As enthusiasts of wrist watches and other time keeping apparatus, we invariable amass literature and materials on very many aspects of our hobby. When the material has outlived its usefulness to you consider donating it to a Horological Library. A library will preserve the material as well as make it available for the edification of others. If you do not have a favorite library, please allow me to suggest:
The ancient Chinese proverb says: “the path to wisdom begins by calling things by their right names.” In the recurring posts entitled Terms of Art- including French Horological Terms we attempt to honor those words and provide poignant definitions of horological terms so that we may call things by their right names. The definitions given are particularly germane to horology and mechanics, however, there may be other non-horological definitions for the words, as well.
In a news brief entitled New 18 carat red gold claims to be resistant to color fading Gold Bulletin Volume 42 No 1 2009, World Gold Council reports:
Rolex SA, Switzerland have publicized a new patented 18 karat red gold alloy, branded “Everose”, for watch cases which is claimed to be resistant to color fading, i.e. loss of red color. This is presumably due to loss of copper from the surface layer. The patent (DE60310555/EP 1512765) claims an alloy containing at least 6% copper and between 0.5% and 4% platinum.
Philippe Gumy reported in Le Temps on Saturday June 13, 2009, that Wyler Geneva will be promoting yet another new watchmaking label, this one is called Le Poinçon du Jura or the Jurassic Seal. The Jurassic Seal is said to guarantee that 100% of the movements are of Swiss origin. Mr. Gumy asks: "Does one sense a proliferation of watchmaking quality control marks similar to that which prevailed a few years ago with Organic Foods?" Mr. Gumy admitts that it is undoubtedly too early to tell, but Patek Philippe's announcement at the last Basel Fair of their own quality seal had already raised the question.
Henri Germain Delauze stated:
«Un plongeur à l’hydrogène ne peut pas vivre sans sa Rolex ».
“A hydrogen diver just can’t survive without his Rolex”.
The COMEX (Compagnie Maritime d'Expertise) founded in November 1961 at a time, when industrial deep-sea diving was in its infancy, is universally known as a pioneer in deep saturation diving using exotic breathing mixtures. The company's divers hold world records for both deep sea and chamber saturation diving.In 1975, COMEX PRO, a subsidiary which designs, manufactures and markets sophisticated equipment for professional diving including hyperbaric chambers, was created.
Rolex entrusted Comex Pro with the task of designing and manufacturing the hyperbaric chamber that tests each Sea Dweller Deep Sea to a depth of 480 atmospheres. Delivered around the Summer of 2008 to the prestigious watchmaker in Geneva, with the first Sea Dweller Deep Sea watches delivered in September 2008, this chamber consists of a high-performance single-piece stainless-steel tank, capable of creating the ambient pressure that exists at 4,875 meters (15,994 feet)[1] or a level 25% deeper than the new watch’s rated capability of 3,900 meters/12,800 feet.[2] At this depth, the water column exerts a pressure equivalent to 4 tons, bearing down on the crystal, crown and case-back. Compare: elementary 1000ft=300m. As they emerge from the workshop, batches of ten Sea Dweller Deep Sea watches are put through extremely stringent testing in this new, and exclusive equipment. The testing cycle consumes an hour and a half.
[2] equivalent to 2.4 miles.
Faced with a scourge that undermines companies and countries alike, the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH) has joined forces with the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FHS) to launch a vast information campaign aimed at the general public. It will take the form of powerful visuals backed by a simple, hard-hitting message: "Fake Watches are for Fake People."
Louis Nardin reported in WorldTempus on April 24, 2009, that Zenith CEO, Thierry Nataf, will soon leave his post, according to the Swiss daily newspaper l'Express/l'Impartial. His departure date was not yet confirmed by the company. The reasons of his departure or his future activities were not made public. His successor was not revealed either. When he arrived in 2001, Zenith stopped selling movement to other brands. The brand emphasized its El Primero and Elite movements. Nataf developed and designed the brands collections and invented the “Open” concept where holes bored in the dial makes it possible to observe the escapement in motion. In 2007 he launched the "Defy" range and in spring 2009, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the El Primero, Nataf presented several limited editions models. Europa Star reported on May 13, 2009, that Jean-Frédéric Dufour took over. Philippe Pascal, LVMH President of the Watches and Jewelry Business Group, announced the appointment of Jean-Frédéric Dufour as President and CEO of Zenith SA effective June 1, 2009. A graduate in Commercial and Industrial Sciences at the University of Geneva, Dufour has had manufacturing, commercial, marketing and management responsibilities with Swatch Group and Ulysse Nardin, among others. Prior to joining LVMH, he was in charge of product development for Chopard since 2001. Another designer, does that seem like a step in the right direction?
