Watchlords

If the chronograph is one of the most popular complications, it is also one of the most complex types of movements to manufacture. Not so long ago, just a handful of manufactures had the knowledge or the financial resources to produce their own, in-house mechanical chronograph calibre… but the past 20 years have witnessed the birth of an impressive number of self-developed movements.
During the 1970s, new accurate quartz movements gained popularity and plunged the Swiss watch industry into a deep crisis. Sales of mechanical watches declined sharply, production of mechanical movements was reduced to a trickle, and many Swiss watchmakers went out of business. Zenith is an eloquent example of how stock and production capacities were destroyed (and saved by an act of disobedience for El Primero – read the history of this iconic chronograph here).

https://monochrome-watches.com/state-of ... ronograph/