Συζήτηση για ρολόγια

[georgehh]

να σαι καλα νομικέ μαρέσει πολύ

[Megalos]

να σε καλά με γεια το όμορφο victorinox

 

http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/7884/victorinoxlj6.jpg

 

ευχαριστω Γιωργο, δες το παλι να χαρεις :rolleyes:

[karaLRS]

kataskeuazete rologia????

 

 

οχι βρε απλως αυτος ο chase-durer φτιάχνει ρολόγια και μπορεί να βγάλει και μια εκδοση customised αν παραγγειλεις απο καποιο νουμερο και πάνω.

 

εμεις θέλουμε να βγάλουμε κάτι συλλεκτικο , με τα ονοματα μας απο πισω χαραγμένα , με το σημα της μοιρας και με το αεροσκάφος μεσα στο καντραν και γιαυτο απευθυνθηκαμε σε αυτον.

[Nos 55]

Ποια ειναι η γνωμη σας για τα Movado ??

[panagiotispa]

Ποια ειναι η γνωμη σας για τα Movado ??

 

 

τι είναι αυτό??

[Nos 55]

τι είναι αυτό??

 

http://www.movado.com/

[Kap]

re paidia na kano mia mallon hazi erotisi? giati stis diafimiseis ton rologion se periodika ta rologia deihnoun shedon panta tin ora 10:10? :O

[Nos 55]

re paidia na kano mia mallon hazi erotisi? giati stis diafimiseis ton rologion se periodika ta rologia deihnoun shedon panta tin ora 10:10? :O

Εεεε?

Μπορει να στις 10 η ωρα να γινεται η φωτογραφηση μεχρι να ειναι ετοιμο το σκηνικο παει 10.10 και τοτε αρχιζουν οι φωτο :p :lol:

[Kap]

Εεεε?

Μπορει να στις 10 η ωρα να γινεται η φωτογραφηση μεχρι να ειναι ετοιμο το σκηνικο παει 10.10 και τοτε αρχιζουν οι φωτο :p :lol:

 

:lol: :lol: :lol: mallon eheis dikio den mporo na to aitiologiso diaforetika

[Nikos_s3]

κι όμως...είναι ολόκληρη ψυχολογία που παίζει ρόλο και όλα σχεδόν δείχνουν 10:10...;)

και καλά οι δείκτες μοιάζουν σε ένα πρόσωπο που χαμογελάει, οπότε προδιαθέτουν ευχάριστα τον όποιο υποψήφιο αγοραστή...;)

με λίγα λόγια...ψυχολογία και μάρκετινγκ καλά κρατούν..:)

[ferengi]

Και δύο λινκ που αναλύουν το θέμα λίγο περισσότερο:

http://www.tribuneindia.com/1998/98oct15/mailbag.htm

http://markhancock.blogspot.com/2004/08/most-clocks-have-happy-hands.html

[alazonas]

http://www.tagheuer.com/the-collection/carrera/index.lbl?lang=enkalhmera paides , apo xtes eimai katoxos enos tag heuer carrera....:) Perasan panw apo 6 mhnes pou to eixa valei sto mati ..epitelous vrisketai sto xeri mo

[ferengi]

Καλοφόρετο!! Κι εμένα είναι από τα αγαπημένα μου το συγκεκριμένο Carrera :)

[nomikosas]

kaloforeto k apo emena alazona. polu omorfo

[alazonas]

hmoun se megalo dilima metaksu tou tag heuer carrera k tou omega seamaster 300 M tou thrilikou james bond http://www.omega.ch/index.php?id=286

 

poia h gnwmh sas ? ekana kala ?

[stardrive]

θα έπρεπε να συγκρίνεις το tag heuer carrera με αυτό http://www.omega.ch/index.php?id=287

γιατί το ομεγα που παραπέμπεις δεν είναι χρονογράφος ενώ το carrera είναι.

 

Tα έχω φορέσει και τα δύο και έχω απόψη, προσωπικα θα έπαιρνα το ομεγα, βέβαια παίζει ρόλο και η τιμή.

Καλοφόρετο πάντως φίλε μου και ναι αφού σου αρέσει καλά έκανες.