The Russian Space Mission--Mars 500 "left" for red planet on March 31, 2009 on a theoretical voyage of 105 days, intended to study - in a realistic simulation - the physical and psychological effects of confinement in a spaceship including difficulties of communication with Earth. The astronauts are wearing the Fortis B-42 Official Cosmonaut, an automatic, day-date, ETA 2836 with titanium case and rotating bezel. The Omega X-33 was technically selected for the first flight to Mars, but the series was discontinued. The B-42 Official Cosmonaut, has already been worn in space on many missions since 1992.
Former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Rolex since 1992, Patrick Heiniger last gave an interview in 2005. Now in an exclusive interview granted to Laurence Benaïm of Stiletto magazine, conducted at Rolex world headquarters in Acacias, Geneva, he comes across as a pacesetter, judiciously defending the brand's obsession with quality and poised to face the many technological and strategic challenges that lie ahead. Heiniger resigned his position with Rolex and became a consultant to the firm in early 2009.
Stiletto: This is your first interview since 2005. Can you explain?
Patrick Heiniger: Why tell the world our secrets and how we go about our business? Unlike many other brands, the spotlight at Rolex is on the product - our stars are the products not the company's directors. The stars are the movements, the watch cases, the dials. They are what drive us one step further every day.
In an April 28, 2009, article, Franck Muller licencie 20% de son personnel, the Swiss newspaper, Le Temps, quoting reports from the trade union, Unia reports that Franck Muller Geneve SA laid off 20% of its personnel or 100 workers out of approximately 550. Le Temps reports that the union criticized the layoffs.
La scienzia strumentale over machinale è nobilissima e sopra tutte l'altre utilissima.
Leonardo da Vinci
The science of mechanics is a noble one, and of far greater practical use than all others.
This statement must occupy a secret place in the heart of every watch enthusiast.
The Da Vinci from Schaffhausen Since 1969, IWC Schaffausen, 2007 at page 13.
More specifically, Swiss Chronometer or Chronomètre Suisse is theofficial name given to a precision time-keeping instrument regulated for various conditions of use (for example: ISO 3159 for mechanical wrist chronometers.)[1]
According to Von Osterhausen, Wristwatch Chronometers, in watchmaking the term chronometer always referred to precision watches. [4] The first use of the term was by the English watchmaker, Jeromy Thacker in his 1714 abstract on the longitude problem. John Arnold first used Thacker's term in 1782 for pocket watch with a "chronometer escapement." Chronometer escapements were spring detente escapements and pivoted detente escapements. [5] This is corroborated by Brunner The Art of Horological Complications, 2006/7, at page 11.[6]
According to Thys Willemse Switzerland has been officially testing chronometers since 1878.[7] In 1925 the Swiss Association for Chronometry (SSC) defined the Swiss Chronometer as
"a watch which has received a certificate from an astronomical observatory."[8]This definition was based upon the criteria for a chronometer and not its escapement type. The term "chronometer wrist watch" thereafter appeared in Switzerland and in 1941 the Canton of Neuchâtel, overseer of the Observatory there, instituted a new testing category for "chronometers which are made to be worn on the wrist," category "E".[9]
Until 1951, a definition of chronometer espoused by FHS (an industry trade union) held sway:
"a chronometer is a precision watch, which is regulated in several positions and at different temperatures, and which could have received a certificate from the Bureau Officielle."[10]
This liberal definition permitted a manufacturer to call a watch a chronometer if it fell within the guidelines. However, in 1952, at the June 8 meeting of the Commission Internationale de Coordination des Travaux des Observatories Chronomètriques, at Spiez, the definition was changed again (to some degree under pressure from Rolex and others) to read:
"a chronometer is a precision watch, which is regulated in different positions and at different temperatures and which has received a certificate."[11]
What legal authority this International Commission possessed or if a treaty resulted is unknown to this reporter.
