Identifying a Royal Geographic Socity watch

[sigg3net]

Hello!

I am quite new to wristwatches but I thought this could be the right place to ask a few questions. I recently got a wrist watch from a relative, but it has several dials and it says it is a Tachymetre and I have no idea how to set it/use it/take care of it. It's very nice so I intend to use it when I'm dressed up for the holidays.

I've no problem reading a user manual, but I haven't been able to locate one. This is the information I have available:
- Stainless steel, swiss made, 10ATM water resistant, sapphire crystal
- Its ID tag (if that's what it's called) is 667230.1
- It says Tachymetre too, apparantly some device to measure distance to a target..

Here's a snapshot I took:

Click for larger versions.

If anyone would be so kind as to point me in the right direction with regards to finding information about this wrist watch it would be very helpful. Thanks in advance, and let me know if you need more information.

[Archer]

Hello and welcome. I'm assuming this is a quartz watch, correct? If so, then it's pretty easy to use. The main crown at 3 o'clock is for setting the time, and likely if you pull the crown out one stop, you can change the date quickly as well (don't do this between 9 pm and 3 am thought, as depending on the type of date change mechanism it may be damaged during this time).

The watch has a chronograph function, which is a built in stop watch for timing events. The two chronograph pushers are for starting, stopping, and resetting the chronograph hands. The pusher at 2 o-clock starts and stops the main chronograph hand (long hand in the center of the movement pointing to 37 in your photo) in most cases, and the pusher at 4 o'clock will reset the hands.

The sub-dials tell you other information. The one at 6 o'clock is the constant seconds, so the regular second hand for the watch that ticks once per second. The sub-dial at 10 o'clock is for the chronograph minutes. It records up to 30 minutes of running for longer duration events. The sub-dial at 2 o'clock records the chronograph hours. So you can time an event that lasts up to 10 hours with this watch.

The tachymeter in this case is for measuring speed over a known distance. Say you are in a car driving down a highway and you want to know your speed. Start the chronograph function when you cross a mile marker (or kilometer marker, depending on where you live) and stop it at the next full mile or kilometer. The hand will point to a number on the scale, and that is the speed you are doing over that distance.

Hope this helps.

Cheers, Al

[sigg3net]

Thank you Al, that was very helpful!

I am not sure as to whether it's a Qwartz clock or not as there is no such logo/signature on it except for what I stated above.

Also, the relative who gave this to me said that it should not run out of batteries, lest it may get damaged. Is this correct of these kinds of watches?

I also noticed that it is smart enough to sense when I am wearing it and not (so only the bottom second counter at 6 o'clock) is moving now that I'm not wearing it. That's some brilliant technology.

I read up on tachymetres on Wikipedia. I understand what it's for but can't really see the use for it. (If you know the time at 1 mile mark and the time at 2 mile mark it's pretty easy to calculate, no?)

[Archer]

If the small seconds hand ticks one discreet second at a time, it's a quartz watch. If it was a mechanical watch, the second hand would move more smoothly and tick several times per second.

If you leave a dead battery inside a watch, it is more prone to leaking, which can cause damage to the watch. Most modern quartz watches will have what is known as an "End Of Life" indicator. The EOL usually takes the form of the watch ticking in an irregular manner, like every 2 or every 5 seconds rather than every second.

Not sure I follow you on the watch knowing when you are wearing it. That's a new one to me.

Anyway, glad I could help.

Cheers, Al

[sigg3net]

When I'm not wearing it, only the small seconds dial is active. When I put it on, the other dials come to life. I suspect it has something to do with heat.. Anyway, it's a clever way to save power.