 

Παρεπιπτόντος υπάρχουν δύο χρονογράφοι ομέγα ένας με διάμετρο κάσας 39.3 και ένας με διάμετρο κάσας 41,5.

[Megalos]

και μια μεταφραση μου απο στοιχεια ενος φιλου ενος ξενου φορουμ αναφορικα με μηχανισμους και οικους ρολογιων

 

"in house" σημαίνει φτιαγμένος από την επιχείρηση, τον εταιρικό φορέα του, ή οποιεσδήποτε από τις θυγατρικές του ή από τις θυγατρικές με ειδικές στενές ιστορικές σχέσεις (π.χ. Breguet/Lemania ή Blancpain/F. Piguet). Μια σημαντική προειδοποίηση να λαμβάνεται υπόψη: Ακόμη και οί πιό μεγάλου γοήτρου οίκοι ανατρέχουν συχνά σέ ανεξάρτητους "συμβούλους" για μερικά από τα πιό σύνθετα προϊόντα τους. Η περιστασιακή χρήση τέτοιων συμβούλων δεν θα αλλάξει την κατηγοριοποίηση μιας επιχείρησης.

 

"in group" σημαίνει την επιχείρηση και οποιεσδήποτε από τις θυγατρικές της με χωριστή προέλευση (προηγούμενα ανεξάρτητες εταιρίες τώρα στην ίδια εταιρική ομάδα -- π.χ. Omega και ETA)

 

"ebauche" είναι ένας βασικός μηχανισμός που παρέχεται χωρίς σύστημα διαφυγής ή/και άλλα σημαντικά συστατικά.

 

"βασικός μηχανισμός" είναι ενας πλήρης μηχανισμός που αγοράζεται από έναν προμηθευτή, αλλά που τροποποιείται μέ την αντικατάσταση ορισμένων συστατικών, τελειοποιείται ή τροποποιείται ουσιαστικά.

 

"γνήσιος μηχανισμός" είναι ενας μηχανισμός που σχεδιάζεται και κατασκευάζεται χωρίς να βασίζεται σε ‘’ebauche’’ η παρεχόμενο βασικό μηχανισμό .

 

Σημείωση: η κατασκευή μηχανισμών αποκλείει τα ρουμπίνια και ελατήρια διαφυγής και μπορεί να αποκλείει άλλα εξειδικευμένα μέρη .

 

1) Χρησιμοποιούν μόνο γνήσιους μηχανισμούς και κατασκευάζουν άλλα σημαντικά συστατικά (κάσες , καντράν και δείκτες) κάθε ρολογιού ‘’του οίκου’’ (in house).

 

Glashutte Original

Haldimann Horology

Jaeger- LeCoultre

Rolex

Seiko (επίσης κατασκευάζει κρύσταλλα)

R.W. Smith

Andreas Strehler

Urwerk

 

2) Χρησιμοποιούν μόνο γνήσιους μηχανισμούς.

 

Vincent Bιrard

Blancpain

Citizen

De Bethune

Philippe Dufour

Jean Dunand/C.Claret

Jean Daniel Nicholas

F.P. Journe

Α. Lange & Sohne

Richard Mille

Minerva

Piaget

Vulcain

Vyskocil (επίσης κατασκευάζει κάσες δικές της)

Zenith

 

3a) Χρησιμοποιούν μερικούς γνήσιους μηχανισμούς , αλλά χρησιμοποιούν καί βασικούς μηχανισμούς/ebauches με εκτενείς και ουσιαστικές εσωτερικές κατ’οίκον τροποποιήσεις έτσι ώστε να προκύπτει ενας μοναδικός μηχανισμός.

 

Vincent Calabrese

Roger Dubuis

Gerald Genta

Paul Gerber

IWC

Kiu Tai Yu

Frank Muller

Ulysse Nardin

Parmigiani

Revue Thommen

Daniel Roth

Speake-Marin

 

3b) Συνήθως χρησιμοποιούν γνήσιους μηχανισμούς , αλλά χρησιμοποιούν καί παρεχόμενους ή τροποποιημένους.

