Horological Meandering

Jack Forster
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Thanks Bernard, points noted. . .

. . .and I certainly would be outside my competence to comment on customer experiences with Rolex after sales service in SEA so I must fall silent on the subject.  I'd just rather praise Omega than blame Rolex is all I think both companies bring a lot to the table and I think right now, Omega is in the middle of an extremely interesting period in its history.

They took a HUGE chance after all on the co-axial escapement.  I mean here's this exotic thing that shows enormous promise- better stability of rate, etc. etc. but it's a huge unknown and going into it, how do you know how it's going to perform when industrially produced, over thousands or tens of thousands of iterations?  Omega has put an absolutely unprecedented amount of time energy and effort into some serious watchmaking R and D to get the co-axial into production and then to continuously refine it, and while the greater complexity of the escapement may produce more challenges in manufacturing and adjustment there are an awful lot of anecdotal accounts of absolutely stellar performance in the field.  The launch of the HourVision project was spectacular but should not obscure the fact IMVHO that not only is it a demonstration of Omega's committment to continuous improvement, it's also a continuation of a tradtion of committment to chronometry which is as old as the company itself.

In general I could not agree with you more that what builds real loyalty is a client centered orientation towards service.  A fine watch, whether by Omega, Rolex, or Roger Smith is often a very special purchase and a company- any company- that complacently thinks it can forever disregard client centered service betrays the most interesting part of watchmaking, which is the sense of human warmth and care radiated by a machine for which its maker has a genuine passion.  A company that knows this, whether it's three people in a workshop on the isle of Man or three hundred people in a factory floor in Geneva will do well, a company that ignores it. . . . well, that's an opportunity for someone else, wouldn't you agree?

Jack