Stopwatch: Lugrin, 1876

Henri Alfred Lugrin of New York patented this timing watch in 1876, US 176,231. Instead of placing the timing hand on the face, where it needs more gearing, he put the timing hand and its own dial on top of the watch movement. The hand is geared to the watch's second wheel through a pinion and wheel, and sits on its post by a tube and friction spring, so it can be stopped while the watch runs on. A heart-shaped cam and lever return it to the start, and the same lever also returns a minute hand on a small sectional dial beside it. A stop lever holds the timing hand. Lugrin's hand moves in fifths of a second but he calls it the quarter-second hand.