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Instruments · Stopwatch

Stopwatch by Junghans, Germany, 1930s–1960s

DocumentedDocumented from the holding institution's catalogue record.
Maker / attribution
Junghans (maker)
Date
1930s–1960s
Country of origin
Germany
Place
Germany
Object type
Stopwatch
Materials / technique
metal, glass
Dimensions
height 24,00 cm; width 22,50 cm; depth 8,00 cm
Holding institution
HUS
Accession / object no.
HUS20221e2
Credit line
HUS (via Finna)
Catalogue title (original)
Kello; Ajanottokello; ajastin; sekuntikello (Finnish)

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Record summary

Held and catalogued by HUS (object number HUS20221e2), this is a stopwatch by Junghans, made in Germany, dated 1930s–1960s. The Atlas places it in the Modern Mechanical Horology period (1945 – 1969) of its Instruments collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: metal, glass. Recorded dimensions: height 24,00 cm; width 22,50 cm; depth 8,00 cm. The record is illustrated with 1 photograph.

Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.

Catalogue description

Description — HUS

Metallirunkoinen mekaaninen kello. Runko on maalaamaton. Valkoinen kellotaulu, jossa minuutti- ja sekuntikello. Päällä käynnistysnappi.

Shown in the original language of the source catalogue. An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.

Description — HUS

Kello on ollut käytössä tapaturma-asemalla.

Shown in the original language of the source catalogue. An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.

Historical context

Modern Mechanical Horology (1945 – 1969)

Tool watches for divers, pilots and astronauts; electric watches anticipate the electronic age.

Electronic instruments, quartz frequency standards and the first atomic clocks transformed precision timing in laboratories and broadcasting.

Read the period in the timelineMore instruments from this periodEarlier: Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking

Atlas type guide

Timers, stopwatches, chronoscopes and time recorders

Instruments for measuring short intervals or recording when something happened form a large and practical branch of horology. Sports stopwatches and split-seconds timers, laboratory chronoscopes (such as Hipp's, which measured thousandths of a second for psychology and ballistics experiments), metronomes for music, watchmen's clocks that recorded patrol rounds, and the time recorders that clocked factory workers in and out all derive from clock and watch technology.

These objects matter historically because they show timekeeping leaving the observatory and the drawing room and entering industry, science and sport. Many were mass-produced, and their dials, scales and patents chart the rise of electrification and industrial management.

What to look for

  • Scales graduated in fifths, tenths or hundredths of a second, or decimal minutes for industrial use.
  • Start, stop and reset push-pieces; a second hand that can be stopped independently (split seconds).
  • Recording devices: paper discs or tapes, printing mechanisms, keys or punches.
  • Patent numbers and dates on the dial or case, which give a terminus post quem.

Dating clues

  • Hipp chronoscopes were made from the 1840s into the twentieth century.
  • Employee time recorders spread from the 1890s (Bundy, IBM, International Time Recording Co.).
  • Quartz and electronic timers replaced mechanical stopwatches in sport from the 1970s.

General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.

Read next:Flyback chronograph

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