 

Breguet

Girard- Perregaux

Patek Philippe

Vacheron Constantin

 

3c) Χρησιμοποιούν μερικούς γνήσιους μηχανισμούς , αλλά συνήθως χρησιμοποιούν παρεχόμενους ή τροποποιημένους.

 

Audemars Piguet

Chopard

Frederique Constant

Poljot

Vostok

Harry Winston Fine Timepieces

 

4) Αρχίζουν με παρεχόμενους ebauche ή βασικούς μηχανισμούς , αλλά κάνουν εκτενή και ουσιαστικές εσωτερικές τροποποιήσεις έτσι ώστε να προκύπτει ένας μοναδικός μηχανισμός.

Svend Andersen

Arnold & Son/La Jour Perret

blu – source du temps

Martin Braun

Breitling

D. Dombluth & Sohn

Graham/La Jour Perret

Richard Habring

Vianney Halter

Urban Jurgensen & Sonner

Christiaan van der Klaauw

Lang & Heyne

Rainer Nienaber

Nomos

Pita

Thomas Prescher Haute Horologie

Antoine Preziuso

 

5) Σχέδια και κατασκευές τουλάχιστον οί περισσότεροι μηχανισμοί in-group

 

Jaquet Droz

Longines

Omega

Tissot

[greekman80]

http://www.tagheuer.com/the-collection/carrera/index.lbl?lang=enkalhmera paides , apo xtes eimai katoxos enos tag heuer carrera....:) Perasan panw apo 6 mhnes pou to eixa valei sto mati ..epitelous vrisketai sto xeri mo

 

Για μενα επρεπε να παρεις το ομεγα! αμα η οικονομικη κατασταση σου το επετρεπε αυτο.. αλλη αισθηση δινει το ομεγα στο χερι σου και στον χωρο σου και αλλη το καρερα!!!:) εχω τυχει να φορεσω το πρωτο omega απο τις σειρες που χρησιμοποιηθηκαν gia to james bond http://www.pacifictime.com/product_images/2262-50-00.jpg και ηταν απλα τελειο..

τωρα εγω δεν ξερω και πολλα για το καρερα ομως για το ομεγα ειμαι εξπερτ.. :O θα ηθελα να μου δειξεις μια φωτογραφια του καρερα να συγκρινω..:)

[alazonas]

Na sou pw thn alitheia file mou greekman80 opws k anefera parapanw hmoun se megalo dilima gia arketo kairo.OI oikonomikes mou dunatotites eparkousan gia thn agora tou alla kammia fora ektos apo thn texnologia pou kruvoun mesa tous sigoura tsekareis k to pws kathontai sto xeri sou alla k kata poso tairiazoun sto styl ntisimatos sou.Einai 2 aksiologa kommatia makari na eixa k to omega sthn sullogh mou ... upomonh thn epomenh fora pou tha ksanaperarei o ag.vasilis:p ..Tha thela omws thn gnwmh sou edw exw 2 foto

TAG HEYER CARRERA http://www.tagheuer.com/the-collecti...ex.lbl?lang=en

OMEGA http://www.omega.ch/index.php?id=286&details=1&ref=22208000&no_cache=1

[dimatha]

Online auctioneer EBay [NASDAQ:EBAY] revealed today that two of its European subsidiaries have been sued by watchmaker Montres Rolex S.A. and some Rolex affiliates for alleged trademark infringement.

 

Rolex alleges that EBay subsidiaries EBay GMBH and EBay International AG have been, "infringing Rolex's trademarks as (a) result of users selling counterfeit Rolex watches," through EBay's German Web site, according to EBay's quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

 

The lawsuit, which was filed in the regional court of Cologne, Germany, also alleges unfair competition, EBay said. The company added that Rolex is seeking an order forbidding the sales of Rolex watches on the EBay Web site as well as damages.

 

EBay said in a statement that it, "believes that it has meritorious defenses against this claim and intends to defend itself vigorously."

 

Company spokesperson Kevin Purseglove told Newsbytes that Rolex is a member of an EBay program called VeRO, or verified rights owner program, in the United States.

 

VeRO allows companies to request items be removed from EBay. According to EBay's Web site, VeRO "works to ensure that items listed for auction do not infringe upon the copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights of third parties. VeRO Program participants may identify and request removal of allegedly infringing auction listings."

