The Dubai Mall hosted a unique exhibition dedicated to the 200-year-old history of chronographs, which was jointly brought to the UAE by Montblanc and the Swiss International Watch Museum.
Chronographs were born in 1821, when the French watchmaker Nicolas Riussek filed a patent for the invention of table clocks. This watch worked thanks to a pair of rotating disks and a droplet of ink, with the help of which two specific points in time were noted on the disks. Since then, the functionality of chronographs and the technology of their manufacture have changed significantly. The chronograph owes its name to two words of Greek origin: "chronos" - time and "grafayn" - to record. The coordinated work of a complex mechanism ensures the perfect interaction of individual parts.
At the exhibition in Dubai, a peculiar “time scale” was presented, demonstrating the development of technologies without which the emergence of a chronograph would be impossible. Each stage on the “scale” symbolized unique exhibits - entire eras in watchmaking. For example, the chronograph of Nicolas Riussek himself, created by him in 1821. In addition to the chronographs of the 19th century, modern chronographs with unique mechanisms and design were shown during the exhibition. Some of the exhibits were provided by the museum, others belong to Montblanc. At the exhibition, one could see various areas of application of chronographs: from horse racing and scientific research to industry and modern aviation. Today, chronographs have also become an attribute of luxury. All this influenced their appearance and functionality.
“We were pleased to present this exhibition in Dubai as part of its six-month world tour,” said Joe Nahhas, Montblanc's regional director. “Chronographs have played and continue to play a major role in watchmaking and time measurement, performing various functions. The history of their occurrence It’s very close to our company’s philosophy, because the world's first chronograph, created by Riussek, consisted of watches and a writing instrument, it was a great honor for us to join forces with the Swiss Watch Museum and present these interesting facts to the public oric exhibits. "
