Omega and METAS, the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology, held a joint press conference in Geneva to announce a new collaboration. Starting in 2015, Omega watches that are badged “Master Co-Axial” will be officially certified by METAS, using a new testing system. But what does this mean for Cheap Replica Watches, and for watch certification systems in general? Let’s take a look.
At the December Press Conference, held at the Cité du Temps in Geneva, Swatch Group CEO Nick Hayek was joined by Cheap Omega Replica President Stephen Urquhart and Christian Bock, the director of METAS, to discuss the new system.
The new certification represents a higher standard of accuracy. Omega watches will now be certified for not just consistent timekeeping but also for antimagnetism and water resistance. METAS, which describes itself as “the federal centre of competence for all issues related to measurement and for measuring equipment and measuring procedures,” will become the impartial regulating body to ensure that Omega’s manufacturing standards meet the brand’s promises. Going forward, all Omega Replica Watches calibers will be tested to meet certain standards. Each movement must continue to function when exposed to magnetic fields greater than 15,000 Gauss. Each finished watch must also continue to function when exposed to magnetic fields greater than 15,000 Gauss. The watch must keep consistent time, between 0 and +5 seconds/day, when tested at different temperatures and in different positions. Finally, each watch must be tested to ensure it achieves its stated power reserve and water resistance.
Omega’s move to develop a new certification system with METAS is significant for several reasons. For the last several years, Omega has been at the lead in developing new measures to protect watches from magnetic fields. With the Omega Seamaster Replica Watches Aqua Terra >15,000 Gauss, the brand has produced a watch movement that can keep time consistently even after exposure to some of the most intense magnetic fields a person is likely to encounter.
To pass the COSC test a watch movement must maintain accuracy between -4 and +6 seconds per day; however, a movement’s timekeeping can be affected during the casing-up process or when the rotor is affixed on an automatic – and all of this occurs after the COSC test has been completed. Since the new Omega Replica testing will be performed on both the movement and on the finished watch – and since it has a narrower allowance, not permitting the watch to lose seconds, only to gain – it should provide a higher standard than COSC. Omega will continue to certify its chronometers with COSC over the coming years, but the number of movements receiving COSC certification will decrease as more and more Master Co-Axial calibers receive the new METAS certification.
The owner of a certified Master Co-Axial Omega will be able to log onto a site using the watch’s warranty card. There, the specific results of the individual watch, as well as the testing parameters, will be readily available. At the press conference in December, Hayek and Urquhart were encouraging about the fact that any brand can contract with METAS for an impartial certification system. While Omega Replica Watches has provided its particular standards for the Master Co-Axial movements, other brands could follow suit. Hayek expressed hopes that this development may lead to more widespread innovation. “This would benefit the entire industry – not only in Switzerland but in China and Japan and in other countries with a history of innovative watchmaking,” Hayek said.
