Year In Review What A Year For Chronographs! Here's The Best In Technical Innovation From Omega, MB&F, And More

No really, look at it. Today we're watching the sweeping chronograph hand fly as we look at some of the industry's most remarkable and technical watches from the past year. Aside from a deadbeat second or seconde foudroyante, there's really no better complication to get a tactile sense for the passing of time, nor one that's more practical.

What made 2022 more remarkable than most was the number of brands making noteworthy leaps of horological engineering, achievements that may very well set the tone for not only their brands' futures but potentially push the entire industry forward. How do you recap so many watches exhaustively? I don't know if you can.

When poring over all the chronographs Hodinkee covered this year (and dozens more) it quickly made sense to focus on only the truly novel watches of 2022. Sure, we could have included Patek Philippe's new 5270P, 5935A, and 5990/1A which are tremendous but essentially just new dials. Then the brand surprised us all by jumping on the "destro" bandwagon with the 5373P, a split-seconds monopusher chronograph combined with a perpetual calendar mechanism. At the end of the day, this was simply a case of Patek taking its (admittedly super-thin) CHR 27-525 PS Q movement and – in the words of Missy Elliott – "putting the thing down, flipping, and reversing [the case]."

Other watches that were a "fractional evolution," as James so eloquently put it about the Aquastar Deepstar 39mm Chronograph, include the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph and the Breitling Cosmonaute also didn't make the cut. The Czapek Antarctique Rattrapante Ice Blue is, similar to the Pateks, essentially a skeletonized re-dial of sorts based on a watch released in 2021. Not unremarkable by any stretch but not novel enough for my arbitrary rules. The GPHG-nominated Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Chronograph was technically released last year. And while it started to be delivered this year, the wildly phenomenal MING 20.01 Series 2 Agengraphe Chronograph was announced in 2021, meaning it was also off my 2022 list. Disqualified on a technicality, I know, but them's the breaks.

It goes to show the strength of the industry that there were so many great chronograph releases over the past year that you can strike so many watches from a roundup and still make a substantive list of watches where nearly every single one featured technical achievements worth celebrating. I'm looking forward to hearing your favorite chronographs of the year in the comments below, but without much further ado, here's my list of the top chronographs from 2022.

The MB&F LM Sequential EVO

Just like Logan's breakdown of the year in independent watchmaking, we have to start at the top with the same watch, the winner of this year's GPHG's top prize, the Aiguille d'Or. While Logan "enjoyed learning and writing about" MB&F's first chronograph – his introduction post eloquently broke down the complicated watchmaking and unique functions – this one nearly broke my brain. Frankly, that's just the kind of modern watchmaking I live for.

The watch is essentially two independent chronographs with their own pushers, built symmetrically across the dial into one movement and using one regulating organ. Then there's the "Twinverter," essentially a switch that can synchronize each chronograph – if both chronographs are stopped, they start; if they're started, they both stop; and if one is running and the other is not, they switch operation. Logan described the possible uses of this wild function in his introduction. If you want a more complete and dizzyingly complex breakdown of the technical aspects of the already dizzyingly complex watch, we have you covered there as well, and I'll admit that on my umpteenth readthrough I'm still learning things.

The storyteller in me loves the watch for an entirely different reason: the people. With larger brands, the creative minds behind any given watch become so far removed from the public that they're essentially forever anonymous. Keen to make friends and credit them at any given turn, Max Büsser has built a compelling story of camaraderie. One friend is Stephen McDonnell, the Oxford-trained Northern Irish theologian, horological mastermind, and "the only genius [Büsser has] met" in his life. McDonnell spent four years developing the LM Sequential EVO. And while doing all the prototyping for the movement by hand surely didn't leave a lot of time to continue his studies of the Apocryphal Gospels, it did result in one of the coolest watches in the last few years.

The Patek Ref. 5470P-001 1/10th Second Monopusher Chronograph

Patek's first high-beat chronograph is something pretty special: a platinum monopusher chronograph that hits the right balance of sporty and classic Patek. Sure, the Zenith El Primero beat the grand maison by a good 53 years, but Patek did things their own way and retooled one of their already-great movements while breaking new ground with seven new patents out of a total of 31 patents associated with the movement.

