I normally don’t go bashing on watch companies, but Eberhard is really getting on my nerves with their latest release: the Tazio Nuvolari Grand Prix, which is a watch designed by dabblers for dabblers.
One would think that by now Eberhard would have known better and got rid of their stupid double tachymeter scale but no, they keep using it over and over again. Allow me to elaborate…
As real designers and real watch users know, the tachymeter scale used on watches is a theodolite that allows to make several measurements, namingly:
- speed
- units per hour
- distance
The speed of an object is defined by the following equation:
If distance is Imperial Mile, the tachymeter scale will show speed in Miles per hour.
If distance is kilometer, the tachymeter scale will show speed in kilometer per hour.
The same scale has to be used for both units. There is no point in converting the scale itself!
Now some dabbler at Eberhard thought it would be clever to take the distance in kilometer and read the scale in Imperial Miles. Even if they did it intentionally, why make the Miles fractionnal and not finite? Why have 37.2, 40.4, 43.5… instead of a regular number sequence like 37, 38, 39, 40…
«James… what is the reading on this fine Swiss timepiece?»
«Jolly good Sir! We have an average speed of 46.784953 Miles per hour.»
«I thought it was 46.784954?»
«No, no Sir: 46.784953.»
«Ah… Sorry, my bad.»
This serves to show that designers at Eberhard had no clue about what a tachymeter scale was.
Neither do their customers it seems.
perhaps the watch is for travelers – Brits (or Americans) driving in Europe and viceversa