There is nothing new about testing and certifying watches and their movements. Some manufactures opt to carry out in-house testing, such as Jaeger-LeCoultre’s 1000 Hours Control. For external standards, the Geneva Seal comes to mind for movement finishing. As for precision, the most familiar standard is COSC’s, which tests an individual movement in five different positions, each at three different temperatures, over a period of 15 days. COSC prescribes a maximum variation of -4/+6 seconds per day, among other requirements, before the movement can be certified. Chronometric+, Timelab’s newcomer to the industry, does the same, but tests complete watches and tags individual certificates to them, and not their movements.

The Swiss watch industry now has a new standard. Omega and the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology (METAS) have jointly unveiled a new testing and certification process for the former’s watches equipped with the Master Co-Axial movement. Watches that pass the test, which begins next year, will bear the Master Co-Axial Officially Certified designation.

Like Chronometric+, this new certification was conceived as an improvement over COSC, which took its modern form in 1973. The METAS process will test complete watches, with individual records of each one accessible both online and via smartphone apps. Buyers and owners can thus obtain complete information about their watches’ performances. The certification process consists of subjecting the watch head (and not just the movement) to magnetic fields stronger than 15,000 gauss, and testing its precision during and after the magnetic field exposure, with a tolerable limit of -0/+5 seconds per day. The watch’s power reserve and water resistance will also be assessed.

According to Dr Christian Bock, the director of METAS, the certification is not exclusive to Omega, and other watchmakers are free to submit their watches to be tested. Bock also emphasized the neutrality of METAS which, as the go-to authority on all matters involving measurements and measurement standards for the Swiss government, can only accept projects that do not compromise its position.