When we speak of chronometers today, we invariably refer to watches with certificates issued by the official Swiss testing agencies, Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres (COSC). COSC tests watches which are made in series for sale, for compliance with certain industry standards. According to Von Osterhausen "testing at the official agencies is strictly voluntary: any watch can be sold without having been tested.[12] However, [as it is often repeated without an authoritative citation] only a watch which had passed these tests could be called a 'chronometer' ; and this was important to some clients to buy a particular watch. "Chronometer" 
usually was printed on the dial, sometimes with additions (such as "Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified") and with an inscription on the movement." [emphasis in the original].[13]
Until 1973, the several official testing agencies (Bienne/Biel in the Canton of Bern established 1877; La Chaux-de-Fonds established 1887; St. Imier established 1888; Le Locle established 1901; Le Sentier established 1944; Geneva established 1965 [14] (N.B. the Geneva Seal testing office had existed since 1886) and, Solothurn established 1956)
"were operated independently from one another and each had its own direction. They did, however, work under and follow the same guidelines and in some cases were governed by city governments (as at La Chaux-de-Fonds, LeLocle, Le Sentier and Solothurn) or by the canton (as at Geneva, Bienne and St. Imier) and in each case were associated with the local watchmaker school."[15]
Presently, according to Daniel Favre, Director of the Geneva Watchmaking School responsible for the Geneva Seal, testified for the Rapport de la Commission des finances chargée d'étudier le projet de loi du Conseil d'Etat relative au Laboratoire d'horlogerie et de microtechnique de Genève, December 9, 2008, that the COSC office at Le Locle remains attached to the city and the COSC Office in Bienne remains attached to the canton. [16]According to Paolo Lupo, Administrative Director of the Geneva Department of Public Education, testifying in the same proceeding, only Geneva kept its link with the watchmaking school because the school is still very active. [17]
As Von Osterhausen recounts, in 1973, these offices were put under one central administration with one director in La Chaux-de-Fonds, with three branches in Bienne, LeLocle and Geneva" and the name was changed to COSC.[18] According to Desmond Guilfoyle, Omega Movements Part 1, (2007), the merger was meant to lend a greater level of consistency and credibility to the Swiss chronometer appellation. It was clearly also an attempt to rationalize a hodgepodge of testing bureaus at a time when the Swiss watch industry was coming under increasing competitive pressure from quartz technology. [19] As Von Osterhausen notes, the threshold testing values were higher than the astronomical observatory standards, which means the standards were lower. But Observatory Chronometers were specially prepared for competition not for regular, retail sales. But, in Omega Movements Part 1, Guilfoyle writes, chronometers do have status over non-Chronometers, as can be seen in the demand and values.[20] One can also survey the annual report on Chronometer certifications issued, publshed by FHS.[21] He adds, the materials and finish of chronometer movements are generally of a higher quality than lower level production watches. But, one can’t help but thinking that some of the premium paid is for value that has been created by Swiss spin doctors who have been highly successful over time in convincing consumers that Swiss is best and chronometers are better.[22]
The COSC is today accredited by METAS, the Swiss Meteorological Service, for the accuracy of COSC's time-measuring/testing equipment. METAS does not enforce the HIHS 95-11 Standard (ISO 3159). [23]It appears that the Bienne/Biel office of COSC is overseen by the Directorate of Public Economy of the Canton of Bern, just how is not yet clear.[24]
According to the Director of the Geneva Watchmaking School, COSC does not have a true legal status. See, Rapport de la Commission des finances chargée d'étudier le projet de loi du Conseil d'Etat relative au Laboratoire d'horlogerie et de microtechnique de Genève, December 9, 2008.[25] Moreover, there is no indication that the definition(s) of chronometer were ever, even to this day, more than voluntary industry standard. There does not appear to be any enforcement power to interdict non-conforming use of the word chronometer on watches even though COSC states on its web site the aims of the COSC include undertaking any necessary action in matters relating to marketing, communication a
nd defense of the chronometer in the broadest sense of the term and promoting the chronometer and undertaking any legal action aimed at defending and protecting this title internationally. Case in point, the use of the word Chronomètre à Resonance or Chronomètre Souverain by F.P. Journe, which brand admits its movements are not COSC certified yet carry the name "chronometer". There does not appear to be a trademark for the phrase Chronomètre à Resonance, which describes the mechanism of the escapement, nor Chronomètre Souverain.
