{
  "bank_id": "questions-enthusiast",
  "codex": "watches",
  "scope": { "type": "domain", "id": "enthusiast-check" },
  "track": "E",
  "schema_version": "0.1",
  "generated": "2026-09-25",
  "generated_ist": "2026-09-25T21:40+05:30",
  "bank_status": "prototype",
  "bank_note": "Ten sample questions for the prototype. The Launch 1 bank is 300 questions balanced across the eight domains; this sample deliberately leaves one domain (materials) untested so the results screen can demonstrate how an untested domain is reported rather than scored.",
  "pass_mark": 0.8,
  "domains": [
    { "id": "history", "name": "History" },
    { "id": "how-watches-work", "name": "How watches work" },
    { "id": "materials", "name": "Materials" },
    { "id": "standards-and-labels", "name": "Standards and labels" },
    { "id": "brands-and-groups", "name": "Brands and groups" },
    { "id": "geography", "name": "Geography" },
    { "id": "terminology", "name": "Terminology" },
    { "id": "myth-busting", "name": "Myth-busting" }
  ],
  "labels": [
    { "min": 0.0, "label": "Newcomer", "blurb": "You have just opened the door. Every question you missed links to the page that explains it — start there." },
    { "min": 0.4, "label": "Enthusiast", "blurb": "You know the outlines. The gaps below are the usual ones, and they are the interesting bits." },
    { "min": 0.7, "label": "Aficionado", "blurb": "You are past the marketing and into the mechanics. Worth trying a Brand Mastery ladder next." },
    { "min": 0.9, "label": "Scholar", "blurb": "You read the primary sources, or you have been paying close attention. The Deep Dive levels are written for you." }
  ],
  "questions": [
    {
      "q_id": "q-enthusiast-001",
      "scope": { "type": "domain", "id": "enthusiast-check" },
      "domain": "standards-and-labels",
      "level": "E",
      "reading_level": "exploring",
      "type": "single",
      "stem": "For a watch to be labelled \"Swiss Made\", what share of the manufacturing costs of the complete watch must be generated in Switzerland?",
      "options": [
        { "id": "a", "text": "50%", "correct": false },
        { "id": "b", "text": "60%", "correct": true },
        { "id": "c", "text": "80%", "correct": false },
        { "id": "d", "text": "100% — the whole watch must be made there", "correct": false }
      ],
      "explanation": "At least 60% of the costs of manufacturing a complete watch, as an end product, must be generated in Switzerland. The Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property notes that this is a change from the earlier rule, which applied to the movement alone. The revised ordinance came into force on 1 January 2017.",
      "explanation_links": ["/watches/#verified"],
      "planned_links": ["/watches/standards/swiss-made/"],
      "fact_ids": ["fact-swissmade-costshare-60"],
      "sources": [
        {
          "tier": 1,
          "citation": "Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI/IGE), \"Revision of the Ordinance on the Use of 'Swiss' for Watches\"",
          "url": "https://www.ige.ch/en/law-and-policy/national-ip-law/indications-of-source/swiss-indications-of-source/industry-ordinances/revision-of-the-ordinance-on-the-use-of-swiss-for-watches",
          "accessed": "2026-09-25",
          "archived_url": null
        },
        {
          "tier": 1,
          "citation": "Ordinance on the Use of \"Switzerland\" or \"Swiss\" for Watches, SR 232.119 (Fedlex, Swiss classified compilation)",
          "url": "https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/1971/1908_1915_1915/en",
          "accessed": "2026-09-25",
          "archived_url": null,
          "note": "Cited for the ordinance itself. Article-level references are not published by this Codex until confirmed directly on Fedlex."
