Chronographe Medical x Massena Lab

Doctor's orders

The Angelus Chronographe Médical, limited to 99 pieces, echoes the functional watchmaking and chronograph heritage of Angelus watches. Indeed, this chronograph is designed specifically for a profession and its needs. Its dual pulsometer and asthmometer scales make it a practical tool chronograph, with a notably original display of the two scales.

In the 1960s, Angelus launched its “doctor’s watch”: a wrist-worn, hand-wound chronograph with a distinctive dial. It featured a dual scale for reading vital signs during patient examinations: a pulsometer – to measure the patient’s pulse – and an asthmometer – to record respiratory rate. This rare piece, which follows the 1950s and 1960s trend of specializing chronographs for specific functional or professional needs, has been modernized by Angelus to appeal to contemporary tastes.

The pulsometer and asthmometer functions, and how they are displayed on the dial, remain unique to Angelus' own execution. Here, the two scales are positioned to maximize their legibility and clarity. The typeface used is particularly wide, contrasting, and impossible to overlook. Two large arrows highlight these scales; one, curved and crossing the minute circle, is entirely unique. This layout shows that this timepiece was intended to be a tool, with visual precedence given to its utilitarian functions.  When combined with the fact that the chronograph function only measures 60 seconds, this piece becomes a specialist model. It is fitted on a full-grain calfskin Novonappa strap in a beautiful shade of golden brown that develops a patina over time and is one of the finest skins used in leather goods.

Inside the Chronographe Médical x Massena LAB, Angelus integrates a specially configured version of its A5000 calibre, adapted to reproduce the architecture of classic single-pusher chronographs. The movement is controlled by a single mushroom-shaped pusher at 2 o’clock, which sequentially starts, stops and resets the chronograph through a traditional column-wheel mechanism. The choice of manual winding not only keeps the movement slim and mechanically pure but also echoes Angelus’ early chronograph calibres, placing the user in direct interaction with the heart of the mechanism.