Oops. 12.25 – 12.34mm, not 12.15 is the range for 12.3mm. If he wanted 12.30 the precision would have been 12.295 – 12.304. All measurements within that range would be a genuine 12.30mm.
Some people might expect 1 inch to mean 1.0000000", but it doesn't. And wouldn't in a court of law. Any measurement must have a tolerance to mean much at all. Whatever units the drill might be marked in is irrelevant, as I see it. Fit for pupose is the yard stick. I don't really care if I wanted a one inch drill and it read 25.4mm on the shank – it is still one inch (and to better tolerance than I specified).
That said, 31/64 could be 12.5mm at its maximum of 31.4/64", so that drill, unless it has a lesser specified tolerance, is not a proper and true equivalent.
Edited By not done it yet on 06/09/2017 23:15:30