Horological Meandering

mkvc
1305

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My watch company would go bankrupt almost immediately.

First, I would spend too much money: my movements would all have Breguet overcoils and free-sprung balances. They would be made entirely of non-space age materials so as to have long potential lives and not to give some fabulously expensive repair facility a monopoly. They would all be fully chronometer-certified, as well as tested in the sixth position (COSC tests only five), and tested on my (patent pending) machine that simulates normal wear. They would probably have to be self-manufactured as I don't know of any separately-sold ebauche that accommodates an overcoil, which would further add to cost.

I would make relatively small, subtle watches that would be easy to wear. That would hurt sales.

I would put a lot of effort into legibility. For example, I was very impressed by the guillochage pattern on the original Vacheron Overseas because it was pretty much impossible to get a glaring reflection from it. I would try to create surfaces like that for my dials. My hands would be thick enough to be visible to people over the age of 50, with space for plenty of luminous material. Of course, the watches would have acrylic crystals, both for intrinsic transparency and because they would allow the hands to be at the surface of the watch rather than sunk into a hole (with an added benefit in that they stick up and protect the metal bezel).

I would devote a large research budget to gaskets. I would like to be able to sell a watch guaranteed to remain fully water-resistant for five years. I would design the gasket system so that the original parts of the watch could be preserved (for example, make it possible to replace the crown gasket instead of replacing the whole crown).

My watches would be sold with micro-adjustable bracelets and buckles.

I would not count on commercial success.

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