Watch family · Complication
Split-Seconds (Rattrapante) Chronographs
VerifiedA refined chronograph mechanism with two superimposed seconds hands that can be split apart to record an intermediate time and then rejoined, allowing the timing of two related events.
Movement & mechanism
- A second chronograph hand mounted on its own wheel, controlled by a separate split-seconds pusher
- A clamp (pincer) mechanism that grips the split hand's wheel, allowing it to stop while the main chronograph continues
- Additional column wheel or lever system dedicated to the split function
Identification
- Two overlapping seconds hands sharing the same pivot point
- A third pusher, usually in the crown or case band, dedicated to the split function
Terminology
- Rattrapante — French for 'catching up', describing the split hand rejoining the main hand
- Pincer (clamp) — the component briefly gripping the split-seconds wheel
Known variations
- Two-hand rattrapante
- Triple split (multiple superimposed complications) — a modern extension of the classic split-seconds concept
Pocket-watch ancestry
Split-seconds mechanisms were developed for pocket chronographs and pocket-timing instruments used in sport, science and railway timing before being adapted, with considerable difficulty given their added thickness, to wrist calibres.
Collecting notes
Among the most technically complex and expensive chronograph variants to collect, valued for both complexity and rarity relative to standard chronographs.
Related photographs
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No confidently matched photograph of this subject has been found yet. These photographs show a closely related record, and are not examples of the type described on this page.
Sources & references
- Daniels, G., Watchmaking
Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.