 

Purseglove said EBay has a similar program in Germany, where it is known by the German acronym VeRI. "Rolex elected not to enroll in VeRI," he said.

 

Purseglove insisted that EBay is not concerned about the lawsuit.

 

"We remain confident that our policies through the VeRO program meet and exceed legal requirements in Germany. We look forward to the opportunity to present our views to a German court," he said.

 

Rolex representatives did not return phone calls at press time.

 

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NEW/is_2001_May_15/ai_74573270

[greekman80]

Na sou pw thn alitheia file mou greekman80 opws k anefera parapanw hmoun se megalo dilima gia arketo kairo.OI oikonomikes mou dunatotites eparkousan gia thn agora tou alla kammia fora ektos apo thn texnologia pou kruvoun mesa tous sigoura tsekareis k to pws kathontai sto xeri sou alla k kata poso tairiazoun sto styl ntisimatos sou.Einai 2 aksiologa kommatia makari na eixa k to omega sthn sullogh mou ... upomonh thn epomenh fora pou tha ksanaperarei o ag.vasilis:p ..Tha thela omws thn gnwmh sou edw exw 2 foto

TAG HEYER CARRERA http://www.tagheuer.com/the-collecti...ex.lbl?lang=en

OMEGA http://www.omega.ch/index.php?id=286&details=1&ref=22208000&no_cache=1

κοιταξε και το καρερα εχει οψη "ομεγα" δηλάδη δινει μια αισθηση στο χερι σου, αλλα εμενα προσωπικα μου αρεσει το ομεγα.. το μονο μικρο μειονεκτημα που ισως να εχει το ομεγα ειναι το οτι ειναι μπλε το εσωτερικο του, θα το προτιμουσα μαυρο!

[dimatha]

The very private Swiss watch giant opens the doors of its new Geneva facility.

 

 

Rolex has always had a Garbo-like sense of privacy. With no very good reason to court the media, or even allow them through its doors, it chugs happily along, selling its roughly three-quarters of a million watches a year, which bring in some 2 billion Swiss francs (this is an estimate; the company, needless to say, does not reveal sales figures.) As the world’s luxury watch brand, with a sterling image that never fades, Rolex needs publicity like Greta Garbo needed more fans.

So recently, when Rolex invited us to visit its facilities in Geneva, to actually go inside them and see real Rolex employees making real Rolex watches, we didn’t think twice.

In early April, WatchTime and about 50 U.S. retailers gathered for a daylong tour that would take in the company’s three Geneva factories. They make all the company’s cases, bracelets and dials and assemble its finished watches. (Alas, we will not see Rolex’s only other factory, in Bienne, where it makes its movements. Maybe another time, we were told.)

Rolex’s Geneva facilities are in the final stages of a massive, eight-year-long construction and renovation project. Its aim is to bring together the many manufacturing operations, some 19 in all, that were once spread out, in and around Geneva.

The company has been an institution there for nearly a century, almost as much a part of the city’s identity as the famous jet d’eau at the mouth of the Rhone or the lovely waterfront skyline.

Rolex founder, Hans Wilsdorf moved Rolex to Geneva in 1919 (the company was born in 1905 in London), and it remained at the city center for more than 40 years. In 1965, Rolex completed construction of new headquarters in an industrial section of Geneva called Acacias, southwest of the city center. Now, with just a year or so to go until the last glistening green glass panel is hoisted into position on the refurbished headquarters, Rolex, in an uncharacteristic burst of openness, wants to show off its deluxe new digs.

 

Life upon the shelves

 

We start at the spanking new building in Plan-les-Ouates, which was completed last October. This district, on the outskirts of Geneva, has become a luxury-watch stronghold. Patek Phillippe, Vacheron Constantin, Piaget, and Frederique Constant have all built new production facilities there, turning the flat, featureless expanse into a showcase of eye-catching, ultra modern industrial architecture. Rolex’s building is the most imposing of all; it is huge (it covers nearly 26000 square meters of space, roughly the size of five football fields), jetblack, and forbidding.

