WATCH DNA: Victorinox Swiss Army ChronoPro Chronographs

Finally, I’m writing about one of my all-time favorite watches, the Victorinox Swiss Army ChronoPro. This discontinued family of chronographs represents a high benchmark for the Victorinox. They are some of my most-preferred watches to wear. From great design, manageable sizes and all-around fantastic quality… the Swiss Army ChronoPro seems to have all the things that I am looking for in a watch in just the right amounts. While I would like to own all of the ChronoPro models ever made, I currently “only” own four. Let’s compare a few and see what makes these stellar watches tick.

Chronograph Lovers Unite

I realize that I already sound like a ChronoPro fanboy, but my fascination with chronographs started long before this watch was designed. I’ve loved chronographs since I was a little boy. That’s me in the photo to the right getting a Casio for my tenth birthday. My mother (who chose that wallpaper) teased that I liked to time everything. I knew how long every wedding or church service was. How many hours it took to drive to Grandma’s house. How long a block of commercials lasted on television. This is probably the result of a curious young mind, but it also showed an obsessive fascination with watches that time events. If it had buttons and a built-in stopwatch, so much the better.

If you cannot fathom why someone would wear a chronograph or want to time events on a watch (when a phone can do it better), then maybe the Swiss Army ChronoPro is not for you. Maybe you prefer 3-handed watches for their simplicity and beauty. I can understand that from an intellectual point of view, but not an emotional one. I feel that connecting with a watch has to do with more than just looking at it. Sure, wearing it daily or on special adventures can create an emotional bond with a timepiece, but so can using it as the tool it was meant to be.

Chronographs are timers and starting, stopping and resetting them happens with a satisfying click of a pusher. The wearer has the ability to accurately measure time and control when it starts or stops (at least on his own dial). This deeper interaction beyond aesthetics can make chronograph freaks like me go from liking a watch to loving it. Whatever the psychological reason, I am forewarning you that this article will be about nothing except chronographs.

Swiss Army Design Peak

I talk to a lot of Victorinox Swiss Army watch collectors, and one thing seems to be consistent. The early-2000s were a wonderful time for the brand to make memorable watches. Victorinox’s designers during that decade were churning out future classics like Airbosses, Alpnachs, and ChronoPros (among others). There seemed to be more variety in their product offerings back then. The I.N.O.X., which dominates the current product line, had not yet arrived.

I regard many watches from this decade to be the best that the brand produced, but you can judge for yourself. I’ll be looking backward at old designs more than forward to new designs when it comes to collecting Swiss Army watches. No disrespect is intended by admitting this. Personally, I just resonate with their older watch designs.

A “Rolex-Daytona-Style” Case

I bought a ChronoPro from a watch collecting buddy of mine. Thanks, Stevo! He described the watch as the Daytona-style chronograph. If you don’t know what he was referring to, it was the Rolex Daytona Cosmograph. That watch is one of the most famous and desired chronographs in the world. They are infamous for having waiting lists to buy one. There is no sane way to compare an affordable Swiss Army ChronoPro to a Rolex. The Rolex costs as much as a nice car and is in a different universe of prestige and quality. Regardless, looking at the shape of my ChronoPros got me asking crazy questions…

Does the Swiss Army ChronoPro look like a Rolex Daytona in any way? The answer is a little bit of “yes” and a lot of “no”. It just depends on what part of the ChronoPro and which era of Daytona you compare. The Rolex Daytona has a long varied history, and I am not qualified to even discuss it, but the guys as Rolex Passion Report are. Check them out if you want to go deeper on that watch.

Rolex Daytonas after 1988 dramatically changed when its case was redesigned to include crown guards. ChronoPros remind me most of this Daytona style. Compare the silhouettes of each watch and see what you think. While the proportions are a little different, they share similarities. You could be forgiven for mistaking a ChronoPro for a Rolex Daytona from the other side of a smoky bar (especially if you have had a few drinks). The most distinctive thing you might notice from this distance is the asymmetrical assembly on the right side of each case.

Both watches include a chunky screw-down crown with prominent crown guards. They also include two pushers that have screw-in locking mechanisms. These are similar concepts executed at different price points.

This fantasy comparison between the two watches becomes a stretch if we consider the nuances. The proportions of the cases are different. The Daytona looks more squat and compact than the ChronoPro, which has a longer crown and pushers. The Daytona is smaller at 40 mm and the ChronoPro ranges from 41.5 mm for the majority of the models to 42.5 mm for the last version. Thank goodness that Victorinox showed some restraint and did not bloat the size of the ChronoPro to follow the “oversized watch” trend of a few years ago (45 mm+).

