It’s not every day that you hear about the development of a brand new watch certificate in the news, but if you’ve been keeping an eye on the Omega website over the last few days you’ll have been privy to such a story. On Tuesday, Omega announced a collaborative effort with the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology, and, from 2015, Omega’s already matchless Master Co-Axial watches will be tested using a never before seen type of watch certificate to ensure maximum performance.
But why exactly do we need a new watch certificate? After all, do we not have the COSC chronometer certificate to denote the most accurate wristwatches in the world? This industry standard is recognised for its excellence throughout the world, so why the need for a change? Well, according to Swatch Group CEO Nick Hayek, ‘it has become obvious that the COSC chronometer certification, long the industry norm, needs to be strengthened.’ That’s a bold claim to make, but it’s one that Hayek obviously feels is necessary in order to maintain the position of the Swatch Group at the forefront of Swiss-made ocular horology. The newly certified Master Co-Axial timepieces will begin to appear during the middle of next year, but how exactly will they be different?
According to the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology (also known as METAS), the forthcoming certificate will allow any watchmaker to test their mettle according to more precise standards than ever before. METAS already heads the Swiss government brand that deals with all aspects of measurement, and so their involvement within the watchmaking industry should be without bias. As a result, any watchmaking name will be able to attain this new benchmark in horology; Omega has simply been the first of many possible candidates to nail their colours to the mast.
Products like Omega Seamaster watches are already superbly made instruments, and the Master Co-Axial took that precedent to ever higher levels last year by enhancing the capabilities and stability of Co-Axial movements in the face of magnetism. As such, the Master Co-Axial movement was the perfect inaugural choice for the new ‘Officially Certified’ designation, but even so the completed watches –rather than just the movements – will still be put through their paces. Criteria tests will include resistance to magnetic fields in excess of 15,000 gauss, timekeeping tolerances of between 0 and +5 seconds per day, and also robust autonomy and water resistance specifications.
The owner of such a watch will be able to view the tests that their watch has passed by visiting an online application, but at Banks Lyon we’re keen to see just what sort of trend this sets in the watchmaking industry as a whole. In terms of the original technology in Co-Axial movements, no other watch brand aside from Omega chose to embrace such a pattern. It’ll therefore be interesting to see whether the ‘Officially Certifed’ moniker is enough to coax other watchmakers to match the Master Co-Axial, even though this sets higher minimum standards than the pioneering Co-Axial did.
We’ll continue to bring you all of the latest developments on this topic as and when they arrive, and if you have any questions about something like our currently available Omega watches, be sure to contact us now by calling 01524 38 48 58 or emailing [email protected].
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