Elite Traveler March-April 2015

INSPIRE WATCH TESTING

“It ’ s more about knowing their

through a long barrage of laboratory tests. For watches such as the Oyster Perpetual Rolex Deepsea, for example, the company uses a specially designed hyperbaric tank, created in collaboration with Comex (Compagnie Maritime d’Expertises), a French company that specializes in deep sea conditions and how to weather them, to ensure that the timepiece is, as promised, waterproof for up to 12,700 feet. (Like all waterproof Rolexes, the company actually tests the watches to between 10 and 25 percent beyond their certified depth). Girard-Perregaux spends a year developing new models and at least two months testing them before being launched; for its Sea Hawk Pro 1000, the bezel alone took three months to design and develop, and was rotated during testing 5,000 times during a two week period. Tag Heuer’s timepieces undergo over 60 laboratory tests from prototype to watch is protected and can take it from the boardroom to the beach”

pretty hard on watches, to know that if they bang around a watch a little bit it’s sturdy enough,” explains Larry Pettinelli, president of Patek Philippe USA. “I don’t have to worry about jumping in a pool and I don’t have to worry about going snorkeling in the Caribbean – it’s suitable for all those situations. I don’t think consumers are really looking at depth capabilities of 360 versus 420 that some other brand goes to; it’s more about knowing their watch is protected and diveable and swimmable. They want to take it from the boardroom to the beach.” Hodinkee’s Clymer concurs, “At the end of the day there are a lot of people that just want a well made, sturdy watch. Interest from consumers in mechanical watches is reaching almost fever pitch. The adventure or exploration watch is kind of the perfect embodiment of what a mechanical watch is about: it is about function and being a tool.”

production in an area inside its Swiss headquarters that is

Turning up the heat on Breitling watches, which are worn by pilots in the Swiss airforce

nicknamed the torture room. To test a watch’s resistance to high shock, for example, a 6.5lb pendulum is dropped on top of the timepiece’s case from a variety of heights. Whatever the method of testing, to go through so many assessments may sound dramatic for something that most consumers won’t actually wear while deep sea diving or parachuting out of an airplane, but watchmakers feel its important, since even activities that seem straightforward can be challenging for timepieces. “People don’t realize how much wear and tear a watch goes through,” observes Bremont’s Nick English. “We put the watches through all these tests, but one of the worst things you can do with a watch is riding a bike off road. You have this incredible machine on your wrist and you smash it around and cycle over curves and vibrations. That’s pretty tough stuff.” Knowing that a timepiece has gone through exacting tests gives consumers a sense of security. “It’s nice for people like myself, who are