I am not disputing that if you had 2 identical watches that you were selling, the only difference being one that is certified and one not, that you would have an easier time selling the certified one. I'm not looking at things from this small micro level. A better example to get my point across is that if Rolex said tomorrow that they were no longer going to send their watches to COSC, but told everyone that they will do the testing in house (which I would think they do to some degree already - they aren't stupid enough to send a watch out for an expensive test without knowing it has a very good chance of passing) and will guarantee the same timekeeping they have always had with COSC in place, that everyone would stop buying Rolex watches.
To me COSC is more about tradition, marketing, and the "Swiss way" than it is about ensuring timekeeping. You most certainly do not need a COSC watch for it to keep excellent time, and well within the often quoted -4 to +6 second average daily rate range.
People buy watches for a lot of reasons, but COSC certification is pretty well down the list for most people. People are not going to buy some ugly watch with a crap case just because it's COSC certified.
Cheers, Al
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