Vintage 1969 Dugena Doctor Medical Chronograph Pulsations Pulsometer watch w Box

Having a love for complications and complicated watches, makes me love Chronograph watches. At first two register chronograph for simplicity of the dial and providing chronograph functionality for the most. Then the three-register chronograph for the complication of movement and the history of the movements, like of the iconic Omega Ref. 321, Ref. 861 (used in famous moon landing), Zenith El Primero, Venus mostly used in Breitlings, Landeron, and one of the most well-known movement makers Valjoux. With their famous Valjoux 72 put in the vintage Rolex Pre Daytona’s and of course the big dog Patek Philippe reference 2499 using Valjoux 88 my favorite which sold in auction for $3.30 Million in 2018.  I also love the Heuer Caliber 11 first micro automatic chronograph movement with date.

A Chronograph is simply a watch that combines the function of a stopwatch with a timekeeping display watch, by utilizing an independent sweep second hand. Chronographs often have complications on the face of the watch which can be used to record different time measurements, moon cycles, heart rate and more. Chronographs have usually have a separate buttons to stop, start, and reset (unless it is an monopusher) the stopwatch complication, with the start button typically at the two and four o’clock position.

The name Chronograph is derived from the Greek words ‘Chronos’ – the personification of time – and ‘graph’, meaning to write. The first modern Chronograph was created in 1816 by French watchmaker, Louis Moinet. Invented solely for use in union with astrological equipment, Moinet’s Chronograph could measure time accurate to 1/60th of a second – an unrivaled degree of precision at the time of its creation.

"poor man's" Heu-ers represent an interesting facet of Heu-er's history and also provide a sensible way for individuals to collect these chronographs on a more reasonable budget. The term "Poor Man's Heu-er" only to refer to chronographs manufactured by Heu-er for other brands one of which is Zodiac & Clebar, which is one of my favorite brands. Please note on ebay there are few brands that are not made by Heu-er and still refer to as Poor man which is not true.

Dugena was a group of watch manufacturers based in Germany, with more than 100 years of history. Back in 1917,  multiple smaller businesses were grouped as a collective of companies under the name Deutsche Uhrmacher-Genossenschaft Alpina-Dugena. They supplied watches under the brand name Alpina to the German armed forces during WWII – like the field watch below, which met with the Wehrmacht wartime specifications. This watch featured a chrome-plated metal case, fixed lugs, a 15 jewel movement by Marc Favre and a stainless steel screw-on caseback stamped DH “Dienstuhr Heer” – which could be translated as Army Service Watch. Also know as a classic poor man's Heuer. The name "Dugena" is one of Germany's most famous watch brands. The roots of the company lie in Switzerland, namely with the Swiss watchmaker association Corporation d'Horlogers Suisse, which was founded in 1883 by Gottlieb Hauser. This was called Union Horlogère from 1901 and presented itself at this time with the brand name Alpina, which was first used as the name of a proprietary caliber. The late sixties to early seventies was the most productive era of swiss watchmaking industry therefore it was also the most creative, competition was so hard that each of the hundred brands had to push boundaries to find a commercial spot. Dugena was able to do so by creating innovative watch designs such as this chronograph. 

What is a Pulsometer watch? It was as early as the 1920's that people began monitoring their health with a watch. It was the creation of the Pulsometer, also known as the Pulsograph that allowed those in the medical profession to simplify the process of taking a pulse through a convenient scale marked on the watch.