Mikrograph — 1/100 Second Stopwatch

Introduced circa 1915, Le “Mikrographe” (which we will call the “Mikrograph”, as this was the name that would appear on the dial within a few years) offered 1/100 second timing. Early versions of the Mikrograph had a display of 3 minutes; this was soon changed to a display of two minutes.

The Mikrograph used a three-function crown — in addition to winding the stopwatch, successive pushes of the crown start the timing, stop the timing and reset the stopwatch to zero.

In the early versions of the Mikrograph, when the stopwatch is wound and has been reset to zero, the balance wheel continues to “run”, even though the hands are stopped; the oscillating pinion is used to engage the stopwatch second hand “on the fly” (i.e., with the balance wheel running), to ensure the quickest possible start. It is only when the stopwatch is stopped that the balance wheel stops running.

Reference 601A, Circa 1930

Catalog Information

A 1933 Heuer catalog identifies the Micrographe as the “Reference 601A” model and identifies the movement for the Micrographe as the Reference 100A. This catalog identifies the Microsplit as the “Reference 604B” model and identifies its movement as the “Reference 201”.

[to be revised] [The 1936 catalog shows the Semikrograph as a stopwatch with 1/50 second accuracy and 3 minute capacity, but with no split second function. It appears that the Semikrograph with split second function (shown in this Gallery) is the earlier use of the model name. The Semicrosplit shown in this 1936 catalog has the same markings and functions as the stopwatch previously called the Semikrograph. We can assume that Heuer changed the name to Semicrosplit to make clear that this is a split second stopwatch.]

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