Sunday, March 10, 2019 — 22:10 EDT (Monday, March 11, 2019 — 02:10 GMT)
It’s Sunday night here in Atlanta, toward the end of our last day of the #Chronomatic50 celebration, and I wanted to post a brief message to thank everyone who has participated in this fantastic event.
It all started in mid-January, when Fred and I realized that the 50th anniversary of the announcement of the Chronomatic movement was only a few weeks away. And the same way that Heuer and Breitling collaborated in the late 1960s, we thought that it would be fun to collaborate on this celebration.
Now that we are at the end of the celebration (or at least the first week of the celebration), I believe that I can also speak for Fred in saying that this event has been a pleasure, all along the way. We have had just over 700 postings with the #Chronomatic50 hashtag, and they have covered the full range of these watches. It’s difficult to think of a Heuer, Breitling, Hamilton or Buren model powered by the Chronomatic movement that hasn’t been posted, from the most common models to the very rare prototypes or test dials. We have seen the models for racers, pilots, skippers, soldiers, navigators, divers, engineers, and the list goes on and on.
We have also enjoyed the “grass roots” nature of this celebration. Without any detailed plans to promote or publicize the event, it feels like everyone who might have wanted to participate in the celebration heard about it, and so many vintage enthusiasts have posted amazing photos of their watches. In addition to the watches and the movements, we have seen advertisements, catalogs, instructions, boxes and just about everything else related to the Chronomatics.
The media also noticed this event. Scroll down this page, and you will see that #Chronomatic50 was covered by Fratello, Revolution and Hodinkee.
So thanks to everyone who made #Chronomatic50 such an amazing event. Let’s all catch our breaths and then we’ll find something else to celebrate!!
Friday, March 8, 2019 — 10:14 EST (Friday, March 8, 2019 — 15:14 GMT)
I just spotted an Instagram posting from Hamilton, with the #Chronomatic50 hashtag, and we certainly welcome them to the celebration!! We can say with certainty that without Hamilton-Buren on the Project 99 team, there might have been no Chronomatic movement (or at least, it might have taken a very different form).
Have a look at the Hamilton Instagram posting.
As of Friday morning (Eastern Standard Time), we have 621 postings under the #Chronomatic50 hashtag. Amazing!!
Let’s finish strong!!
Wednesday, March 6, 2019
Today, Hodinkee published my posting covering the first models of the Chronomatics, sold by Heuer, Breitling and Hamilton.
The elevator version — people can debate who won the race to produce the world’s first automatic chronographs, but by the Summer of 1969, these three brands were offering a selection of over 20 different models, in major markets around the world. The designs for these first models had their origins in the 1960s, and offer an amazing variety, from the “mild” Heyer Carreras and Hamilton Chrono-Matics to the “wild” ones — Heuer MOnaco, Breitling “pizza” cases, and Hamilton Fontainebleau.
Monday, March 4, 2019 — 21:10 EST (Tuesday, March 5, 2019 — 02:10 GMT)
Day Two was a bit quiet after the amazing opening on Day One, but still a steady stream of postings. Right now, at 492 postings with the #Chronomatic50 hashtag.
A couple of folks have asked how this event came into being. The quick answer — Around the middle of January, Fred and I were chatting and decided that this would be a fun event. Nothing fancy; no detailed plans; no deep engagement by the brands; just a collaboration between a Breitling collector and a Heuer collector, parallel to what happened in the mid-1960s.
The support from so many members of the vintage collectors community has been fantastic. People continue to send nice message and make fantastic postings. God knows we haven’t counted, but there must be postings from over 100 people. Everyone seems to have been aware of this event, even without much planned publicity. Yep, just a grass roots event, and everyone seems to be coming out to participate.
Here’s a posting on Revolution.com, covering The Race (to offer the first automatic chronograph) — 50th Anniversary of the Automatic Chronograph: Who Came First?
Sunday, March 3, 2019 — 21:45 EST (Monday, March 4, 2019 — 02:45 GMT)
What an insane day for the #Chronomatic50 celebration — we now have a total of over 430 postings on Instagram, using the #Chronomatic50 hashtag.
Once upon a time, I thought that I would make an “album” for the #Chronomatic50 event, showing some favorite postings, but I am doubting whether that will be feasible or worthwhile. We have too many great postings, and selecting from among them will be impossible. So for now, just browse the amazing photos, and select your own favorites.
TAG Heuer kicked off its #Monaco50 campaign today, as March 3, 1969 was the day when Heuer introduced the Monaco to the world. Have a look at this YouTube video posted by TAG Heuer.
Also, let’s keep an eye on the #Monaco50 hashtag, and we’ll see what develops there.
Sunday, March 3, 2019 — 7:10 EST (Sunday March 3, 2019 — 12:10 GMT)
Some excellent postings so far . . . 245 and counting.
Interesting posting from Fratello Watches . . . the Chronomatic Top 10 . . . read it HERE.
And a great video from Breitling, posted on Instagram, HERE.
Saturday, March 2, 2019 — 23:10 EST (Sunday March 3, 2019 — 4:10 GMT)
It’s March 3, 2019 in Europe, and we are off and running with the postings. There are currently 172 postings on Instagram with the hashtag #Chronomatic50 . . . what an awesome start to the celebration!!
We’ll use this posting for ongoing updates regarding the event.
Just to give it a little color, we’ll open with a couple of postings from @jewpanese.dude and @bristolnj_jeff.