        }
      ],
      "time_sensitive": { "is": true, "expires": "2027-03-25" },
      "difficulty": 2,
      "image_ref": null,
      "status": "verified",
      "last_verified": "2026-09-25",
      "review_due": "2027-03-25",
      "authored_by": "assisted",
      "verified_by": "independent-pass"
    },
    {
      "q_id": "q-enthusiast-002",
      "scope": { "type": "domain", "id": "enthusiast-check" },
      "domain": "myth-busting",
      "level": "E",
      "reading_level": "curious",
      "type": "single",
      "stem": "A watch carries the words \"Swiss Made\" on its dial. Which of these does that label actually guarantee?",
      "options": [
        { "id": "a", "text": "Every component in the watch was made in Switzerland", "correct": false },
        { "id": "b", "text": "The movement is Swiss, the technical development happened in Switzerland, the movement was cased up there, and the final inspection was carried out there", "correct": true },
        { "id": "c", "text": "The watch was designed in Switzerland but may be assembled anywhere", "correct": false },
        { "id": "d", "text": "The brand's head office is in Switzerland", "correct": false }
      ],
      "explanation": "The law sets a set of specific conditions — a Swiss movement, technical development in Switzerland, casing-up in Switzerland, final inspection by the manufacturer in Switzerland, and the 60% cost threshold — but individual components may come from elsewhere. \"Swiss Made\" is a legal test made of several parts, not a statement that nothing foreign is inside. This is the single most common misunderstanding about watches, and marketing copy is where most people learn the simplified version.",
      "explanation_links": ["/watches/#verified"],
      "planned_links": ["/watches/standards/swiss-made/"],
      "fact_ids": ["fact-swissmade-conditions", "fact-swissmade-costshare-60"],
      "sources": [
        {
          "tier": 1,
          "citation": "Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI/IGE), \"Revision of the Ordinance on the Use of 'Swiss' for Watches\"",
          "url": "https://www.ige.ch/en/law-and-policy/national-ip-law/indications-of-source/swiss-indications-of-source/industry-ordinances/revision-of-the-ordinance-on-the-use-of-swiss-for-watches",
          "accessed": "2026-09-25",
          "archived_url": null
        },
        {
          "tier": 1,
          "citation": "Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH, \"Guide to the use of the designation 'Swiss' for watches\", version 5, 13 September 2018",
          "url": "https://www.fhs.swiss/file/8/Guide_FH_v.5_en.pdf",
          "accessed": "2026-09-25",
          "archived_url": null
        }
      ],
      "time_sensitive": { "is": true, "expires": "2027-03-25" },
      "difficulty": 2,
      "image_ref": null,
      "status": "verified",
      "last_verified": "2026-09-25",
      "review_due": "2027-03-25",
      "authored_by": "assisted",
      "verified_by": "independent-pass"
    },
    {
      "q_id": "q-enthusiast-003",
      "scope": { "type": "domain", "id": "enthusiast-check" },
      "domain": "standards-and-labels",
      "level": "E",
      "reading_level": "exploring",
      "type": "single",
      "stem": "COSC, the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute, certifies to a stated average daily rate. What is that tolerance?",
      "options": [
        { "id": "a", "text": "−1 to +1 second per day", "correct": false },
        { "id": "b", "text": "−4 to +6 seconds per day", "correct": true },
        { "id": "c", "text": "0 to +5 seconds per day", "correct": false },
        { "id": "d", "text": "−10 to +10 seconds per day", "correct": false }
      ],
      "explanation": "COSC states that the watch must maintain an average daily rate between −4 and +6 seconds per day. The testing runs for 15 days, in five positions, at three temperatures (8°, 23° and 38°C), against ISO 3159. Note the distractor: 0 to +5 seconds per day is the METAS Master Chronometer requirement, which is a different certification of a different thing — the finished watch rather than the movement.",
      "explanation_links": ["/watches/#verified"],
      "planned_links": ["/watches/standards/cosc/", "/watches/compare/cosc-vs-metas/"],
      "fact_ids": ["fact-cosc-rate-tolerance", "fact-cosc-test-programme"],
      "sources": [
        {
          "tier": 1,
          "citation": "COSC, \"COSC FAQ: All your questions answered\"",
