In 2012, COSC (Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres), the official chronometer certification agency of Switzerland, issued 1.73 million chronometer certificates. This marks a record high, up 6 percent over chronometer production in 2011. The 6-percent rise comes on top of a giant jump in 2011, when chronometer certificates increased by 28 percent.
According to COSC’s data an additional 87,911 timepieces were submitted to COSC that did not pass the certification process.
In order for a watch to bear COSC’s official title of chronometer, its movement must pass an extensive battery of tests. Although COSC does not test finished watches, it measures the accuracy of a movement in multiple positions and at different temperatures over 16 days. Each year, COSC publishes the list of all the brands that received more than 1,000 chronometer certificates. Typically, the three watch producers at the top have been consistent: Rolex, Omega and Breitling.
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ImageShack.usRolex has dominated the COSC list for years. In 2012, it received its second highest number ever: 798,935 certificates,
up 6.3 percent from the year before. (Rolex hit its all-time high in 2002, when it received 814,720 chronometer certificates.) In 2012, Rolex’s chronometers made up 46.1 percent of all certificates that COSC issued.
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ImageShack.usOmega held onto its position as the second biggest chronometer producer. Its number of certificates, 526,046, was up
3.3 percent over the year before. Omega maintained its sizeable lead over Breitling, the consistent third-place brand.
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ImageShack.usBreitling for its part was steady, receiving only slightly more certificates, 156,773, than in the year before. However, that figure is more than double the output of the brand directly behind it.
Mido ranked fourth for a second year in a row. It received 24 percent more certificates than it had in 2011, reaching 61,358.
The biggest jump on the 2012 list is Tissot, which made a dramatic step up to five-digit chronometer production. In 2012 Tissot received 49,625 certificates — a leap of 717 percent over 2011. Tissot has risen quickly through the ranks: now at number five on the list, it was in 27th place in 2010. Tissot’s surge puts it ahead of Panerai (#6) and Chopard (#7). Both Panerai and Chopard received fewer certificates in 2012, decreasing by 17 percent and 21 percent, respectively.
TAG Heuer, historically a strong producer of chronometers, returned to the list in 2012 after de-emphasizing chronometers over the past few years. Although TAG had received more than 70,000 certificates in 2009, the number fell to 559 in 2011. In 2012 TAG earned 2,605 certificates.
Nine brands produced more than 10,000 chronometers last year. Twenty brands received more than 1,000, just slightly fewer than in 2011.
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ImageShack.usRolex and Omega together made up 76 percent of all the 2012 certificates. Rolex, Omega and Breitling accounted for 85 percent of the total
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ImageShack.usOther brands from past years stayed on the list, but saw big changes in their numbers. Ulysse Nardin and Ball Watch made sizeable jumps, but Corum halved its number of certificates. Roger Dubuis, Bremont, and Rado also cut back chronometer production significantly.
Four brands that were on the list in 2011 didn’t make the cut in 2012: Carl F. Bucherer, Zenith, Olma and Juvenia. The last two were on the list for just one year.
In addition to the return of TAG Heuer, 2012 saw two more new additions to the COSC list. Roamer received 1,909 certificates and took the number 17 spot. Invicta entered with a splash at the number 10 position, garnering 9,658 chronometer certificates.
Of the 1.73 million certificates COSC granted, 1.69 million were for mechanical movements. The remaining 46,554 certificates were for quartz ones, and the majority of those went to Breitling. There was significant growth in the quartz chronometer sector: in 2012, 11,106 quartz certificates went to non-Breitling brands, compared to only 300 the year before.
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