Chronographs without the pain in the wallet. Share your favorite non-luxury chronos

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I’m posting mine one at a time. One of my favs. Yes, Fred, thank you for that kind offer. I hope to not need any more parts other than the tiny C clip, and I already paid for a bag of those damn tormenters.
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We can include the faux chronos, too. Most I see and own are Lapanouse movements with 2 subdials. The top button stops the sweep hand. The bottom starts it. Either way the watch will run. No reset. The one above the buttons are opposite, and when the stop button is depressed, a brake actually stops the balance. Not great for time keeping.
 
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I’m posting mine one at a time. One of my favs. Yes, Fred, thank you for that kind offer. I hope to not need any more parts other than the tiny C clip, and I already paid for a bag of those damn tormenters.

Lovely... Don't these change hands for $2.5k? Not quite "inexpensive" 😉
 
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Lovely... Don't these change hands for $2.5k? Not quite "inexpensive" 😉
The Wakmann? They do go in that vicinity, I believe. I still think of Wakmann as a 3rd tier watch, though. And compared to 5k, 10k, and up, it's still not awful in price. I expected to see many posted between 500 and 1500. Like the one above. I just love the variety, color, and quality of so many of the 50s to 70s chronos. Note the last one I posted above the Tara Sport is worth about 45 usd. 😉
 
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Now for some real cheapos... too dangerous to keep, too feeble to let go... (Reptile...).
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I have a soft spot for the 1 jewel, start/stop chronos, and Endura is probably my favorite of the sellers. That Lapanouse movement is nearly impossible to kill and LOUD as Hell. I'll put up a photo or two shortly. I have a problem with buying extras of things I like. So a few of these I have several of. Don’t ask. It’s some kind of illness. As I've gotten older, I've developed an appreciation for cheap old watches that watch snobs scoff at, generally. I was guilty of it in my youth.
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I have a soft spot for the 1 jewel, start/stop chronos, and Endura is probably my favorite of the sellers. That Lapanouse movement is nearly impossible to kill and LOUD as Hell. I'll put up a photo or two shortly. I have a problem with buying extras of things I like. So a few of these I have several of. Don’t ask. It’s some kind of illness. As I've gotten older, I've developed an appreciation for cheap old watches that watch snobs scoff at, generally. I was guilty of it in my youth.

I've got the Cimier version of your Lucernce slide rule "chrono". It was my first watch back in the 70s when what I really wanted was my Uncle's Seiko flyback, 7018-7001. I liked the look but I say "chrono" since it only stopped and started the second hand. Reset was wait for the hand to hit 12 again and stop it! Not quite a Chronostop.

Happy ending was that by high school, my Uncle had tired of the Seiko and I finally got it!

 
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Sobrinos y Cuervo powered by a Landeron 51; Unitas powered by a Venus 210; and, a Poljot 23 powered by an in-house 3133, which was supposedly derived from the Valjoux 7734. I have also included a photo of the Poljot 23 next to a Dueber Hampden wristwatch -- which is actually a Dueber Hampden lever set pocket watch movement placed into a "conversion" wristwatch kit popular in the 1920s and 1930s. Dueber Hampden was a Canton, Ohio watch and watch case maker that the government of the Soviet Union bought in the late 1920s. The USSR shipped all the factory equipment and parts and work in progress inventory to Moscow to create Watch Factory #1, and the beginning of the Soviet watch industry. Twenty DH watchmakers were contracted and moved to the USSR to teach watchmaking.
 
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I have a soft spot for the 1 jewel, start/stop chronos, and Endura is probably my favorite of the sellers. That Lapanouse movement is nearly impossible to kill and LOUD as Hell. I'll put up a photo or two shortly. I have a problem with buying extras of things I like. So a few of these I have several of. Don’t ask. It’s some kind of illness. As I've gotten older, I've developed an appreciation for cheap old watches that watch snobs scoff at, generally. I was guilty of it in my youth.

Same boat. One of my favorite/cheapest watches is my "O&W" (who knows if it was legit) version of the chrono-stop. Easy to keep running and clean as hell. Sub dials have faded to lavender which is cool.



Otherwise, Seiko 6139's are so plentiful and are like Skittles when it comes to design and colors. There's a flavor for everyone.

Personally drawn to the 6040 "Silver Ghost"

 
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Had these two chronographs few years ago. All 3 watches on the photo cost total under 1000€
 
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On the O and W shown above. The company was Ollech and Wajs. They made some very good tool watches and are actually back in business with one of the original owners. The one jewels I'm sure were just a matter of putting together parts from elsewhere with the company name on it and marketing.


Latest contribution. Landeron cal 349.
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I absolutely adore this Wakmann Regatta with a Lemania 1341 powering it. The uniqueness of a big hand minute counter is simply fantastic.

How thick is the case on this model? I sometimes see them pop up on eBay and keep almost bidding on them.
 
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The Tissot has a 1973 serial number (my 2nd birth year watch) & was an online trade ,

The Exactus is a Landeron 48 I picked up at an Amsterdam flea market in the mid-00s & had the movement replaced as the original was toast. I absolutely love the way it springs to life under the right light.