          "url": "https://www.cosc.swiss/cosc-faq",
          "accessed": "2026-09-25",
          "archived_url": null
        },
        {
          "tier": 1,
          "citation": "ISO 3159:2009, \"Timekeeping instruments — Wrist-chronometers with spring balance oscillator\", edition 2, published December 2009, reviewed and confirmed 2021",
          "url": "https://www.iso.org/standard/54804.html",
          "accessed": "2026-09-25",
          "archived_url": null
        }
      ],
      "time_sensitive": { "is": false, "expires": null },
      "difficulty": 3,
      "image_ref": null,
      "status": "verified",
      "last_verified": "2026-09-25",
      "review_due": "2027-03-25",
      "authored_by": "assisted",
      "verified_by": "independent-pass"
    },
    {
      "q_id": "q-enthusiast-004",
      "scope": { "type": "domain", "id": "enthusiast-check" },
      "domain": "standards-and-labels",
      "level": "E",
      "reading_level": "deep-dive",
      "type": "single",
      "stem": "In February 2026 COSC published a new, stricter certification called Excellence Chronometer. What does it test that the long-standing certification does not?",
      "options": [
        { "id": "a", "text": "The finished, cased watch — not only the movement", "correct": true },
        { "id": "b", "text": "The bracelet and clasp", "correct": false },
        { "id": "c", "text": "The dial and hands for luminous output", "correct": false },
        { "id": "d", "text": "Nothing new — it is the same test with a new name", "correct": false }
      ],
      "explanation": "COSC published the Excellence Chronometer certification on 12 February 2026 and positions it as a complementary extension rather than a replacement. Movements are still tested for 15 days under ISO 3159 and returned to the manufacture to be cased; the finished watches then undergo four days or more of additional evaluation: a simulated-wear test in six semi-dynamic positions over 24 hours, to a reduced tolerance of −2 to +4 seconds per day, and a separate magnetic-resistance test at 200 gauss with its own, wider tolerance of ±10 seconds per day. This is a live example of why every question in this Academy carries an expiry date: the answer to \"what does COSC certify\" changed in February 2026.",
      "explanation_links": ["/watches/#verified"],
      "planned_links": ["/watches/standards/cosc/"],
      "fact_ids": ["fact-cosc-excellence-scope", "fact-cosc-excellence-tolerance"],
      "sources": [
        {
          "tier": 1,
          "citation": "COSC, \"Cosc Excellence Chronometer Certified\", news item published 12 February 2026",
          "url": "https://www.cosc.swiss/news/cosc-excellence-chronometer-certified",
          "accessed": "2026-09-25",
          "archived_url": null
        },
        {
          "tier": 1,
          "citation": "COSC, \"Certified Excellence Chronometer\"",
          "url": "https://www.cosc.swiss/certified-excellence-chronometer",
          "accessed": "2026-09-25",
          "archived_url": null
        }
      ],
      "time_sensitive": { "is": true, "expires": "2027-02-12" },
      "difficulty": 4,
      "image_ref": null,
      "status": "verified",
      "last_verified": "2026-09-25",
      "review_due": "2027-02-12",
      "authored_by": "assisted",
      "verified_by": "independent-pass"
    },
    {
      "q_id": "q-enthusiast-005",
      "scope": { "type": "domain", "id": "enthusiast-check" },
      "domain": "terminology",
      "level": "E",
      "reading_level": "exploring",
      "type": "single",
      "stem": "ISO 6425 is the standard for divers' watches. According to its published scope, which watches does it apply to?",
      "options": [
        { "id": "a", "text": "Any watch marked with a depth of 50 metres or more", "correct": false },
        { "id": "b", "text": "Watches designed to withstand diving to at least 100 m, with a secured measuring system to indicate diving time that is visible in darkness", "correct": true },
        { "id": "c", "text": "Any watch with a rotating bezel", "correct": false },
        { "id": "d", "text": "Watches sold with a rubber strap", "correct": false }
      ],
