[VW perhaps could learn from this - Ed.]

The first ever METAS-certified Master Chronometer watch is the new OMEGA Globemaster (presented first at BaselWorld 2015).




On a relatively short notice, I received the invitation to attend the press conference launching a new open standard for watch certification, the METAS-approved Master Chronometer standard, combined with a rare opportunity to take a look behind the normally-sealed curtains of the OMEGA headquarters. This gave me first-hand impressions of the testing & certification lab.

Thus early in the morning I found myself in front of one of the most well-known buildings in Swiss watch-world, the OMEGA headquarters in Biel:

 

 

In contrast to many shiny and architecturally-elaborate watch manufacturers, the OMEGA building is a functional and modest (ca. 1960/1970s) factory building. Its most impressive feature is the 4-stories pendulum centering in the staircase (note the number of the lamps at the ceiling ;-)):

 

I found the short reception quite a refreshing and honest deviation from the usual champagne and amuse-bouches served (to distract journalists ;-)?)... Everything fit to purpose, very down to earth.

 

So we did not waist much time with the chocolates and quickly assembled in the conference room, where the OMEGA and METAS executives were already waiting, all smiley and sunny side up:

 
(left to right: OMEGA president Stephen Urquhart, OMEGA Vice President Production and Procurement, Andreas Hobmeier, METAS director Dr. Christian Bock as well as Swatch Group CEO Nick Hayek)

Swatch Group CEO Nick Hayek in his opening speech stressed the importance that the values of traditional watchmaking, beautiful products, history and innovation, are no longer sufficient in today's globalised world, citing the example that in certain parts of the world, 'Swiss made' watches are sold which never have seen Swiss soil.

 

Thus, according to Hayek, quality, perfomance and origin need to be reinforced which can only be done by putting emphasis on the notion of trust, i.e. setting up (or partnering with) an independent organisation competent to certify products in a fully transparent manner.

The solution to this is presented as the new Master Chronometer certification. This new standard is developed and will be supervised by METAS, the federal Swiss mterology agency, and expands upon the COSC standard. A Master Chronometer not only has its movement certified, but also the entire, fully assembled watch, according to much more stringent parameters.

 

Expanding on the above, OMEGA president Stephen Urquhart noted that the new Master Chronometer certification is the final building block of an impressive innovation process enacted by OMEGA since its 1999 decision to implement George Daniels' co-axial escapement. The other major milestones represent the silicon balance wheel (2009) and the completely anti-magnetic movement (2013).



By the year 2020, Omega's plan is for the entire (mechanical) OMEGA collection to be both co-axial as well as Master Chronometer-certified - an ambitious goal!

METAS director Dr. Christian Bock introduced his agency as an independent, government-run institution responsible for:

• maintenance of standards
• contribution to the International System of Standard Units (SI)
• Research & Development
• Industrial (calibration) and legal metrology (verification, supervision & conformity assessment)

When the Swiss watchmaking iindustry, notably OMEGA, approached METAS to jointly devise a new certification scheme, METAS made it clear that it is not equipped (machinery & workforce) to measure high-volume production such as the annual output of a brand like OMEGA (about 240,000 watches produced annually). Thus, a practical way to solve the problem would be the creation of a new, open standard for a Master Chronometer, with METAS defining

1. technical criteria
2. organisational requirements
3. staffing requirements

The actual testing of the watches is left to the brands itself - with a very important and crucial caveat: METAS acts as supervisory & surveillance body with umlimited access to all test results and sets up a quality control system with the aim to:

1. audit test procedures
2. statistically analyse all results
3. random sampling to identify any issues in production, test routines and machinery

OMEGA went as far as to set up a dedicated METAS-audited test laboratory with a METAS implant. This implant is off bounds for any OMEGA staff, operated by a METAS specialist who has complete and real-time access to all test data collected by OMEGA. Furthermore, the METAS technician can request any OMEGAS watch currently undergoing certification for his/her own inspection and verifcation (see separate post in this thread for a live walk through the Master Chronometer lab).

