Swiss Made Definition

[lovepanerai]

After having read many posts that talk about Swiss Made movements not being made in Switzerland but in China I thought it makes sense to dig deeper and find out what the facts are.

Here is what my short little research project yielded:

Definitions of Swiss Made:

• In order to qualify as "Swiss Made" a watch must have been assembled, adjusted and subjected to official tests in Switzerland. At least 50% of the value of all parts, and its movement must have been made in Switzerland.
  
• legally protected indication of Swiss origin. Under terms of the Swiss Federal Council ordinance of December 23, 1971, it can apply only to watches with: -Swiss Movement -Assembled in Switzerland - Final inspection must be done in Switzerland
  
• A watch is considered Swiss if its movement was assembled, started, adjusted and controlled by the manufacturer in Switzerland.
  
  • Eta has 10 factories in Switzerland and several others all over the world, however at a minimum final assembly and QA is done in Switzerland
    
  • Some of our replicas have ETA movements, however they the majority - if not all of them - lack that distinct "Quality Control" and "Final Assembly" in Switzerland feature
    
  • It is also likely that the parts being used in the ETA movements that we get in our replicas are from parts that did not pass QC
    

  All of these above comments/statements don't mean that we get an inferior product, however it makes what we believe to be Swiss Movements in reality Chinese Movements. Not as Chinese as the CN7750 since it has Swiss DNA but nonetheless Chinese.

  This also explains why the finish of the movements in genuine watches is usually nicer than on Ofrei's or the "Swiss" movements we see in replicas.

  The difference between Swiss Made and Swiss AOSC is that Swiss AOSC (Certificate of Origin) is identifying a watch that is assembled in Switzerland with components of Swiss origin.

  if you like to read further please visit the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH)

  FH Swiss Made Definition

  Excerpt from FH:

  a law "regulating the use of the name 'Swiss' for watches" sets out the minimum conditions that have to be fulfilled before a watch merits the "Swiss made" label.

  This law is based on a concept according to which Swiss quality depends on the amount of work actually carried out on a watch in Switzerland, even if some foreign components are used in it. It therefore requires that the assembly work on the movement (the motor of the watch) and on the watch itself (fitting the movement with the dial, hands and the various parts of the case) should be carried out in Switzerland, along with the final testing of the movement. It also requires that at least 50% of the components of the movement should be manufactured in Switzerland.

  cheers and don't let this spoil your appetite for replicas - it certainly doesn't for me

Edited September 11, 2006 by lovepanerai

[shimside11]

good post. very informative.

thanks

[kingkitesurf]

Somehow I did expect it to be like this. I think many products of European distinction are eventually preparred and produced for the main part in low labour cost countries. Just to be able to compete worldwide. (f.e. as do companies like Grundig and Philips electronics etc etc.) The fact is that they are designed in the countries of origin. The production process and items have been designed in the origin countries and the actual production takes place in the Asian countries. No sweat as long as there is a official stamp of approval on them. I don't known if our Swiss Replicas have that. Fact is that the three I own run great. No reason to sweat....yet.

[fendushi]

[*]Some of our replicas have ETA movements, however they the majority - if not all of them - lack that distinct "Quality Control" and "Final Assembly" in Switzerland feature

[*]It is also likely that the parts being used in the ETA movements that we get in our replicas are from parts that did not pass QC

Yes, that makes a lot of sense...

We are still getting good movements... but just not "the best"...

[cornerstone]

Thanks for a great post.

I'm only playing devil's advocate here - your post comes from a very interesting link - but it is PR spin on legalese. As in - they are promoting Swiss made as being "you can smell the cockoo clocks", but the ETA lawyers are interested in the very limits of the law, the bare minimum they have to do to make it 'Swiss'. So what has been written in the link puts the very best 'spin' on how Swiss these watches are. Law is only as good as the way it is interpreted.

From our point of view - all the bits about being a Swiss watch are irrelevant, our watches aren't finished in Switzerland.

