View Single Post
Old 1 April 2009, 08:33 PM   #15
padi56
"TRF" Life Patron
 
padi56's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Real Name: Peter
Location: Llanfairpwllgwyng
Watch: ing you.
Posts: 52,114
Quote:
Originally Posted by gregdolley View Post
I've heard people say it takes one year to make a Rolex watch. But come on, think about it, there's no way they could produce 900,000 watches per year if it took a year to make one. That would mean they'd need 900,000 watchmakers to do just the assembly, let alone how many machines they'd need to make all the parts. We all know Rolex doesn't employ 900,000 people.

That video on Rolex's site that says it can take up to a year to make a movement is misleading. They said "movement" _not_ "watch." I can believe it takes a year to engineer a new movement from scratch, yes - they are quite complicated. But one year to make a watch, give me a break.

As far as how long it really takes to make one Rolex watch, I have no clue. However, how long it takes to assemble all the parts into a movement by a good watchmaker - I'd say about one to two hours, but that's just a guess. I saw a video recently that showed (in close-up detail) a watchmaker assembling an ETA 7750 movement from start to finish - it was really cool. They cut out the sections where the watchmaker was lubricating parts in order to keep the video short and also excluded the instances where the watchmaker had to flip the movement. They also didn't show the installation of the hands on the dial (which on a 7750, I know is a bitch because the chrono 30 minute hand and the chrono seconds hand are on freely movable cams - so you have to get the alignment absolutely perfect _before_ pressing them down on the pin). The video itself was about 15 - 20 minutes long. But I'm sure oiling the parts takes a lot of time (since you have to be super precise) and then you still have to install the movement in the case, install the crown, install the pushers (if it's a chrono), put in the gasket, screw down the case, test the watch, etc. So, all in all, I'm sure it takes a few hours to assemble all the parts into a complete watch.
Average year is 365 days that is 8,760 hours which is 525,600 minutes or31,536,000 seconds..Now Rolex produce around 900000 plus watches a year now, so based on above figures Rolex must churn out around one and three quarter watches per minute 24/7.
__________________

ICom Pro3

All posts are my own opinion and my opinion only.

"The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop. Now is the only time you actually own the time, Place no faith in time, for the clock may soon be still for ever."
Good Judgement comes from experience,experience comes from Bad Judgement,.Buy quality, cry once; buy cheap, cry again and again.

www.mc0yad.club

Second in command CEO and left handed watch winder
padi56 is online now   Reply With Quote