Imagine for a minute a Non COSC Rolex....................

[ben4watches]

Back in 2016 Rolex Sa instructed the Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres not to publish the amount of Rolex watches tested each year as they wanted to keep the amount of watches they make each year a secret.

Its fair to say that in 2016, the last year COSC published Rolex figures, 800,000, that was the amount of watches they made that year.

Now COSC have always published the amount of watches they test and how many for each manufacturer that submitted watches to them, but Rolex Sa wielded the big Rolex stick and told them not to.

Now, imagine if COSC denied their request stating that its their policy to publish test figures for each manufacturer and if Rolex are not happy with their terms, they (COSC) will no longer test Rolex movements.

Obviously Rolex are the biggest single contributor to the COSC workload and the loss of revenue would be hard to stomach, ( I don’t know the cost per unit to test but assuming a figure of say 10 CHF (probably way too low) each that would equate to 80 Million CHF which any company would be daft to turn away. Interestingly the COSC is a not for profit organisation just like Rolex.

But what would the cost be to Rolex without certification?

Thats a question that nobody knows, but the fact that Rolex heavily rely on COSC in their marketing says that they need the testing facility as part of their overall strategy believing that it puts their watches above others.

imagine, hypothetically that as of 2020 the Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres tell Rolex that they will publish testing figures for Rolex.

Will they stay or will they go?

Who has the most to lose?

[stefmcd]

I don't think Rolex would lose many sales if COSC were no longer on any of their literature. I'd be surprised if more than 10% of owners were aware of COSC at all.

Outwith COSC, they can still guarantee movement accuracy and make that guarantee last X years. That would be enough reassurance for 99%+ of buyers IMO.

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[LondonNeil]

They would likely create their own standard like metas/omega, and cut cosc off.

[Arcam]

I don't think Rolex would lose many sales if COSC were no longer on any of their literature. I'd be surprised if more than 10% of owners were aware of COSC at all.

Outwith COSC, they can still guarantee movement accuracy and make that guarantee last X years. That would be enough reassurance for 99%+ of buyers IMO.

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Agreed, Rolex exceed the COSC standard anyway with +/- 2 spd so I really don't see an issue. In fact I don't even remember seeing a COSC certificate with my 126600, maybe going senile so can't be 100% on that.

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[petethegeek]

I don’t know the cost per unit to test but assuming a figure of say 10 CHF (probably way too low) each that would equate to 80 Million CHF which any company would be daft to turn away. Interestingly the COSC is a not for profit organisation just like Rolex.

This post by Eddie would suggest that the 'list price' is £30.

[oldoakknives]

Probably be .............

"Certified in house by the Rolex Chronometer Testing Division to be within +/- '?' seconds per day."

.......or something similar, and probably wouldn't bother many people tbh.

[murkeywaters]

My Sub runs well within COSC but is non COSC (1996 - 14060 2 liner) am I bothered, no!

[Danstone]

I believe that Swiss law still requires testing by COSC for the word chronometer to appear on a watch so it would require a change to every dial, or a change in the law.

[jukeboxs]

COSC have more to lose I'd say. As above, for me the Rolex guarantee and workmanship means more to me than being COSC certified.

[Dark Side of The Loon]

They would likely create their own standard like metas/omega, and cut cosc off.

Yes, this...

The +2/-2 standard is over and above COSC anyhow.

[rsykes2000]

This post by Eddie would suggest that the 'list price' is £30.

I suspect that if you're having many hundreds of thousands of watches submitted, that a price substantially lower than this will have been negotiated :)

[Stringer]

COSC will jump however high Rolex demand.

I recall reading an article which said one of COSC’s testing centres is wholly dedicated to just testing Rolex watches. COSC won’t be upsetting a major customer anytime soon.

I don’t particularly rate COSC as a certification.

What Rolex do to test their watches AFTER the COSC testing is more important to end-user performance, and what allows them to guarantee their tighter +/-2 secs daily.

If COSC testing ceased tomorrow the average Rolex buyer also wouldn’t give a toss anyway.

[Halitosis]

Much as I love my SubC, I think it would look much better if a couple of lines of script were lost

[zenius]

Much as I love my SubC, I think it would look much better if a couple of lines of script were lost

Agree. Get rid of some lines.

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