Starting with a relatively classic blue two-register dial, Patek put modern touches like red sweeping hand that rotates around the dial once every 12 seconds, allowing you to read 1/10th second increments in between the red indices on the dial that also match the (somewhat out-of-place for Patek) "1/10th second" text at 6:00. The case measures 41mm x 13.68mm and features the signature diamond between the six o'clock lugs, in case you forget the case metal (yes, it's still platinum).

But, like the rest of the watches here, it's what's on the inside that counts. While you can read our fully-technical introducing post for more information, I'll sum it up as succinctly as possible. Patek's new movement is the CH 29-535 PS 1/10, based on the 2009 rattrapante chronograph caliber CH 29-535. The 1/10 second and normal chronograph hands sit together at zero, then depart when the pusher is depressed, running at different rates across the dial. The original rattrapante mechanism had to be reconfigured, starting with the escapement and oscillator, with the 1/10th hand driven off the fourth wheel of the movement. In some ways, the watch is like MB&F in that there are essentially two separate chronograph mechanisms inside the 5470P, but with an entirely different – and still incredibly impressive – result.

The Omega Speedmaster Chrono Chime

Omega has been responsible for a lot of firsts in watchmaking beyond their "Moonwatch" fame, including the first tourbillon wristwatch and the first minute repeater wristwatch. Here, they've done something truly fascinating and novel, creating a rattrapante monopusher chronograph with a separate pusher at 8:00 that allows the user to request the amount of time elapsed on the chronograph. If mechanical watches are already "unnecessary" objects, there's something to love about brands experimenting to make the coolest and most unnecessary of them all.

The watch is gorgeous but massive, taking the shape of the CK 2998 Speedmaster and turning it into a 45mm wide and 17.37mm thick beast of a watch balanced out by a beautiful aventurine dial and bezel and on the Sedna Gold bracelet, the Speedmaster Chrono Chime weighs a crazy 326 grams.

Powering the behemoth of a watch is the new Caliber 1932 (a name celebrating the first year Omega was the official timekeeper for the Olympics), a movement that took more than six years of development in partnership with Blancpain, and resulted in 17 patents and 575 individual components. The watch runs off a 32.5mm hand-wound anti-magnetic co-axial movement that ticks at 5 Hz, allowing a 1/10th of a second resolution of the chronograph.

As with any chiming watch, it's probably best if you hear it for yourself, though you'll probably have to settle for listening online as the chances of any of us mortals seeing one in person is slim to none.

The Grönefeld 1941 Grönograaf

Designing a novel chronograph may be one of the harder endeavors in watchmaking. As a common complication, there's been hundreds or thousands of small iterations over the centuries and by this point – pardon the clergyman's kid for quoting scripture – "what has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." That is unless the Grönefeld brothers set their mind to an idea.

It's been a long time coming for Grönefeld's first chronograph, but boy was it worth the wait. Bart and Tim Grönefeld have tackled high-complication watchmaking since 2008 with everything from the remontoire they're likely most associated with to a tourbillon minute repeater. The Grönograaf (made of steel in 188 pieces and tantalum in 25) looks as creative from the dial as the movement is inside.

Teased by the centrifugal silent regulator poking through the dial at 3:30, Grönefeld has unveiled a new soft reset system, using that centrifugal governor to control the speed at which the hammers reset the hands. Instead of a hard jolt, you get a nice pillowy landing for the chronograph hand. This removes the wear and tear the parts would suffer from the otherwise violent actuation of a chronograph. And – not for nothing – the resulting movement architecture is stunning.

The Omega Speedmaster '57

The fact that a manually-wound two-register chronograph could make the best-of list next to the previous pieces speaks to what a great a job Omega did with their newest Speedmaster '57 release.

These new Speedies are different than the '57 Trilogy releases but they draw inspiration from the same place – in this case, the original CK 2915 Speedmaster – presented this time with a two-register layout. The brand used tomographic scanning of vintage CK 2915's to guide the case design, leading to straight lugs, no crown guards, and a symmetrical caseband to go with the broad arrow hands and "dot-over-90" and "base-1,000" tachymeter scale stainless steel bezel. And while the black sandwich dial with creamy fauxtina is undoubtedly classic, Omega brought modern flair with green, burgundy, and blue dials.