Another major difference between the watches is that the post-1998 Rolex Daytona has a fat bezel with an engraved tachymeter scale. The last ChronoPro (seen above, far right) has a similar engraved bezel concept, but most of the ChronoPro models use a different approach. These ChronoPros have thinner bezels, and the tachymeter scale is printed on the chapter ring under the crystal. This changes the proportions of the watch more than anything else. A thinner bezel (compared to the Rolex) arguably looks more streamlined and sporty to me.

Of course, the Rolex Daytona is the more impressive watch in most ways, but I currently prefer the look of the Swiss Army ChronoPro. I know that is blasphemy to say out loud. I realize that it is not logical or fair to compare these watches either. This just a situation of one watch vaguely reminding me of the other. My opinion is based on my personal taste in watches so your’s may differ. If I ever had the money, I would likely want a vintage Rolex Daytona without crown guards and not the post-1998 case. Luckily for me, I like the cheaper Swiss Army watch. While I would not kick a Rolex Daytona out of bed, I don’t feel like I have to own one… at least at this point in my (bargain) watch collecting career.

The Movement Influences the Dial Design

The layout of a chronograph dial is dependent on the movement used in the watch. Each subdial gear has a specific location that the watch designer has to take into account. Unless a watch manufacturer is creating an expensive in-house movement like the Rolex Daytona and have total control, they have to stick what is required from the movement. Victorinox Swiss Army ChronoPros use the celebrated Valjoux 7750 chronograph movement from ETA. The Valjoux 7750 uses 25 jewels and has a power reserve of about 44 hours. It is often called the workhorse of the Swiss watch industry. They have been used by expensive brands and cheap ones too. An ebauche movement made by someone else is a great starting point for many manufacturers who want to produce a watch without the added expense of designing and manufacturing an in-house movement.

The truth is that many chronographs look very similar, and use common sense and traditional watchmaking logic to layout the dial. Standard minute and hour hands are featured most prominently on the dial. There is a large seconds hand too, but that is usually stationary until the user activates the stopwatch (aka chronograph) function. Instead, a small running seconds hand is relegated to one of the subdials. The purpose of this subdial is to prove that the watch is running. This is most critical for watches that use hand-wound movements that require the user to wind the spring manually before the power reserve runs down. The other two subdials on a chronograph often record minutes and also hours, but this can vary based on the watch.

Once you see how the Valjoux 7750’s subdials are arranged at 12-6-9, it is easier to deduce whether a chronograph has this movement. The Swiss Army ChronoPro has this telltale subdial configuration. Chronographs that use the Valjoux 7750 often have the brand logo located at the 3:00 position to counterbalance the three subdials. These 7750-powered watches can also have a date and day-of-the-week complication.

On the other hand, the Rolex Daytona, uses an in-house movement and has its subdials arranged at 3-6-9. The advantage of this layout is that the logo can go at the top of the watch at 12:00. Watch nerds applaud this layout for its perfect symmetry. The Daytona has no date window for a cleaner dial (but at the cost of having no date). That’s the last I’ll mention about the Rolex Daytona as the comparison is getting more tenuous by the second.

A Progressive Design Approach for ChronoPro

Many ChronoPros share similar characteristics and only a few details distinguish one model from the next. Five of the six models use the same 41.5 mm case. Only the last ChronoPro deviated from that case with a larger 42.5 mm size. This means that only a few features were changed per model including the dial color, dial decoration, the straps or bracelets, the bezel and the screw-down locks for the pushers. This means that the watches have a strong, unified theme that ties them together.

The Differences are Mostly on the Dial

Victorinox Swiss Army stuck to a winning formula from the first model and changed a few things to create a wide variety of looks over the series. In cooking, the same ingredients can be paired differently to create different flavor profiles. That is similar to what happened with the ChronoPros. The most dramatic variations occur on the dial.

The dials of the watches in the ChronoPro family show shared DNA traits, but each has a unique personality. This is similar to seeing siblings of a large family together. They look related, but they are still individuals. Looking at the ChronoPros in chronological order, it is tempting to draw conclusions on how the watch designers approached the different models. It looks like a progression from one stylistic theme to the next.

21 Millimeter Lugs

Swiss Army ChronoPros have a feature that many collectors will not like because it is out of the ordinary. Instead of having 20 mm or 22 mm lugs, it has the rare 21 mm size. This fact will make some ultra picky watch guys dismiss the ChronoPro as a non-starter. This is because 21 mm is not a common watchband width, and it is more difficult to find aftermarket straps for your watch. While this is true, I have found that fitting a 22 mm strap between 21 mm lugs is usually not a problem if the leather strap is supple.

