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The terms are often confused: a chronograph has a stopwatch function that you start, stop and reset using two pushers next to the crown. A chronometer, on the other hand, is a particularly accurate watch whose movement has passed an official test – in Switzerland, for example, by the COSC. A watch can be both, but doesn't have to be.

The small sub-dials (totalisers) count the stopped minutes and hours; another one often shows the running seconds. On some cheap watches the sub-dials are just decoration or show the day of the week and a 24-hour display – it's worth checking the description.

Quartz chronographs are the most common: accurate, slim and affordable. The large seconds hand usually jumps in one-second steps when timing. Meca-quartz movements such as the Seiko VK63 combine quartz regulation with a mechanical chronograph module: the chronograph hand sweeps smoothly and snaps back instantly on reset – a feel like that of mechanical watches. Automatic chronographs are complex, thicker and considerably more expensive; well-known movements include the Valjoux/ETA 7750.

Chronographs have a lot of detail on the dial. Good legibility comes from clear contrasts, not too many scales and a clearly distinct chronograph hand. Because of the additional module, the cases are usually larger and thicker than simple three-hand watches – 40 to 44 millimetres is typical. On a leather or silicone strap the watch looks sporty and light, on a stainless steel bracelet rather chunky.

Check the water resistance: 3 to 5 bar is enough for everyday use, but it should be 10 bar for swimming; only operate the pushers underwater if the manufacturer allows it. Luminous hands help in poor light.

Quartz chronographs need a new battery after a few years. Have it changed by a watchmaker, because the water resistance should be tested after the case has been opened. If the chronograph hands don't sit exactly at twelve o'clock after resetting, many movements let you adjust this via a correction function in the crown – the movement's manual explains how.