All that would be enough to make a fine release, but with a brand-new smaller manual-wind chronograph movement – the Omega caliber 9906 – Omega was able to make the thinnest Master Chronometer-certified Speedmaster yet. At just 6.4mm tall, the new caliber 9906 is thinner than the Omega caliber 3861 (6.7mm) and a bunch of other mainstream movements, allowing a relatively-svelte 40.5mm x 13mm total package while still giving a great column wheel movement finished in Arabesque Côtes de Genève decoration.

Sure, a lot of folks had issues with the inclusion of the date, but with the new Speedmaster '57, Omega has made a great watch to bridge the gap between watch-nerdom and the general public's demands.

The Ming 37.04 Monopusher

Made to celebrate the brand's fifth anniversary, the Ming 37.04 is a fascinating watch. With flared and twisted lugs, grade 5 titanium case with a display back, a black guilloche dial by Comblemine covered by sapphire showing minutes, pulsometer, and tachymeter in Super-LumiNova, it's everything you've come to expect from Ming over the past five years and one of the most recognizable new design languages. But it's the movement (and the horological heavyweights behind it) that sets the 37.04 over the top.

Inside we have the same monopusher chronograph movement found in the popular Cartier CPCP Tortue Monopoussoir, a movement designed by François-Paul Journe and Denis Flageollet (of De Bethune fame) at their company, Techniques Horlogères Appliquées, prior to their independent successes. Ming didn't just slap the movement in a case and call it a day. The movements were overhauled, updated, and refinished by La Joux Perret in La-Chaux-de-Fonds. Why didn't the watch make the top five? Only because the other entrants were so strong in their independent technical achievements. But it would have been a shame to leave it off the list altogether.

The Montblanc 1858 Minerva Monopusher Chronograph Red Arrow LE88

Minerva, the maker of storied vintage chronographs, has been a part of Montblanc since 2007, with their Villeret workshop producing vintage-inspired movements for Montblanc's highest-end watches and providing historical clout to a brand more closely associated with pens.

That's where the "1858" moniker comes from, not the year of Montblanc's founding but Minerva's, and the brand's Monopusher Red Arrow LE this year was a reminder of just what made Minerva chronographs so great. The release was a limited edition of 88 watches referencing Minerva's early aviation chronographs in the 1920s and '30s, most specifically a watch from 1927 with a fluted bezel and an internal countdown rotating bezel with a red arrow – both features that made it into this year's reproduction.

Aviation chronographs often came in oversized cases, so the new watch's 42mm measurement feels appropriate for this revival. The snail dial is also a classic but again, it's what's under the dial that counts. Powering the Monopusher Red Arrow is Montblanc's MB 13.21, based on the original caliber 13.20 from 1924, one of the earliest wristwatch-specific chronograph movements, manually wound with lateral-clutch column-wheel. In a year where modern technical achievements reigned supreme, Montblanc (and Minerva) shows you don't have to reinvent the wheel to make a great watch.

The Hamilton Khaki Pilot Pioneer Mechanical Chronograph

I was going to stick to five watches, but every time I looked through my long list I kept coming back to Hamilton's release from earlier this year, an asymmetrically-cased manually-wound vintage-inspired multi-hyphenate of a great watch, coming in at just a hair over $2,000.

With nice bold lume plots and a good balance of patina, this is a great modern interpretation of a group of military pilots' chronographs known in collectors circles as the "Fab Four." Those four manufacturers – Hamilton, CWC, Newmark, and Precista – were contracted to make watches under specifications from the UK Ministry of Defense for the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Air Arm. While the originals came in at a slightly different dimension (1mm smaller width, 2mm smaller lug width, and a thinner case) and a classic Valjoux 7733 movement, the new release comes close enough for me to keep coming back for another look, time and time again.

Not for nothing, but if you're not a fan of the military touches, Hodinkee released a limited edition reissue this year, as well, that was inspired by the Hamilton 6BB "G.S." – General Services – watch, made for non-military members of the British Armed Forces. That makes two great options for Hamilton fans.

Rugged, purpose-built, and – best of all for me – more affordable than any other on the list, the Hamilton rounds out 2022 as we get ready to press stop, reset, and start a new year of great watches to come.