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The Concours International de Chronométrie puts watchmakers...
History & Masterpieces

The Concours International de Chronométrie puts watchmakers to the test

Monday, 21 December 2009
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Christophe Roulet
Editor-in-chief, HH Journal

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9 min read

Quartz saw the last of timing competitions. Now they return with the Concours International de Chronométrie, organised by the Musée d’Horlogerie du Locle. Jaeger-LeCoultre and René Addor are the victors of this first edition.

The old generation of watchmakers remember, not without nostalgia, when timing competitions challenged them to produce the most precise timepieces possible. As if to jog our memories, Zenith has retrained the spotlight on its Calibre 135. This thoroughbred among movements made its debut in 1948, “at the height of the fiercely-fought race for precision between various watchmakers,” as the brand recalls. “The Calibre 135 comprised several innovative features that led it to win 200 separate timing awards, in particular at competitions held by the Neuchâtel Observatory, including five years in a row from 1950-1954.”

Geneva was the first city to host competitions to test timekeeping precision, from 1772. The Neuchâtel Observatory, which has been certifying timepieces’ accuracy since 1860, picked up the baton in 1866. In Besançon, controls began in 1885. Neuchâtel continued to surf the wave even after the advent of wristwatches and, from 1945, organised official “jousts” for this type of timepiece. Alas, the impact of quartz on mechanical watchmaking was such that by the early 1970s, these competitions had vanished from the scene.

"Mad about precision"

Not that quartz’s shortlived domination put paid to the desire to produce the most precise mechanical timepiece possible. Far from it, as the 2009 Concours International de Chronométrie once again puts mechanical movements on the spot. Initially organised under the aegis of the Musée d’Horlogerie du Locle and its then curator, Cécile Aguillaume, as part of the museum’s 50th anniversary celebrations, preparations were later handed over to a working party. It was tasked with defining the competition’s rules on the basis of past events (see below). “The mechanical watch hasn’t said its last word,” promised Claude-Henri Chabloz, chairman of the organisation committee who announced the results. “Watchmakers are mad about science and precision, and new techniques in design and machining together with new materials incite them to develop calibres that give an avant-garde image of new mechanical watchmaking. This new breed of watchmaker is eager to measure up to the exciting challenge of precision.”

Nor did they have to be asked twice. Of the 17 competitors originally in the starting-blocks, 14 ultimately took part with 16 timepieces. Eleven companies competed in the “Movement brands and manufacturers” category while three watchmakers vied in the “Independent” category (see below). “The number of companies and independents who have had the courage to launch themselves into this first competition is, in my view, quite remarkable,” commented Claude-Henri Chabloz. “In the 1960s, the régleurs [precision timers] employed by watch companies to fine-tune a calibre’s timing were addicted to their work. This is exactly the spirit we find among today’s competitors, the only difference being that they belong to groups within companies whereas previously they would have worked as individuals.”

Shock treatment

Leading the field a mong these “addicts” are those at Jaeger-LeCoultre, who put the two models competing for the Manufacture in the top two spots: the Master Tourbillon took first place, followed by the Gyrotourbillon 2. René Addor took the honours in the “Independents” category. His Calibre Papillon boasts an eleven-day power reserve. As for the others, the Concours International de Chronométrie leaves them to decide whether they wish to make their position in the final ranking public, or not. So far, as one might expect, only Jaeger-LeCoultre has done so.

The competition’s organisers were certainly determined to put competitors through their paces. Firstly, the rules stipulated that the different tests would be carried out on complete watches and not just on the bare movement. The watches were also subjected to shock tests equivalent to conditions of normal daily wear, for example enthusiastic applause or banging a fist on the table. They were also exposed to the magnetic fields they would encounter in normal use. The Besançon Observatory opened fire when it eliminated five timepieces which it considered fell outside the standard. The Contrôle Officiel Suisse de Chronomètres (COSC) took over with a second series of tests. The Haute École ARC then stirred things up even more by subjecting those timepieces still in the running to shocks and magnetic fields. Then it was back to the COSC in Biel for a final battery of tests.

