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NavList@fer3.com wrote:
> Hello from a frequent reader, but not a member of the list.
>
> ... As an experiment on one of the ships, we rated our two dozen watches 
instead of resetting to NAVSAT time.  The purpose was to compare watch brands 
and purchase price.  We found the mid-priced watches of two particular brands 
did as good as the expensive watches and all were much more consistent than 
the ship's chronometers as long as we wore the watch. 
I had a friend who bought a Rolex.   Turned out it was a terrible 
time-keeper.   She brought it back to the dealer who said "sorry, it 
meets specs."   Rolex heavily advertises that its watches are 
"chronometers."   Turns out that their spec (see 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COSC ) allows for a daily rate of -4/+6 
seconds/day -- that's as much as 2-1/2 minutes per month!!  (Wasn't the 
Longitude Board's spec 1 minute per month?)   Worse, a rate change of 
-6/+8 seconds is allowed between horizontal and vertical positions of 
the watch!   How many of us would keep our hands in a constant position 
to avoid this allowed rate variation?

In 1970 I bought a Seiko watch (obviously mechanical, given the date of 
purchase) for under $50.   It was an incredible timekeeper, rate was 
under 5 seconds per month.

So, yeah, high price seems to buy advertising, not accuracy...

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