LOUIS MOINET
BY KEITH FLAMER
Louis M
Moinet’s
i t’ss chronograp
chronograph
ph invention was man-made,
made,
but inspired by the heavens.
G
reat moments are frozen in time. Christopher Columbus, 1492. The Declaration of Independence, 1776.
The initial Moon landing, 1969. But conspiracy theories aside, what if new evidence begs us to rewrite
settled history?
Time virtually stopped in 2013—as we pushed the reset button
on the origins of the chronograph following the discovery of a long
lost Louis Moinet chronograph pocket watch. This astronomicalinspired watch predated all known chronographs and posthumously
crowned Louis Moinet as the instrument’s true inventor.
Prior to 2013, history told us Nicolas Matthew Rieussec
developed the first commercial “seconds chronograph” in 1821
(patented a year later) for King Louis XVIII, a thoroughbred
aficionado who wished to time horse races. Adolphe Nicole seemingly updated the chronograph in 1844 to include a reset feature
to record successive measurements.
But the Louis Moinet chronograph discovery challenged the
official record. This watch, which Moinet called “compteur de
tierces” (a chronograph that measured 1/60th of a second—known
in those days as a “third” or tierce in French), is now celebrated
as the first chronograph ever—bearing dust-cover hallmarks from
1815 (although it was completed the following year).
52
WRISTWATCH | 2016
Moinet’s groundbreaking chronograph was indicated
ated by a cenorded on
tral hand where the elapsed seconds and minutes were recorded
tart
separate subdials; and the hours on a 24-hour dial. The stop, start
and reset functions for the central hand were controlled by two buttons, which, according to the company, qualifies it as a chronograph
(even though the term didn’t exist at the time). Moinet’s chronograph
also boasted a revolutionary return-to-zero function that predates
Adolphe Nicole’s 1862 patent).
This seismic shift shift adds heavy weight to Moinet’s legend as
an elite watchmaking innovator—on par with his friend AbrahamLouis Breguet.
Moinet’s discovery is bewildering because we’re skeptical about
rewriting history. Important dates and legends are inculcated deep
into our subconscious. Did Christopher Columbus really discover
America? Not really. Yet we still celebrate Columbus Day in honor
of the famous explorer who was immortalized by writer Washington
Irving’s poem.
We must investigate before we believe and accept a new theory.
After all, we’ve seen our share of hoaxes. But watch historians agree
on the Moinet chronograph. As counter-intuitive as it feels, we must
stare a false history in the face and correct the record.
Louis Moinet’s motto was “The essential thing is never to depart