René Addor - Calibre Papillon, mouvement 11 jours © CIC
René Addor - Calibre Papillon, mouvement 11 jours © CIC
Rendezvous in 2011

“We were concerned the tests would decimate the most complicated pieces, such as the tourbillons,” confided Claude-Henri Chabloz, “but our fears proved unfounded. The third series of tests carried out by the COSC showed that, with the exception of one whose spring had broken, the 11 remaining watches performed as well or better than they had prior to the shock and magnetism tests. Presumably, the tiny imperfections or tensile stress in the materials disappeared during the testing process. In metallurgy, this is what’s known as stress relaxation. Of course, the shocks can’t be too drastic. And so ten watches made it to the final ranking.”

Following the success of this first experience, the competition’s organisers are already looking ahead to the next. A survey of the different parties involved will shortly be launched to determine whether any slight changes should be made to the rules, although the principle of the competition is now established. Rendezvous then for the 2011 Concours International de Chronométrie.

THE TESTS

Observations are based on ISO 3159 standard which is used by control organisations, in Switzerland, France and Germany in particular. All the watches in the competition were observed simultaneously and consequently in identical conditions of pressure, temperature and hygrometry. Daily rate, i.e. seconds fast or slow, was recorded every 24 hours as follows:

  • Days 1 and 2: vertical position, 6 o’clock up
  • Days 3 and 4: vertical position, 3 o’clock up
  • Days 5 and 6: vertical position, 9 o’clock up
  • Days 7 and 8: horizontal position, dial down
  • Days 9 and 10: horizontal position, dial up
  • Day 11: dial up at 8°C
  • Day 12: dial up at 23°C
  • Day 13: dial up at 38°C
  • Days 14 and 15: 6 o’clock up at 23°C

For each of these positions and temperatures, seven criteria were measured:

  • Average daily rate (Mmoy criterion)
  • Average variation to measure stability of rate (Vmoy criterion)
  • Maximum rate variation to indicate sensitivity to changes of position (Vmax criterion)
  • “Plat-pendu” to measure defects attributable to the balance and spring (D criterion)
  • Biggest difference to indicate the position in which rate is furthest from average (P criterion)
  • Thermal coefficient to indicate sensitivity to differences in temperature between 8°C and 38°C (C criterion)
  • Rate resumption: difference in rate between the beginning and end of the tests (R criterion)

Calculation formula as stipulated in the rules:
Ni = 1000 – 500 x [ c ] – 100/3 x [ D ] – 100 x Vmoy – 10 x P – 20 x Vmax – 10 x [ R ] – 12,5 x [Mmoy]
This formula gives a final score and the watches ranked accordingly. To obtain the maximum score of 1,000, a watch must score 0 for each criterion. The value for any one criterion can be reduced by playing on the watch’s different elements, at the risk of increasing another. The art of the régleur is to minimise the overall influence these criteria have on the watch’s precision.

COMPETITORS

 

Name Calibre
Artisan d’Horlogerie d’Art Voutilainen* Calibre 27
Audemars Piguet (Renaud-Papi) S.A. Calibre Audemars Piguet
Chopard Manufacture S.A. Calibre Tourbillon Steel Wings Classic 16/1906
Doxa S.A. 2892 Calibre 2892 ETA Chronometer
Greubel Forsey S.A. Calibre Tourbillon GF03
F.P.Journe -Invenit et Fecit Calibre 1304 Chronomètre Souverain
Le Petit-Fils de L.-U. Chopard Calibre Tourbillon 1869 LUC 1.02
Manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 978 Master Tourbillon
Manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 174 Reverso Gyrotourbillon
Olivier Randin* Calibre Automatic Bidirectional CLARO
René Addor* Calibre Papillon 11-day movement
Swatch S.A. Diaphane, Calibre ETA 2824
Tissot S.A. Calibre ETA 2824-2
Urban Jürgensen S.A. Calibre P8 Automatic
Zénith International S.A. Calibre 4015 El Primero Automatic
Zénith International S.A. Calibre 4015 El Primero Automatic
*”Independent” category
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