I’m not shy about trying different watch strap combinations. Some instantly work, while others are failures. The fun is discovering what works best for your wrist and your own sense of style. The NATOs above get at YES, but the G10 below gets a NOPE for me. Regardless, that dial looks killer.

One variant of nylon strap that is often overlooked is the Bell & Ross style of nylon strap seen below. These are 2-part straps that do not add any bulk under a watch like most single-pass and double-pass NATOs do. They are fastened with hook-and-loop (velcro) and the fit is finely adjustable. Just make sure to order the correct size for your wrist.

Like the leather straps, 22 mm NATO straps should fit into a 21mm space without much concern. Some 20 mm nylon straps could be slightly wider than their advertised width so it is worth trying. It just comes down to your comfort level and how anal-retentive you want to be about seeing any gaps between the lugs. 21 mm Victorinox straps are still for sale if you know where to look such as Reflections of Infinity who sells a wide variety of Victorinox Swiss Army straps and bracelets.

The Best Seven Link Bracelet from Victorinox Swiss Army

I’ve seen a lot of bracelet designs from Victorinox Swiss Army, and the one that some ChronoPro models shipped with is my favorite by far. Instead of a one-link, three-link or five-link bracelet, the ChronoPro has a seven-link bracelet. I am not using this term to describe the number of links from the lugs to the clasp. Instead, I am talking about the number of links found across the width of a bracelet.

More links make an intricate appearance, especially when all the links are different sizes. The ChronoPro bracelet uses one wide link, two medium links and four thin links for every section. As you can see from the pattern above, the links are staggered with open gaps between the pieces. They also subtly taper to a 19 mm clasp. And, the watch has several half-links that can be installed for a perfect fit. You can see those nearest to the clasp above.

This is a beautiful bracelet design to my eye. The links are brushed and catch light from every angle and shape it into a mini lightshow on your wrist. What guy can resist the allure of stainless steel on full display? The design of the bracelet also contributes to a great wearing watch as the bracelet drapes around your wrist. However, you should be aware that the lug-to-lug distance of 50 mm is deceiving.

Many watches with bracelets wear wider than their listed lug-to-lug distance (the measurement from one lug tip to the other) suggest. With a bracelet installed, the lug-to-lug distance is more like 53.5 mm. This is because the links closest to the watch flare out a little. This gives the Swiss Army ChronoPro its distinctive stance that you can see in the wrist shots. It helps to shape the case to almost a barrel (tonneau) shape. This is quite a trick for a round watch and very clever of the designers. I love this shape of this watch!

The good news is that you can always wear the Swiss Army ChronoPro on leather or nylon straps to get the lug-to-lug distance back to a more forgiving 50 mm width. These other straps will drape straight down as you can see below. They should feel smaller on your wrist as well.

Notice how the look of the Swiss Army ChronoPro changes when does not have the bracelet. It no longer looks like a tonneau watch and look round again. Because of this, always opt for a bracelet if you can find one. At least this will give you options later. It took me years to outfit all of my ChronoPros with the 7-link bracelet so have patience.

The Final Verdict

The Victorinox Swiss Army ChronoPro remains one of my favorite watches that the brand produced. There has not been a direct replacement for this style since it went out of production sometime in the early 20-teens. There is no telling why this watch family was left behind. I don’t think that Swiss Army would ever bring it back, but I think it’s time for a revival. I wonder waht a modern take on this would be?

Only Victorinox knows their sales numbers so you have to believe that the ChronoPro was discontinued for a reason. Maybe it did not sell well? Maybe it was too expensive to make? Maybe it did not fit with the types of watches that they wanted to sell like the successful I.N.O.X. Regardless of what happened, ChronoPros can still be purchased on the used market like eBay. If you are really lucky, you can score one at a great price. You’ll get bonus points if you find one with the amazing seven-link bracelet.

As I look into the future of my watch collection, I know that I will likely have fewer Swiss Army watches. It is inevitable as I branch out to explore other brands from Switzerland, Germany, and Japan. However, I think that I will always have a few ChronoPros no matter what. They are in my “do not sell” pile and they could be the last of my Victorinox Swiss Army models standing. That says a lot considering how much I love my other Victorinox watches. Hopefully, this article could help future ChronoPro collectors sort out the details. Good luck and happy watch hunting.