Is there a point to why watch companies would send their unmounted movement to an “independent” lab for scrutiny and testing? WHY would a customer appreciate and pay substantially more for a C.O.S.C. movement ? WHAT is a C.O.S.C. ? Ohh. You have never heard of it? Yeah, that would be most people. I will attempt to shed some light.
C.O.S.C. or Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres, nice and Swiss/French for the place that tests movements for accuracy. Check the boring watch blogs for all the crazy copy and paste facts and figures. The jist is that the movements are tested in 5 positions, different temperatures and like college they Pass or Fail and return back home. The biggest hitters get the most movements done, ie: Rolex, Breitling and Omega. The rest are just a few scattered companies fighting to claim a name.
Is this kind of intense testing needed? Ahh, I don’t think any of these fellows need their homework checked, but it is tradition and it is American tradition. What?! “Sacrebleu!” Yes, back when the trains ran across the country, we had similar procedures for good pocket watches to keep things safe on the tracks. Railroad Standard etc. So, it has merit to the production of fine timepieces and puts out a nice official sheet. Would I base my buying habits around it? No, but some of the best watch companies follow it religiously and that should tell you something.
Without a baseline there can be no standards for accuracy.