Horological Meandering

tee530
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We did Incabloc, now how about KIF?

Incabloc may or may not have been the first balance staff shock absorber system, but they were undoubtedly the most successful early entry.  So strong was their market position, that they impelled many watch manufacturers to print the word "Incabloc" on the dial (see Dr. No's watch in the previous thread)!  Naturally, watch manufacturers were less than happy about this, but doing without shock absorbers, once they were introduced, was not viable.  Also, witness the Incabloc ads in the previous thread, where the marketing was direct-to-consumer, in an attempt to build awareness and have the consumer demand this feature in his new watch.

This type of market strength/abuse leads to rapid competition, and KIF Parachoc S.A. of Switzerland was one of the companies to enter the fray.  Supposedly, the name "KIF" comes from the Arabic "kif kif", which means "same same".  This signals that the company was marketing to watch manufacturers ("we are the same as that hated supplier of yours") rather than consumers.  Thus, it seems harder to find ads for KIF shock absorbers in mainstream publications. 

I have not read or heard that there is much practical difference among the various shock protection schemes.  Perhaps a watchmaker can comment on their effectiveness in the real world, and also on their relative serviceability.

In the past, KIF was a major supplier of manufacturers such as Eterna and JLC.  Rolex was an early adopter of KIF, reportedly because of the "Incabloc" dial text issue, and they continue to use KIF shock absorbers in their watches today.

Going to the KIF Parechoc website today, you will find they are specialists and experts not only in shock protection, but "décolletage" as well.  Ooh la-la!

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