There does appear to be a Statute of the Association for the official Swiss control of chronometers of June 29, 2007[26]; and a Compact among the Official Authorities of the Control Offices of Bienne, Geneva and Locle, which came into effect on January 1, 2008. [27] Their contents and import are not yet known to this reporter. It is unclear whether these are federal acts or otherwise.
Notwithstanding, neither the term nor the definition(s) seem to constitute a legal standard (or a legally enforceable standard) as is the case with the Swiss laws defining: a watch movement; a Swiss watch movement; a Swiss Made watch or; the minimum thickness of gold watch ca
ses. In fact, there is no registered trademark for the word "chronometer", except in the following unique combinations: "Chronomètre Royal" a trademark registered to Vacheron-Constantine as trademark No. P-351910 and noticed in SOGC no.89 (April 21, 1989) for chronometers and movements from Geneva[28], and "Chronometer Star" a trademark registered to Rolex and noticed in SOGC no. 201 August 28, 1980, as trademark No. P-305125 for chronometers and their parts.[29] There is no registered trademark found for "Superlative Chronometer".
In strange contrast, the "word mark" or phase "Swiss Made" [presumably a geographic origin] is a registered trademark of FHS.[30] The only trademark owned by Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres is trademark No. 513097 published in SOGC no.152 (August 8, 2003), depicting COSC's stylized symbol with Swiss Cross. [31] Although one would presume that the exclusive use of the word "chronometer" could not justifiably be claimed by any entity. Under Swiss law, one is not supposed to be able to trademark overly simple, common marks, geographical origins, object descriptions or descriptive adjectives, marks which are offensive to the public, deceptive, misleading or illegal. Among other things, chronometer would appear to be an object description and therefore open to use by anyone, hence no violation by F.P. Journe. But, then again, Seiko was purportedly prevented from using the term on their watches based upon the elusive Chronometer Appeal of 1966 although COSC only determined to certify only watches meeting the Swiss Made Standard in 2003.[32]
Assortiment (assortment in English) or more specifically, l’assortiment à ancre (pallet assortment), is a French term used as a shorthand for the essential parts of the escapement: the escape-wheel, the pallet lever and roller table (with impulse jewel). The term is defined in NIHS 02-04 at chapter 6, section 6.4.
Trotteuse (French) a seconds hand, mounted either in the center of the main dial or in a subsidiary dial. More specifically, a directly drive seconds hand. The traditional carrier of the seconds hand is the forth wheel.
Perpétuelle (French) a term used by A.L. Breguet (1747-1823) to refer to a self-winding watch from 1780. The phrase is based on the theory of the elusive machine perpétuelle or perpetual motion machine, a theory of physics dating to 1150-1775AD. By 1775 the Royal Academy proclaimed The term is most commonly found today with reference to the self-winding watches produced by Rolex: the "Oyster Perpetual." The terms quantième perpétuel or calendrier perpétuel, are the correct term to use to refer to a perpetual or self-adjusting calendar complication which is mechanically programed to account for the differing lengths of the months and leap years.
WatchSearcher's database compiles stolen and found Swiss luxury watches. This database allows you to verify if a luxury watch was declared stolen; confirm the validity and authenticity of a research certificate and; visualize watches retrieved by Police or Customs authorities. You can add your stolen watches to the database; Retrieve your stolen watches; This verify a watch to determine if your Swiss luxury watch is a watch which was declared stolen or not. According to their website: WatchSearcher began in January 2000 in Neuchâtel; in 2008, tesweb SA updates the service. WatchSearcher offers a system of analysis in order to retrieve stolen watches; handing of information to the authorities; confidential negotiations of rewards between the owner of the watch and insurance companies; counsel on legal subjects relating to the trade of the watch (unpaid invoices, copyright, trademarks, etc…).
“It is necessary to return to real values with tradition. Extravagance is dead. Customers don't want flash.” When this comes from bankers, a group which had little sobriety or prudence, these remarks are a little surprising. But repeated practically by all the watchmaking exhibitors at Baselworld, these remarks are astonishing because in the end the sector sells styles and appearances or, as Nicolas Hayek, president of Swatch Group, would say “emotions.”