      "explanation": "ISO 6425:2018 applies to timepieces designed to withstand diving in water at depths of at least 100 m and equipped with a secured measuring system to indicate the diving time, which is visible in darkness. That is why \"divers' watch\" is a defined term with requirements behind it, and why it is a separate standard from ISO 22810:2010, \"Horology — Water-resistant watches\", which covers ordinary water-resistant watches. A depth marking alone does not make a watch a divers' watch under the standard.",
      "explanation_links": ["/watches/#verified"],
      "planned_links": ["/watches/standards/iso-6425/", "/watches/glossary/divers-watch/"],
      "fact_ids": ["fact-iso6425-scope"],
      "sources": [
        {
          "tier": 1,
          "citation": "ISO 6425:2018, \"Horology — Divers' watches\", edition 4, published October 2018, confirmed 2024",
          "url": "https://www.iso.org/standard/66517.html",
          "accessed": "2026-09-25",
          "archived_url": null
        },
        {
          "tier": 1,
          "citation": "ISO 22810:2010, \"Horology — Water-resistant watches\", edition 1, published August 2010",
          "url": "https://www.iso.org/standard/45334.html",
          "accessed": "2026-09-25",
          "archived_url": null
        }
      ],
      "time_sensitive": { "is": false, "expires": null },
      "difficulty": 3,
      "image_ref": null,
      "status": "verified",
      "last_verified": "2026-09-25",
      "review_due": "2027-03-25",
      "authored_by": "assisted",
      "verified_by": "independent-pass"
    },
    {
      "q_id": "q-enthusiast-006",
      "scope": { "type": "domain", "id": "enthusiast-check" },
      "domain": "history",
      "level": "E",
      "reading_level": "curious",
      "type": "single",
      "stem": "Which watch does its maker describe as the world's first quartz wristwatch marketed commercially, and when did it go on sale?",
      "options": [
        { "id": "a", "text": "The Seiko Quartz Astron 35SQ, on 25 December 1969", "correct": true },
        { "id": "b", "text": "The Swatch Gent, in 1983", "correct": false },
        { "id": "c", "text": "The Casio F-91W, in 1989", "correct": false },
        { "id": "d", "text": "The Omega Marine Chronometer, in 1974", "correct": false }
      ],
      "explanation": "The Seiko Museum Ginza states that on 25 December 1969 Seiko launched the world's first quartz wristwatch, the Seiko Quartz Astron 35SQ, and its collection record describes it as \"the world's first quartz wristwatch marketed commercially\". That qualifier matters: it distinguishes a product placed on sale from earlier laboratory and prototype quartz timepieces. It sold for 450,000 yen — about the price of a popular car at the time.",
      "explanation_links": ["/watches/brands/seiko/"],
      "planned_links": ["/watches/history/quartz-revolution/"],
      "fact_ids": ["fact-seiko-astron-launch", "fact-seiko-astron-price"],
      "sources": [
        {
          "tier": 1,
          "citation": "The Seiko Museum Ginza, \"World's First Quartz Watch Astron\", Seiko Watches (Later Period)",
          "url": "https://museum.seiko.co.jp/en/collections/watch_latestage/collect020/",
          "accessed": "2026-09-25",
          "archived_url": null
        },
        {
          "tier": 1,
          "citation": "The Seiko Museum Ginza, \"The birth of the quartz timepiece\"",
          "url": "https://museum.seiko.co.jp/en/knowledge/Quartz01/",
          "accessed": "2026-09-25",
          "archived_url": null
        }
      ],
      "time_sensitive": { "is": false, "expires": null },
      "difficulty": 2,
      "image_ref": null,
      "status": "verified",
      "last_verified": "2026-09-25",
      "review_due": "2028-09-25",
      "authored_by": "assisted",
      "verified_by": "independent-pass"
    },
    {
      "q_id": "q-enthusiast-007",
      "scope": { "type": "domain", "id": "enthusiast-check" },
      "domain": "myth-busting",
      "level": "E",
      "reading_level": "exploring",
      "type": "single",
      "stem": "Quartz watchmaking spread worldwide very quickly after 1969. According to Seiko's own museum, what did Seiko do with its quartz patents?",
      "options": [
        { "id": "a", "text": "It never filed any patents, so the technology was free from the start", "correct": false },
        { "id": "b", "text": "It obtained patents and then disclosed a large part of them", "correct": true },
        { "id": "c", "text": "It enforced its patents until they expired in the 1990s", "correct": false },
        { "id": "d", "text": "It sold the patents to a Swiss consortium", "correct": false }
      ],
