Leaving the chronograph running all the time will eventually run the oils dry and have wear and tear on certain friction parts that are subject to stress. ... In fact, starting and stopping a chronograph continuously might wear out the gears faster than usual.

Can I leave my chronograph running?

Yes, those gears will experience additional wear versus not running the chronograph, but that's a couple extra bucks at service time. In short, if you have a vertical coupling chronograph, run it if you really want.

How long do chronograph watches last?

Commonly using anywhere between one and three buttons, these “pushers” start, stop and reset the chronograph function without interfering with the watch. While some watches can only record up to thirty minutes at a time, others can go as long as 12-hours.