Horological Meandering

chintu
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And more facts to ponder...

The current standards applied are ISO 3159 ( avg daily rate variation to be not more than -4/+6 seconds which any watch will be capable of with today's engineering technology that is available).

For a change the competition tests "cased" watches.

The shock test is limited to simulating a "strong clap" for 25 times.

Does not appear too much of an ask?

In 1967 - the number of participants in the Neuchatel Observatory Competition was 1700. In the 2011 competition there have been approximately 18 competitors!!

It appears that the Swiss watch industry refuses to stand up and be tested for their claims on their Calibers and their performance.

If this was a similar situation in the Pharmaceutical & Bulk Drugs or in the Automobile industry,  with no standards to measure upto , imagine the consequences to health and safety.

The Swiss watch industry does not appear to want to set stringent standards to measure the performance of the calibers, water resistance, long term stability, shock resistance, magnetic resistance (beyond the normal every day magnetic influences around us from TV, electrical appliances etc). Of course the manufacturers can continue to claim that these are of course being tested with their internal standards.

Each watch manufacturer therefore can advertise increased water resistance ( 300 m, 1000 m etc); ability to withstand a quarter "G" of shocks and no authority to certify these.

Finally the hype boils down to how beautiful the movement looks and shines and how only one watchmaker works on the watch etc. Every one goes hyper over the anglage, perlage, finissage, jewelled chatons and what not. It simply does not matter if the watch loses tens of seconds each day or stops and all get explained as the quirks of "manfuacture calibers" and how one must appreciate the artistry behind watch making. ( With due respects to the very few manufacturers who deliver real quality in their Calibers)

Let us not forget that when John Harrison made his H-1 to H-4, in the early 1700, the H-4 lost all of "5 seconds" in its  6 week voyage in rough seas. He made the watch entirely by hand with none of the fancy CAD/CAM designs and the sophisticated gadgetry that today's swiss watch companies possess. For the horologically minded I recommend reading "Longitude" by Dava Sobel to give you an idea of what the clockmakers struggled to achieve in terms of time-keeping accuracy ( the very purpose of the watch) and reliability.

I believe that firstly the Swiss watch industry must

1. Revise the chronometric standards - test cased movements for longer durations, vulnerability to daily shocks, operation of crown, pushers, time-setting actions, water resistance, magnetic field resistance and each watch must be delivered with such a certificate.( please I no longer refer to the COSC certificate here - which is still in the dinasour era)

2. Subject all its watches costing more than US$ 8 k  to testing given the fact that the cost of a test is very small in the context of the price of the watches.

3. Throw open the competition to the world players as opposed to having a sprint-race of the "obese" as is now the case.

4. Swiss authorities must modify advertising standards to make sure that claims are based by tests and facts published to back.

Lastly collectors must wear their watches as opposed to taking them out gingerly with satin gloves, placing them on silk cushions, admiring the crystal ( of course the Patek owners may  as usual choose to admire them through the "double-sealed" plastic sitting inside that little cardboard box) and returning it back to the safe without ever knowing if the watch actually runs well . Will that happen - I guess not. Until then all the watch makers will have a lovely day.

Regds/narsi