Inside, we see a short movie presenting facts and figures about the new building. Its 11 stories high, with five of them underground, and composed of three parallel rectangular units, connected by a central corridor. It has 157000 square meters of floor space and houses 1700 machines. Deliveries are made via a 10-meter wide covered road that runs through the building. The roof is covered with gardens and is used as a relaxation area by the 1500 people who work in the facility.

The glass that completely covers the building shields the work within from prying eyes. Those lucky enough to penetrate that armor are in for a treat, the film’s naragator suggests. “The black glass facades conceal a surprising world,” he says.

He’s right, as we discover from the very first stop on the tour. It’s the components storage room (the prosaic name doesn’t do it justice, as we soon find out), on the second underground floor. To get there, we pass through an ultra-secure entryway equipped with a retina-scanning system, meant to foil thieves with designs on the treasure within.

We stand on a walkway, behind a floor to-ceiling pane of glass, and look upward and downward at layer upon layer of storage shelves: four stories’ worth of them holding 30000 separate compartments. (there are an additional 30000 compartments in a second storage room, a precaution in case disaster strikes the first one.) The vast expanse of shelves is itself impressive, but the real spectacle is the computer-directed conveyors that pick up the components from the bins and deliver them to the workstations throughout the building. There are countless of these automated gofers zipping along aluminum rail, stopping, snatching the parts from the compartments, and zipping away again. Four kilometers of these rails snake through the facility; the system extends to the buildings furthest reaches. The average wait for components, once they’ve been ordered from a workstation by means of a few mouse clicks, is eight minutes.

We gaze quiet a while, transfixed by the speeding conveyors whose loud, constant whirring makes it difficult to hear anything below a shout. We laugh like kids in a funhouse when once a while a conveyor comes zooming toward us as if to crash through the glass pane, then stops short at its destination a few feet from our faces.

The Rolex production manager leading the tour tells us the system is working above Rolex’s initial expectations, and is 98% reliable. Then he herds us away, which, given our fascinating dilly-dallying, is like herding cats.

 

Gold standard

 

Where do these components – cases, bracelet links, tiny bracelet fixings, clasps, and myriad other bits – come from? To find out, we take the elevator up to the foundry to see, as the movie describes it, “the first step in the creation of a Rolex.” The company mixes it’s own gold, enabling it to both create its own alloys and to control the gold’s quality, like a special blend of a pink and a white gold developed in these labs. The alloy doesn’t lose its pink or white tint, the way other pink or white gold alloys do. Rolex is the biggest gold consumer in Switzerland and the only watch company that does it’s own alloying. (It was unknown to us that the amount of gold watches that leaves the company is much higher that the ones made of stainless steel. Never gave as a chance to find out any figures though.)

We see the end product in a so-called “gold pour,” in which half a gallon of fiery molten gold streams from a crucible into a pan. After it cools, the metal is stamped into cases or casebacks or drawn through a series of dies to form gold wire of the right shape to make the various Rolex bracelets: the Oyster, the President, etc. Because Rolex uses so much gold, it’s able to employ machines normally used for steel or aluminum, which are larger that standard gold processing machines and hence more precise. It’s a good thing: the tolerance for bracelet-component parts is 2/100 of a millimeter (each bracelet has about 200 parts), and that’s why a Rolex bracelet will last 30 to 40 years without needing repair.

Steel parts are made in the same department. Rolex uses an alloy known as 904L (it’s the only company to do so), that it buys from outside supplier. The steel resists corrosion extremely well and is also very tough, so that it’s durable, but also very difficult to machine.

After parts are fabricated, they’re polished. A robot, enclosed in a glass cubicle, handles the initial polishing. We watch it (him? It’s wearing a baby-blue dust cover that cloaks its oddly misshapen body), mesmerized by its jerky but somehow lifelike movements, as it holds a watchcase against a polishing machine. It’s nightmarish and funny at the same time, like the creatures in the bar scene in “Star Wars”.

The robot is a high-maintenance employee: it needs to be recalibrated after every 10 cases it polishes to keep it working with the required precision. But it clearly earns its keep: “With a little help from the robots, you can make a very good product,” the Rolex manager cheerfully points out, glancing at his electronic colleague.

