In 1913 Berna Watch Co filed their patent for a stopwatch with five circular apertures in the dial (see left picture), and a rotating coloured indicator disk underneath, to be used for visualizing 5 time intervals (duration to be determined by the mechanism) of a sports event. The year after, in 1914 Berna introduced the watch for a 5 minutes period and with a backwards counting sweep second hand (see right picture), obvious for the countdown of a sailing regatta.
For more information please check the Holy Grail section here.
So, in 2014 we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Regatta-Yachttimer using this type of countdown system! And as recently brands like Alpine, Corum and TAG-Heuer have introduced their latest regatta watch with newly developed movements, there’s still a great interest for them. Let’s see what the next couple of years will bring us…