Quote:
Originally Posted by postiff
Hey they say on their web site it can take UP TO a year to build a Rolex Movement. The Bezel takes 40 hours according the their site as well. Not sure about the bracelet. As for the case probably 30 minutes. However long it takes it is one hell of a finished product.  |
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.