Take the 7s26 for example. It powers so many models - the countless variations of the Seiko 5 family, the SKX divers, etc. We're not dealing with Swiss cottage industry watchmakers that take months to shape an ebauche into some exotic complication here. Seiko has to mass produce in order to keep their costs down and to remain profitable.
With the thousands of pieces produced each month, I wonder how each individual movement could have been adjusted. My guess is that the production engineers would just take random samples from batches and check for regulation.
You're right - it will take an insider from Seiko itself to share some secrets on how the movements are designed and why there is a need to produce the 7s36 movement, which is about the same as the ubiquitous 7s26. I don't think the extra two jewels would cost them that much.
My personal take is for product differentiation purposes - which is related to marketing. Which is why the 7s36 is mostly found on the more expensive Seiko 5 range - the Superior and some Sports models.
I wonder why the SKX divers are still stuck with the 7s26 to this day...
cheers,
StratMan
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Plus ca change. Plus c'est la meme chose."
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