Can your watch do that?

What do you expect from a watch? Most would say that they want accurate timekeeping and that obviously makes a lot of sense. A watch that cannot tell time accurately is really just a piece of jewellery. A fashion accessory, a wealth statement, a keepsake or something else. But nevertheless a device that doesn’t serve its primary purpose.

So if a watch is there to tell the time rather accurately, why has it become acceptable, even charming, that an expensive watch cannot help itself but to lose or gain several seconds every day? How many times have we heard the phrase: I love my expensive Swiss watch, even if it is inaccurate? It has become the accepted norm that many watches with mechanical movements are simply not up to the job, which is keeping good time. We tell ourselves that it is OK because we are surrounded by other timekeepers like smartphones that a deadly accurate. But is accuracy too much to ask of a traditional wristwatch?

There are plenty of accurate wristwatches out there, but they are equipped with a movement technology that hardcore watch fans will never wear: Quartz. If there is something two watch nerds can agree upon, it is the shared disgust with battery powered watches.

So what options are there if you want a precise watch with a mechanical movement?

If you are into watches, chances are that you might have heard of Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres, or COSC among friends. COSC is a non-profit organisation created in Switzerland in 1973. The purpose of COSC is to test and certify the accuracy of primarily Swiss made watches. Swiss watchmakers send their watches here to obtain the coveted distinction ‘Certified Chronometer’. This is a bit like a knighthood for watches, and it carries a lot of weight as it is proof of a watch having been independently confirmed to be accurate.

To pass, a mechanical watch needs to undergo a number of tests over a 15-day period. Most significantly the accuracy needs to be between −4/+6 seconds per day.

As COSC mainly caters for the Swiss watch industry, non-Swiss movements are rarely sent there. Instead a brand like Seiko has created their own Grand Seiko Chronometer Standard, which is very similar to that of COSC. Grand Seiko is Seiko’s high end brand, making their most advanced and precise timepieces. Grand Seiko is widely celebrated as being on par with the best Swiss brands, although not as revered in Europe as is the case in Asia.

What has all that got to do with Enoksen Watches and our use of Seiko movements? Everything and nothing. We use both mechanical and hybrid quartz movements from Seiko, and whilst the latter are almost absurdly accurate, the mechanical movements can be quite a lot out. When we receive the Seiko NH35A movements fresh from the factory, they come with a guaranteed accuracy of −20/+40 seconds per day. In comparison to the COSC requirements that seems almost laughable. It means that two identical watches with the same movement can be a whole minute apart after 24 hours, without deviating from the factory specs.

This has bothered us a lot since we started Enoksen Watch Company, and so far we have dealt with inaccuracies on a case by case basis.

That ends now.

Our in-house watchmaker has developed a technique to optimise our NH35A movements to an accuracy of +-5 seconds per day! That is better than the above COSC standards, and we have decided to treat every single mechanical Enoksen watch to this optimisation, prior to delivery.

We call it Calibrated©.

It means we know with 100% certainty what the accuracy of your new watch is, and each watch is supplied with a certificate with the exact measurements, post adjustment. It also means that you can own an affordable mechanical watch without having to constantly adjust the time.

To paraphrase an ad from a well known insurance company: Can your watch do that?