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Over a year to make one Speedmaster?

Q
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I was reading an old brochure about 50th Anniversary 1957 Speedmaster and there was a statement "It still takes 14 months to manufacture the 195 separate parts prior to assembly and 80 hand held operations to create the main plate for a single Speedmaster. Painstaking craftsmanship certainly, yet there is no short cut to excellence".

Is this true or just marketing nonsense?
 
dsio
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From digging the iron ore out of the ground in Australia, to shipping it to the smelter, to turning it into stainless steel for bracelet links, probably
 
eugeneandresson
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If you include the time it takes to raise the Donkeys whose dung they collect as fuel for the smelter, I'm certain its a lot longer.
 
YY77
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My Rolls Royce got made faster than that, so no.😎
 
EricCsN
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If it takes that long, it shouldn’t be called a speedmaster but a slownovice
 
SkunkPrince
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If you made the parts in sequence rather than in parallel, that number makes sense.
 
Archer
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Q Qristian
Is this true or just marketing nonsense?

Every watch factory I've been to, the watches are made with batch production, so you will run a batch of main plates, then a batch of bridges, etc., and eventually you end up with all the parts made in various batches that can be put together into a watch.

Like all good lies, it probably has a kernel of truth, so if you add in all internal and external times (productive and non-productive time) someone could probably show a number that equals what they are saying. But in reality, does this mean it actually takes 14 months to accomplish? No.

If it did, it would be many multiples of what they cost right now...
 
scapa
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Q Qristian
I was reading an old brochure about 50th Anniversary 1957 Speedmaster and there was a statement "It still takes 14 months to manufacture the 195 separate parts prior to assembly and 80 hand held operations to create the main plate for a single Speedmaster. Painstaking craftsmanship certainly, yet there is no short cut to excellence".

Is this true or just marketing nonsense?

And don't forget the slow, peaceful barrel aging in the richly-flavoured bourbon casks, each one wrought of ancient oak planks salvaged from the Spanish flotilla that ran aground on the Cape of Good Hope. Great watches take time, just as beautifully as they tell it.
 
Vercingetorix
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The statement is of course true. So no bitching when it takes 6 months to repair.🫨
 
TimeODanaos
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MRC MRC
Here's the hyphen
Claude_Johnson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Johnson
Lol! (Did, too.) Riposte of Q1 2021 imho. 😁👍
 
Darlinboy
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Each Rolex only takes a year, so Omega is clearly taking the time to turn out a superior product. ::stirthepot::
 
sgrenald
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My RGM took nine months. That was five months to CNC most of the movement parts, hand finish them and guilloche the main plate on their century old rose engine. And then another four months to wait for the movement number that I wanted.
 
M
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Lots of snarkiness in relation to an interesting question. I wonder if any of the sarcasm spewing commenters really know how long it takes to build an Omega?
 
SkunkPrince
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M Mac-427
Lots of snarkiness in relation to an interesting question. I wonder if any of the sarcasm spewing commenters really know how long it takes to build an Omega?
My answer was entirely serious.
 
Lbennett
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“It takes a year to make a Speedmaster” I thought it was referring to selecting the year before making a special edition? ::psy::
 
mjb
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Darlinboy Darlinboy
Each Rolex only takes a year, so Omega is clearly taking the time to turn out a superior product. ::stirthepot::

Well, that's half true, as it may take a year to make a Rolex but you're on a waiting list for 5 more.
 
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