Would you prefer a lower price instead of a Chronometer?

If I want accuracy I buy a quartz watch. So yeah I couldn’t care less about certifications 😂

Excellent question, and I hope any of us who are watch execs will note this desire on the part of the mechanical watch-loving community. It doesn’t seem too much of an ask given the high state of standard horology these days. A Sellita 200 or the new movements from Longines and Tissot ought to be reasonably capable of being adjusted or tweaked in order to comply with standards. The question is: who bites the cost of certification? I’m willing to take 30% of the cost - the COST mind you, not some jejune 30% price increase which would be transparently crass - as a tiny increase in price $50? €50? £50?

I’ll accept some measure like that. I don’t think the high current cost is sensible.

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Yes because honestly I don't wear my watches more than 2 days in a row so accuracy isn't the most vital thing for me. But why do I want to buy a timegrapher? 🤔

a precise watch is obviously a good thing but i dont need it to be certified tbh

i don't own a longines yet but in every review or video ive seen on longines watches they always were within Chronometer standards but just a few were officialy certified and cost a chunk of money more 😅

I just got a Japanese watch for $138 that runs at COSC standards.

Even if you don't get COSC standards out of the box, you can always have your LWM adjust it for you. It'll be way cheaper than any watch you can buy that is certified.

Depends on how easy regulation is. If it's a lever or screw I can twiddle with, I'd rather skip the cert. If it's twisting weights on the balance wheel itself, I'd rather that they do it and stand by the cert.

I‘m not looking for total precision in a mechanical watch, so I’d obviously trade the chronometer certification for a lower price.

If anyone cared about accuracy most would be buying a Bulova with their Precisionist movement.

Unless you are constantly using the chronograph feature on a watch, I feel like it's kind of a waste. I have a couple of watches that have a chronograph and don't think I have used it more than a handful of times.

I change watches too often to care about automatic chronometer accuracy.

I do , however , like quartz chronometers (accurate to within .007/spd) because the only time you have to set them is when DST rears its ugly head)

If I get a watch more than 1500 usd I am expect the watch to run -5 to +5 spd. I dont actually need the certificate, but it is assurance that it is a good mechanical watch that tell better accurate time keeping.

I can regulate watch. Seiko, citizen, selita, calber 4000 from Oris. I recently drop my Kermit and it is running -10 spd.

I'm kind of in the middle. Don't care if it's officially certified, but I like it when a watch is further regulated by the brand then just the basic spec accuracy.

I'm not super picky on the auto accuracy but it can't be running like -/+ minutes a day.i have too many nh35 watches to pick the Chrono + higher cost option 😂

I buy watches for the complete package, including design, comfort, specs and price. If one of those elements is totally out of whack with the others, I’m not likely to buy it.

For instance, if a watch has great design and finishing but isn’t certified, I’d still buy it if the price is reasonable for what it is.

If a watch looks and fits amazing and is certified, I would pay the price if that’s the price. I mean, new or used, discount or no discount, everything has a final price that you have to pay if you want to take it home. But before all those calculations, I still have to want the watch first.

Alternatively, if a watch is butt ugly but finely finished and certified, I’m not buying at any price. Life is too short to wear an ugly watch.

Chronometer certifications do absolutely nothing for me. I’ve started seeing them as a poor excuse for brands like Tudor to squeeze one extra grand from the customer because “the watch is COSC and METAS certified”. It’s not like you can choose the non-certified version unless you go pre-owned.

I personally can’t get behind the idea of plonking extra cash on a watch carrying a movement that will still deviate -2/+6 spd no matter what… I like mechanicals and I like them reasonably accurate, but in the rare case I need accuracy, I’ll just wear my 9F GS. Or just a Casio. Cheaper than a COSC-certified mechanical and still more accurate.

Another thing is, I wear my watches in a rotation and I don’t have a winder. When my very nicely regulated top grade ETA 2894-powered watch stops running in the drawer, I have to reset it again as I pick it up for the day, so it doesn’t have “time” to deviate much to a level that worries to me.

It depends on the watch manufacturer/movement and price diff.

F.i. if speaking about Longines I don't care about COSC that much as their 888 movements run close to COSC or within.

But in general if price diff is not huge I would always opt for COSC version.

Chronometerness and more specially chronometer certification is more or prestige thing than practical in a world of quartz. However, at high price levels, I expect chronometer performance. I’m buy for the design and quality, not a card.

I cerrtainly feel this way when it comes to Serica. Granted, I got my 4512 for roughly $200 under retail, but i would have been much more likely to consider saving for a 6190 if it wasn’t a thousand dollars. One might find it a bit silly to split hairs over a few hundred dollars when you approach a grand, but a few hundred is still a lot of money for me and for most people. Maybe I’d get one if I find a great deal on the secondary market, but at retail I’d need to really love it.

However, if I were to gift someone a watch that is chronometer certified, I would want the certificate to make it feel a bit more special for them.