When the robot is finished, the case passed along to humans for fine polishing. Only real hands and eyes can detect tiny imperfections that might remain on the case’s surface.

 

Robo jock

 

Our next stop is the laboratory, where scientist, engineers and technicians (there are 20plus PhD’s employed there), work on quality control, research and development and general trouble-shooting, like fixing a glitch on the production line or diagnosing the cause of a difficult-to-open bracelet clasp. “You can see there are people at the center of Rolex, not machines,” the Rolex manager tells. Simple tasks have been reassigned to robots, but people still do the complicated ones.

These jobs include making sure the raw materials are sufficiently pure before they’re made into watch parts. This means examining them with a scanning electron microscope. We’re told a story that illustrates how stringent its standards are for raw materials: When Rolex receives bars of steel from its supplier; the company performs different tests on them, including a polishing test. One recent polishing test produced a small scratch, what the technicians call a “comet,” on the surface of the bar. Examining the steel under the electron microscope, the Rolex technicians found a minuscule particle, 8 microns across (1/10 as wide as a hair) in front of the comet. They analyzed it and found that the particle was composed partly of titanium. They phoned the steel supplier, who told them that the furnace used to alloy the metal had earlier been used to make titanium steel for another customer. The furnace had not been cleaned thoroughly and some traces of titanium remained in it. Hearing this, Rolex rejected the entire load, sending back 10 metric tons of steel.

A few minutes later, in the research and development section of the lab, we learn a new word, that is tribology, the science of wear and tear. We see another robot, this one dedicated to studying the effects of wear on watch bracelets. The robot has a mannequin-like wrist and hand and wears a Rolex watch. It is performing a sequence of fancy moves with its humanoid hand: twisting it, thrusting it down, turning it sideways, lifting it up and repeating the series again and again. The moves, odd as they seem, are modeled on real life. “We put some sensors on a colleague of mine while he was doing different kinds of sports: running, tennis, golf, and everything else,” a research and development manager tells us. “We examined the motions and duplicate them with this robot.” The robot allows Rolex to simulate a year’s worth of wear in just one week, and hence discover in a jiffy the advantages of one bracelet design over another.

 

Behind the bling

 

We have good-bye to the robot, which is still frantically gesticulating, and soon pile into a bus headed for the Rolex factory in Chene-Bourg, a few miles to the east. There, human hands, steady, patient ones, prevail. First we see the gem-setting process. In one room, little diamonds are arranged in neat piles, waiting to be placed on bezels, dials and bracelets. Here, their color is checked to make sure it’s the requisite “river” grade. The diamonds, in round, trapeze, or baguette shapes, are painstakingly set by hand with the aid of microscope.

It the dial-making department, we see more handwork: printing the dials and the addition of markers and numerals. Dials are made of brass, gold or platinum. Color is imparted to the dials by a variety of methods: galvanization, physical vapor deposition, or painting. Mother-of-pearl and meteorite dials are made by gluing a thing layer of the decorative material onto a brass substrate.

 

Putting it together

 

Another bus ride takes us into Geneva’s city limits to the area called Acacias. We come to our third and final stop, the climax of the tour, in some sense: Rolex worldwide headquarters. This complex, in the final stages of expansion and renovation (it’s scheduled to be finished this year), is where the top Rolex executives, including Patrick Heiniger, have their offices. Rolex-watchers have long regarded the building, covered in glass tinted in imperial Rolex green, as a fortress only a little less impenetrable than the Pentagon.

The facility consists of two side-by-side towers housing offices and administrative departments and, next to them, four industrial buildings. It is in these buildings that Rolex watches are assembled, put through their last quality-control tests, packaged and shipped to markets throughout the world.

Most of the assembly is done by hand at rows of immaculately clean workbenches where employees, most of them women, combine all the pieces made elsewhere (movements from Bienne, cases and bracelets from Plan-les-Ouates, dials from Chene-Bourg) into the final product. We watch the women, agile-fingered and as steady of touch as micro-surgeons, lifting up tiny gold watch hands (all Rolex watches have gold hands) with an air pump, so they won’t get scratched, and positioning them on the dial. At the other workstations, employees are casing the movements and, at still others, placing the winding crowns. One of the final steps is attaching the winding rotor, a task performed with an electric screwdriver programmed to tighten the screws to precisely the right tension.

