Two words have become synonymous with quality and reliability when it comes to timepieces. On the 23rd of December, 1971, those two words were codified and protected under law. Those two words were, of course, “Swiss Made.”
While legal protection of the Swiss watch industry is important, in many ways, the legal definitions laid down in 1971 (and strengthened most recently in 2017) are as much about telling a particular story as they are about protecting their turf. Overwhelmingly, the Swiss are recognized as the preeminent makers of fine watches, and that’s been the dominant narrative for the last 100 or so years, give or take. But if you take a moment to think about the words on the dial, and why they’re there, you’ll realize that they emerged in response to global challenges to Helvetic hegemony. A fascinating by-product of this dominance has been a rich global culture of watchmaking, with world-class watches being
