The Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres (COSC) is crucial to the Swiss watch industry. It’s existed in its current form since 1973 but there has been competitive chronometric testing happening in Neuchâtel since the late 1800s. Today, the COSC functions as a sort of litmus test for precision throughout the Swiss watch industry. In an era when any watchmaker worth his salt has a timing machine (Witschi produces the most popular ones) that can measure accuracy immediately, the certification doesn’t necessarily have the same “wow” factor it once did. That being said, it’s still a valuable aspect of how the Swiss watch industry conducts its business and, due to the intense trial each movement goes through, it’s a tried-and-true way of demonstrating the quality that Swiss mechanical watches are known for. A label showing the COSC-certification on a Tudor Black Bay Bronze
1.) Only “Swiss Made” watches can be submitted for the exam. The oft-debated label demands that the watch’s movement is Swiss, the movement has been cased in Switzerland, final tests are run there, and at least 60% of the production costs are generated in Switzerland. Further, a Swiss movement has to be assembled and tested in Switzerland, at least 60% of production costs are generated in Switzerland, and the value of 50% of the components are Swiss made. The main reason for the exclusion of other countries is that since the COSC functions as a non-p...