It was left to OMEGA's Vice President Production and Procurement, Andreas Hobmeier, to present the standard as well as OMEGA's Master Chronometer lab:

 

The new Master Chronometer standard sets forth a comprehensive 10-day testing procedure which tests:

• average daily precision at two different temperatures
• function of a naked movement as well as an assembled watch during exposre to magnetic fields of 15.000 Gauss
• deviation of daily precision after exposure to 15.000 Gauss magnetic field
• deviation of rate at six different positions
• deviation of rate at 100% and at 35% of its rated power reserve
• power reserve of movement
  

The limits to pass the test are set between 0 and +5 seconds deviation of rate per day. This also means that the watch could run faster, but never slower than official time. Finally, even the water resistance is tested - under a real life scenario - i.e. submerged in real water!

 

OMEGA has summarised the Master Chronometer certification with this illustrative short video:

Having passed all tests, the watch in question is awarded with an official METAS-issued Master Chronometer certificate. 
 

All rate results are automatically recorded into a SAP system and that can only be inspected by OMEGA and METAS. However, in order to create trust by means of transparency, each owner of a Master Chronometer-certified watch has access to the 'personal' results of his/her watch via a NTFC chip of the certificate card:



The above image BTW is a live-screenshot of the results of the first-ever watch to be certified by METAS, an OMEGA Globemaster Master Chronometer in steel. Which brings me to the final point of this part of my report: 



Following the presentation, Anderas Hobmeier handed over the first timepiece which ever had passed the Master Chronometer certfiication to OMEGA's president Stephen Urquhart.





Urquhart in turn invited Swatch Group CEO Nick Hayek and METAS director Dr. Bock to join him on stage for the presentation to the press:

 

 
(left to right: OMEGA Vice President Production and Procurement, Andreas Hobmeier, METAS director Dr. Christian Bock, Swatch Group CEO Nick Hayek as well as OMEGA president Stephen Urquhart)

Overall, I think this new open and transparent Master Chronometer standard is a good way to demonstrate to the world the power of innovation and dedication to excellence. The standard is set by the official Swiss standard setting agency, and it's supervised, monitored and controlled by the underwriting agency. The actual testing is done in a specialist laboratory directly within the OMEGA premises. 

This process, as well as the standard's criteria, are both a door opener to a widespread acceptance and its potential Achilles heel at the same time. Any Swiss watch brand willing to undergo this certification is free to do so, and is equally invited to set up a laboratory facility similar to OMEGA has done. However, only OMEGA currently offers watches with a magnetic resistance of 15,000 Gauss and has testing facilities available, making the Master Chronometer standard practically an OMEGA exclusive show. 

Nick Hayek's take on this is a follows: What OMEGA has done with the Globemaster and the entire OMEGA Cal. 89xx family (all equally antimagnetic movements) is not 'rocket science', so every brand willing to invest and upgrade its movements accordingly is free to do so. This is not an easy task, mind you. Nick Hayek for example reminded us of the difficult situtation the Swiss watch indusrtry is currently facing given the Swiss Franc exchange rate problem: Most of the local suppliers of machinery and testing equippment are no longer in operation or cannot deliver the tolerances required, forcing OMEGA (and many other brands) instead to procure crucial equipment in Germancy and France.

Only if further brands subscribe to Master Chronometer this standard will really be recognised as an independet certification of universal appeal (like COSC, for example).

Until then, OMEGA has to prove that it does honour the standard indeed as an open source standard and not as their private backyard. There still are some stumbling blocks to be removed, most of which related to tge fact that the Master Chronometer standard is pretty much driven by OMEGA. As an example, the 'Master Chronometer' trademark currently belongs to OMEGA; but I understand that it is in the process of being transferred to METAS. Issues like these are inevitable if a brand urges governement to develop new standards and certifications, but these have to be solved in order to attain wide acceptance.

For the time being, OMEGA clients interested in a Globemaster acquire a timepiece which represents the top-of-the-line when it comes to timekeeping precision, certified by an independent, neutral governmental body. Best of all: the certification comes at no charge to the customer!

Kudos to the team involved to make this happen:

MEanwhile, the master himself in a relaxed and satisfied mood ;-)

In the following two posts please find Part 2, a detailed description of the testing procedure as well as images from a visit to the OMEGA/METAS Master Chronometer lab, and Part 3, a hands-on review of the new OMEGA Globemaster watch.

At this stage I would like to thank the OMEGA Austria team for arraing this trip to Biel and thus making this report possible!

Thanks for reading,
Magnus

P.S.: The hedonist side of my soul was quite pleased to find yours truly depicted in the official OMEGA press release image ;-)