The test of being a Swiss movement is slightly different. 50% of the value of the components have to be Swiss. But what is interesting is that some components are a lot more valuable than others. The jewels are made in Switzerland, and make up a disproportionate amount of the value. The actual 'value' of the other metal bits that make up the majority of the movement is less (relatively-speaking). What this means is, more than 50% of the actual movement - what you see when you look at it - is NOT Swiss made. And that is with a totally legitimate Swiss movement. Swatch have stated openly that they take advantage of this. Conversely, since all the jewels come from Switzerland - even your so-called Chinese ETA's have valuable Swiss parts in them.

There are two other legs to the test of being Swiss made. One is that it 'has been assembled' in Switzerland. The big question is how much or little work is involved to qualify for this 'assembled' test. It doesn't say manufactured - I actually suspect that this involves either putting a few major working bits together, adding one final part, or generally just 'finishing' it. This entire area is debatable - from from a PR viewpoint 'assembled' sounds strong, but from a legal view it looks like quite a weak test.

The final test is that it is inspected in Switzerland. I'm assuming that this doesn't happen for the so-called Chinese ETA's. I think that Ofrei do supply Swiss made movements - their Valjoux movements page explicitly says so twice, even though other threads here say that they are not finished as well as a Swiss movement. (Bearing in mind that many ETA movements are available in different finishes at different prices - just visit their website)

It's my opinion that the so-called Chinese ETA's miss some minor assembly in Switzerland and a final 'Swiss' inspection. However, given that Chinese factories are perfectly capable of assembling cars, electronics, and anything else you throw at them (let alone factories run by Swiss companies) - I honestly don't see why watch movements should be considered beyond their wit.

Is it possible that 'factory seconds' that don't pass inspection reach the market? Well yes, I suppose. But it doesn't sound very Swiss, and it's a machine process. When the China can make working movements, who needs a Swiss one that doesn't work?

Much more relevant, I believe, is what happens to the movement after it leaves the factory. The conditions in which the movement is stored and the watch is assembled are not nearly as good. This is why we hear of grit or dirt in the movements - and they will not be as well serviced as a gen before it arrives on your wrist.

As I said, just devil's advocate. But in terms of the movement I think there is very little other than legalese between a Swiss ETA and a Chinese ETA.

[lancelot]

Very interesting post, thanks

[archibald]

It's marketing, pure and simple. Whic means it's BS, plaain and simple.

Some Franck Muller watches are anything but swiss made yet have swiss made on the dial. A muller may have a russian movement, a crystal made in slovakia, and a strap made in austria. How can they put swiss made on it? Easy. They swap out the poljot rotor with a rep rotor made form 950 platinum--which means that more than 50% of the value of the parts become "swiss made."

I bet that's why some high end watchmakers don't even bother to put Swiss Made on their watches (Journe puts invenit et fecit on his watches--he knows "Swiss Made" is a bunch of BS.

[2005SUBMARINER]

i read some where that r@lex is MADE IN SWITZERLAND & assembled all over asia

& shipped back to switzerland to be finetuned

[archibald]

i read some where that r@lex is MADE IN SWITZERLAND & assembled all over asia

& shipped back to switzerland to be finetuned

I doubt that that's true. What is 100% BS, though, is their "it takes a year to make a rolex" schtick and the implication that they are hand made. This month's WT has this breathless expose about how they managed to penetrate Rolex's veil of secrecy (Rolex's PR shop is doing a nice job using their new building to get some nice press). The funny thing is that the writer oohs and ahs about all the robots and CNC machines (But...but..the robots look like people!!...sheesh) not about some old swiss watchmakers lovingly assembling each watch screw by screw. From what I gathered, aside from the last stage of case polishing and final assembly no human hands touch a rolex--even the parts are retrieved from their bins by robot arms.

Rolex's technology is very cool but if you add all the steps the describe in the article together, it takes about 20 minutes to make a rolex...