      "explanation": "The Seiko Museum Ginza states that \"Seiko decided to disclose a large part of the patents it had been granted during the development of its quartz watches\", and that \"when Seiko disclosed the patent, watchmakers all over the world began to produce quartz wristwatches of their own\". The popular version — that Seiko generously declined to patent the technology — is contradicted by the brand's own record. Patented and then opened is a different act from never patented, and this Codex reports the one the source states.",
      "explanation_links": ["/watches/brands/seiko/"],
      "planned_links": ["/watches/history/quartz-revolution/"],
      "fact_ids": ["fact-seiko-quartz-patent-disclosure"],
      "sources": [
        {
          "tier": 1,
          "citation": "The Seiko Museum Ginza, \"Stage 3 (1960s – 1980s)\", History of Seiko and Its Products",
          "url": "https://museum.seiko.co.jp/en/seiko_history/company/company/003/",
          "accessed": "2026-09-25",
          "archived_url": null
        },
        {
          "tier": 1,
          "citation": "The Seiko Museum Ginza, \"The birth of the quartz timepiece\"",
          "url": "https://museum.seiko.co.jp/en/knowledge/Quartz01/",
          "accessed": "2026-09-25",
          "archived_url": null
        }
      ],
      "time_sensitive": { "is": false, "expires": null },
      "difficulty": 4,
      "image_ref": null,
      "status": "verified",
      "last_verified": "2026-09-25",
      "review_due": "2028-09-25",
      "authored_by": "assisted",
      "verified_by": "independent-pass"
    },
    {
      "q_id": "q-enthusiast-008",
      "scope": { "type": "domain", "id": "enthusiast-check" },
      "domain": "how-watches-work",
      "level": "E",
      "reading_level": "exploring",
      "type": "single",
      "stem": "Spring Drive is unusual because of how it combines two ways of keeping time. How does its maker define it?",
      "options": [
        { "id": "a", "text": "A quartz watch that winds itself from wrist motion", "correct": false },
        { "id": "b", "text": "A watch driven by mainspring power and controlled by quartz at the same time", "correct": true },
        { "id": "c", "text": "A mechanical watch with a quartz watch built into the caseback", "correct": false },
        { "id": "d", "text": "A solar-powered mechanical movement", "correct": false }
      ],
      "explanation": "The Seiko Museum Ginza defines Spring Drive as \"the world's first watch driven by the mainspring power and controlled by quartz at the same time\". There is no battery and no escapement: mainspring power turns a glide wheel, a quartz oscillator running at 32,768 Hz provides the reference, and the wheel is braked electromagnetically to match it — an arrangement Grand Seiko calls the Tri-synchro Regulator. Spring Drive was commercialised in 1999; the 9R movement used in Grand Seiko came in 2004, and the two dates are often conflated.",
      "explanation_links": ["/watches/brands/seiko/"],
      "planned_links": ["/watches/movements/spring-drive/"],
      "fact_ids": ["fact-springdrive-definition", "fact-springdrive-1999"],
      "sources": [
        {
          "tier": 1,
          "citation": "The Seiko Museum Ginza, \"Spring Drive\", Seiko Milestones",
          "url": "https://museum.seiko.co.jp/en/seiko_history/milestone/a6946f3e0078a97d44d08dd303293ba0d8ca8430/",
          "accessed": "2026-09-25",
          "archived_url": null
        },
        {
          "tier": 1,
          "citation": "Grand Seiko, \"Spring Drive\"",
          "url": "https://www.grand-seiko.com/us-en/collections/movement/springdrive",
          "accessed": "2026-09-25",
          "archived_url": null
        }
      ],
      "time_sensitive": { "is": false, "expires": null },
      "difficulty": 3,
      "image_ref": null,
      "status": "verified",
      "last_verified": "2026-09-25",
      "review_due": "2027-09-25",
      "authored_by": "assisted",
      "verified_by": "independent-pass"
    },
    {
      "q_id": "q-enthusiast-009",
      "scope": { "type": "domain", "id": "enthusiast-check" },
      "domain": "brands-and-groups",
      "level": "E",
      "reading_level": "exploring",
      "type": "single",
      "stem": "What is the relationship between Seiko and Grand Seiko today?",
      "options": [
        { "id": "a", "text": "Grand Seiko is Seiko's highest collection, sitting above Prospex and Presage", "correct": false },
