Watches Off the cuff: what is a flyback?

Chronographs. Flybacks. GMTs. Watch complications can seem a bit confusing. Don’t worry, we’ve got just the thing to help you break it down. To appreciate the flyback, you need to understand the chronograph.  In its simplest terms, a chronograph is a stopwatch that records or measures elapsed time. Chronographs often come in two key variations: traditional and flyback. Some of TAG Heuer’s most iconic timepieces are traditional chronographs. Take the new TAG Heuer Carrera 60th Anniversary Edition as an example. It’s a modern take on a classic chronograph. The legendary TAG Heuer Monaco is also a traditional chronograph. So, what’s a flyback then? We’re going to explain the difference between traditional and flyback chronographs, with a little help from our elegant new timepiece, the TAG Heuer Autavia Flyback Chronometer.

Traditional chronographs have two pushers on either side of the crown. You press the top pusher to start and stop the chronograph function. The bottom pusher resets the chronograph to zero. Simple, right? The flyback takes things up a notch. It empowers you stop, reset, and start again with a single pusher. (Usually the bottom one.) So you start the flyback by pressing the top pusher. Once you’re ready to time another interval, you simply press the bottom pusher, which rolls three steps into one – stop, reset to zero, and restart. This enables you to time multiple intervals. Which brings us to our new timepiece.

The TAG Heuer Autavia is born from the worlds of automobiles and aviation. The collection has always been known for its chronographs and flybacks. And in that spirit, we present the new TAG Heuer Autavia Flyback Chronometer. Now that you know what a flyback is, you can fully appreciate the beauty of this timepiece. Its gorgeous black dial has the words Autavia Automatic Chronometer Flyback emblazoned on it. The ceramic black, bidirectional bezel. The three exquisitely-set counters. This timepiece is a call back to flybacks gone by. Even the shiny steel screw-down crown and pushers have an air of authority. If you haven’t had any cravings for a flyback, you will now.