick presses activate the strobe LED light fo r two
minutes, which emits 150 flashes per minute.
#4 Holding the push-piece down for 15 seconds activates
the SOS distress signal in Morse code, which can continue to
flash for up to seven days and seven nights on a fresh battery.
According to Victorinox the LED signal emitted has a range of
almost ½ a mile.
#5 The watch-finder mode is activated with five quick presses.
A red LED at 6 o’clock flashes every 10 seconds enabling the
watch to be located in the dark.
A sixth lighting function takes over automatically as a battery
end-of life indicator when the red LED begins flashing three
times every 10 seconds. This indicates the lighting module
battery has reached the point where it only has a functional
autonomy of 7 days remaining. Since the time-keeping (Ronda
quartz) system is powered by a separate battery – the
accuracy and running time of the watch is not affected by the
lighting system.
Although the prices have not been set at the time of this writing
our best guess will put this light-bearing 42mm stainless steel
chronograph right around the $1,000 +/- level.
60 FUNCTION | AboutTime Magazine