        { "id": "b", "text": "Grand Seiko has been a fully independent brand since 2017", "correct": true },
        { "id": "c", "text": "Grand Seiko was sold to a different group in 2018", "correct": false },
        { "id": "d", "text": "Grand Seiko is a retailer-exclusive version of Seiko", "correct": false }
      ],
      "explanation": "Grand Seiko states that in 2017 \"a new chapter in the Grand Seiko story opened with the launch of a wider collection and with establishment of Grand Seiko as a fully independent brand\", and Seiko's own corporate chronology records for 2017: \"Made Grand Seiko an independent brand.\" Grand Seiko is not listed among Seiko's current global collections. It remains within the same corporate group — Grand Seiko Corporation of America, incorporated in New York in October 2018, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seiko Watch Corporation — so \"independent brand\" means brand separation, not a change of owner.",
      "explanation_links": ["/watches/brands/seiko/"],
      "planned_links": ["/watches/brands/grand-seiko/", "/watches/groups/seiko-group/"],
      "fact_ids": ["fact-grandseiko-independent-2017", "fact-gs-america-2018"],
      "sources": [
        {
          "tier": 1,
          "citation": "Grand Seiko, \"A new era for Grand Seiko opens with the establishment of Grand Seiko Corporation of America\", press release, 2 October 2018",
          "url": "https://www.grand-seiko.com/us-en/news/pressrelease/20181002",
          "accessed": "2026-09-25",
          "archived_url": null
        },
        {
          "tier": 1,
          "citation": "Seiko Group Corporation, \"History: Details\" (corporate chronology)",
          "url": "https://www.seiko.co.jp/en/group/history/chronology.html",
          "accessed": "2026-09-25",
          "archived_url": null
        },
        {
          "tier": 1,
          "citation": "Seiko Watch Corporation, \"Products\" collections listing (King Seiko, Prospex, Presage, Astron, 5 Sports) — Grand Seiko not among them",
          "url": "https://www.seikowatches.com/global-en/products",
          "accessed": "2026-09-26",
          "archived_url": null
        }
      ],
      "time_sensitive": { "is": true, "expires": "2027-09-25" },
      "difficulty": 3,
      "image_ref": null,
      "status": "verified",
      "last_verified": "2026-09-25",
      "review_due": "2027-09-25",
      "authored_by": "assisted",
      "verified_by": "independent-pass"
    },
    {
      "q_id": "q-enthusiast-010",
      "scope": { "type": "domain", "id": "enthusiast-check" },
      "domain": "geography",
      "level": "E",
      "reading_level": "curious",
      "type": "single",
      "stem": "Two Swiss towns are on the UNESCO World Heritage List specifically for how watchmaking shaped the way they were built. Which are they?",
      "options": [
        { "id": "a", "text": "Geneva and Lausanne", "correct": false },
        { "id": "b", "text": "La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle", "correct": true },
        { "id": "c", "text": "Biel/Bienne and Grenchen", "correct": false },
        { "id": "d", "text": "Schaffhausen and Zurich", "correct": false }
      ],
      "explanation": "UNESCO inscribed the site in 2009 under the name \"La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle, Watchmaking Town Planning\" (reference 1302), under criterion (iv). The inscription is not for the watches but for the town planning itself — two towns in the Neuchâtel Jura laid out around the needs of watchmaking workshops rather than around the usual civic or defensive logic.",
      "explanation_links": ["/watches/#countries"],
      "planned_links": ["/watches/countries/switzerland/", "/watches/institutions/"],
      "fact_ids": ["fact-unesco-1302"],
      "sources": [
        {
          "tier": 1,
          "citation": "UNESCO World Heritage Centre, \"La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle, Watchmaking Town Planning\", reference 1302, inscribed 2009",
          "url": "https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1302/",
          "accessed": "2026-09-25",
          "archived_url": null
        }
      ],
      "time_sensitive": { "is": false, "expires": null },
      "difficulty": 2,
      "image_ref": null,
      "status": "verified",
      "last_verified": "2026-09-25",
      "review_due": "2028-09-25",
      "authored_by": "assisted",
      "verified_by": "independent-pass"
    }
  ]
}