Throughout it all, the women constantly check and re-check their work. Does the date jump at midnight, as it should? Are the hands precisely superimposed? Is the dial flawless? Does the rotor sound as it should when it turns, or might one screw be a tad too loose? If everything passes muster, the serial numbers of the case and movement, which are engraved by laser, are registered, and the case is closed up.

The watch is still not ready to meet the world. First it must pass a few more tests. Now machines take over. First there’s a water-resistance test using air pressure (the riskier water-resistance test, using water, comes later). Then the watch will be wound automatically, by means of its rotor, to make sure the winding mechanism produces enough energy to keep the movement running. The precision tests come next. They’re similar to those performed by COSC. (The movement have already been certified by that agency, and tested in Bienne; the purpose of these tests is to make sure the movement still measure up after casing). The dial is photographed once, then again, 24 hours later, and the timing compared to that of a reference clock regulated by an atomic clock. Then the watch’s precision is measured in each of five different positions. Lastly, the watch is placed in a water tank and tested at a pressure level 10% above what is guaranteed for that particular model. The bracelets are attached, and the watches’ guarantees are placed with their respective watches. The watches are boxed for shipping, and off they go.

And so do we. After a dinner atop one of the towers, hosted by Patrick Heiniger, we leave the headquarters, a bounce in our step. Why? Because we’ve done it, we’ve gotten inside Rolex.

 

 

 

Rolex in Geneva:

A Timeline

 

1919: Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf relocates the company from London to Geneva, at a site in the city center near the Cathedrale Saint-Pierre.

 

1960: Needing more space, Rolex decides to build a new headquarters in the Acacias industrial area in Geneva, to the southwest of the city center.

 

1965: Rolex inaugurates the Acacias headquarters, which consists of two eight-story towers.

 

1978 to 1995: Two additional buildings are added at the Acacias site.

 

1998: Construction begins on the Chene-Bourg site, where Rolex does its gem setting and dial making. With its glistening black-glass façade, the building will serve as a model for Rolex’s other Geneva factories.

 

2000: The Chene-Bourg facility is completed.

 

2001: Construction begins on Rolex’s bracelet and case manufacturing plant in Plan-les-Ouates.

 

2002: The company begins the refurbishing of the Acacias headquarters, which includes heightening the two towers by three stories, covering them with green glass facades, and building two additional manufacturing buildings.

 

2005: The Plan-les-Ouates facility is completed.

 

Fall 2006: The Acacias refurbishing is completed.

 

 

 

Text: Norma Buchanan, WatchTime, August 2006

 

 

 

Rolex’s new facility at Plan-les-Ouates

 

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g229/dimatha/insiderolexcover.jpg

 

 

Rolex’s gem-setting and dial-manufacturing facility at Chene-Bourg

 

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g229/dimatha/Chene-Bourg.jpg

 

 

Rolex’s Acacias headquarters in the 1980s

 

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g229/dimatha/Acaciasinthe80s.jpg

 

 

Attaching a chronometer seal to a gold bracelet. Rolex not only makes its own cases and bracelets at Plan-les-Ouates, it alloys it’s own gold there.

 

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g229/dimatha/attachingachronometerseal.jpg

 

 

pictures: Uhren Chronos, Oktober 2006

text for the german translation, Sabine Goodman

[nomikosas]

pwwwwwwwwWWWW

 

Kala e nomizw opoios to diabasei katalabenei giati h rolex bgazei rologia ergalia gia mia, duo... treis.... k parapanw zwes :)

 

mou ekanan tosa polla antipwsh apo auta pou diavasa... einai toso melethmena ola... ti na prwto peis..

 

h epituxia tous erxete mesa apo ta polu austhra metra-elegxous exoun. apo to oti den sumbibazontai me tipota k apla panta theloun to apotelesma se kathe roloi pou kataskeuazoun na einai teleio!

[panagiotispa]

Rolex is simply the best in watches

[mvagustagm2000]

Rolex is simply the best in watches

 

διαφωνω...

breitling!:D