Discussion
Almost a year ago, a friend of mine has bought a nice watch for a special occasion: an IWC Aquatimer Chronograph Edition "Expedition Jacques-Yves Cousteau". Yesterday, I've asked him how about his new, long desired toy. Of course he's very happy with it, but he told me that the watch that still gets
Almost a year ago, a friend of mine has bought a nice watch for a special occasion: an IWC Aquatimer Chronograph Edition "Expedition Jacques-Yves Cousteau". Yesterday, I've asked him how about his new, long desired toy. Of course he's very happy with it, but he told me that the watch that still gets more wrist time is his trustworthy Rolex Submariner. I don't know exactly which reference he wears, but I think it's from the nineties. He added that his Submariner is simply irreplaceable in robustness and reliability. And finally let me speechless when he asked me a question I wasn't able to reply:
"Which watch can easily withstand the sudden jump in temperature from a ski run to a steam room and vice versa during an entire ski holiday, for ten years or more, without any special attention nor servicing?"
Well, sadly I yet didn't find an answer, since I'm quite sure that no watch can face a similar treatment remaining flawless. If it's true, it's the first time I have to recognize the Rolex superiority: it's easy to win having no competition. Still, I can't understand: hundreds of years of horological marvels built by dozens of Manufacture and no one is able to compete in the reliability field, leaving unchartered waters (and tons of $$$) to Rolex?
Let's discuss...
Ciao,
Elio
that only Rolex can withstand such diverse conditions remaining functionality and precision. Breitling Seiko Omega comes to mind I think that more fair statement would be that largest number of Rolex units can do it but then again the produce largest number of watches yearly after all Ciao D
I'm not questioning the durability of Rolex; rather whether there are other watches that are equally strong. On perception, Rolex's advertising is almost entirely oriented toward toughness (although usually subtly so), which gives it an advantage. A company that seeks to reach more disparate constituencies cannot promote such a unified message. Also, Rolex's size and the sheer volume of its advertising will affect perception. That being said, Rolex does some things right that other companies gen
And certainly some others, too. This is not to detract from the robustness of Rolex at all and the watches are certainly well made - marketing alone could not keep the brand going if the products did not deliver...
most of which were done by qualified independent watchmakers? The Rolex will still be going strong.
... that is in a working condition. You should keep in mind that a watch that is worn on the wrist does not change its internal temperature according to the environmental temperature, but is mainly tempered by the human body temperature. Swiss watch expert Thomas Ernst made a test in 2002: He equipped an empty watch case with three temperature sensors: one on the outside of the crystal, one in the cases's interior under the dial, and one under the caseback. Before entering the Finnish sauna, the
Thank you Damjan. Let's imagine that a single car maker, only one, could sell a very large number of really reliable cars, designed to withstand the worst condition, for decades. While all of the other car makers continue proposing only limited numbers of luxury handmade cars. We don't want the horological world to be made this way, right? Ciao, Elio
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