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I love this kind of stuff!

In Response To: Re: Steel *LINK* ()

: "What grade of steel is used in modern
: OMEGA watches?

: OMEGA uses stainless steel 1.4435 or 316L.
: Rolex uses stainless steel 1.4439 or 904L
: which is slightly different from 1.4435.
: Steel 904L and 316L have the same grade of
: hardness.

: The grade of nickel discharge with 904L is
: slightly higher, causing an increased chance
: of allergic reaction when worn by people
: sensitive to nickel.

: While technically, 904L has a slightly higher
: resistance to corrosion, this is only
: noticable under extreme conditions that a
: wristwatch should never face. Where this is
: mainly of concern is in industrial
: applications using steel in equipment for
: handling chlorides, sulfur dioxide gas or
: other toxic materials.

: The differences for use in wristwatches is
: quite nominal. Almost no watch manufacturers
: except Rolex consider it worth using the
: 904L steel, especially given that the price
: for 904L is approximately three times that
: of 316L."

Both the details and the institutional memories!

Is there long-term perfmance data that goes along w/ this discussion as well?

"Lifespan" has been a key part of what I'm hearing and reading in my research, eg, "The Seamaster is a 15-year watch" (from Omega ADs, and then confirmed by Omega technicians); and, "the Submariner is an 80-year watch (from Rolex ADs, and then confirmed by Rolex technicians, albeit w/ a more consistent and direct presentation).

Thanks again for this further contribution, Dennis!

PS To your last point, I'd also like to add that this is one of those concepts we marketing guys struggle with, "diminishing return." At a certain point, each marginal point of improvement becomes more expensive, to a point at which consumers will no longer pay. That's when the bean counters pull the plug, I guess.

When I was studying photography, we'd often hear Ansel Adams quoted as saying that one learns 80% of what there is to know about photography in the first class you take in high school. As he was nearing the end of his career, then, he remarked that the most recent 1% he'd added had taken him a decade to lock in.