It's good to be Facebook friends with the oldest watch company in the world. I stumbled across this interesting news feed courtesy of Vacheron Constantin.
The Hallmark of Geneva has since its creation in 1886 been awarded to movements respecting the most stringent criteria. Today 100% of Vacheron Constantin's manufacture calibers are granted this hallmark. On November 9, Time Lab the independent official body part of the Geneva authorities and which awards the Hallmark of Geneva announced earlier this evening the modifications on the hallmark criteria. The major change is that the Hallmark of Geneva will no longer be given to a movement but to the timepiece as a whole. Other than some small technical changes the Hallmark of Geneva requirements on the movement remain the same. The new criteria concentrate on 3 major elements Links between movement and case - all elements which connect the case to the movement (holder rings, corrector buttons, pushers etc…) will need to respect a certain number of criteria regarding their finish. Tests on cased watch - Water resistance: the water resistance shall be tested to the level announced by the brand. The minimum requirement being 30ATM and -0.5ATM which corresponds to the pressure undergone in planes. - Testing of the function throughout one complete cycle: each of the watch’s functions are tested (ex: a perpetual calendar is set on Feb 26 and tested to make sure all indications are still correct on March 1, a chronograph is tested to make sure that the counters, start stop and reset function correctly etc…) - Accuracy: each watch is tested under normal wearing conditions for 7 days and the maximum acceptable deviation is 1 minute. If the watch has extra functions these extra functions should not have an adverse effect on the accuracy. For example if a chronograph is tested the chronograph function will be on for 24 hours. - Power reserve. The power reserve of the watch will be tested to make certain it corresponds to what is announced by the brand Controls The Time Lab team shall frequently control (at least once a month) the brands to make sure that the criteria are followed for each and every watch which is awarded the Hallmark of Geneva.
For more info on the Geneva Seal click HERE.
-JKS
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