The Breitling Watch Source Forums

One of those little things that has always puzzled me. Could someone please explain the purpose of the central 1/100th hour indicator on the Montbrillant.

The press release for the Legende states that it is a traditional feature but what is/was measured in 1/100th of an hour?

"The styling and layout of the dial are resolutely inspired by the 1940s. The same goes for the hands, the traditional central 1/100th of an hour indication..."

And how do you use it to actually measure the time?



I know there are a few owners on here so I hope one of you can enlighten me!

Thanks.

Hello Sharkmouth, you are not alone in this

i have posed the same question to my AD when i was getting my Datora, and obviously he does not know the answer for sure

but what he tried to explain was something like the following... when it comes to time we are used to think in terms of 60s, however for other numerical applications we are used to the decimal system (10s , 100s , etc). now we as lay humans will face a problem converting from 60s to 100s and here comes the magical scale of the Monty. so if i were to tell you that i will be meeting you in 10th of an hour, you will not be confused becasue simply 10th of an hour will read 6 minutes on your normal hour scale

in the scope of my knowledge, i would assume there is not much of applications of this in day to day matters...but hey, no doubt this is a nice addition to the beautry of all Monties

i hope that was of help

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Time is precious, keep it with elegance!
-Alien13-

That was quick! Thanks alien.

If I'm getting it right then, it doesn't measure passing time but is just a scale like the Fahrenheit/centigrade on the back of some models.

Maybe it was/is used by accountants/solicitors etc who charge by the hour?

Cheers!

The 1/100 scale can typically be found on some pilot watches. When I was flying our flight times were always measured in 1/100 hours for cost, maintenance, flight hours in specific aircraft type, etc. purposes. This was kept track by the engine hour meter so if one were to use the watch chronograph as backup they could easily convert from the 60 min. dial to 1/100 hours and log into flight book.

That's my explanation and sticking with it! (sounds good from a pilot point of view too)

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Chronospace EVO Night Mission
Superocean II 42mm

That’s the explanation I have always heard. The 100ths scale also appears on other Breitling watches — perhaps most notably, the Chronomat.

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Cheers,
Jim

well... no. the 1/100th scale on the Montbrillant has actually nothing to do w/ aviation - it is a "Decimal Scale", primarily used for production timing & scientific calculations.
Using the sweep chrono seconds hand, it divides the minute into 100 parts allowing for the decimal conversion of time.

As Jim says, it was a design feature of the original 1940s Chronomat, the "Chronograph for Mathematicians" (although there are earlier examples of decimal scale Breitling chronographs) and was revived on the Montbrillant line.