Swiss watch

Swiss made is a label used to indicate that a product was made in Switzerland.

From 2017, the legal criteria are:

The wording was formally adopted in the late 19th century and is unique in that most other countries use the phrase "Made in (Country Name)". The most obvious place where the label is found is on Swiss watches. The Swiss laws permit the use of the words "Suisse", "produit suisse", "fabriqué en Suisse", "qualité suisse" or the translations, "Swiss", "Swiss Made", or "Swiss Movement". On some older watches, for example, the word "Swiss" appears alone on the dial at the six o'clock position.

There are two discrete sections of the Swiss law that pertain to the use of the name Swiss made. The first law, which applies to all types of Swiss products, is the Loi sur la protection des marques (LPM). The LPM at Article 50 provided the authority for the enactment of the second law, Ordonnance du 23 décembre 1971 réglant l’utilisation du nom «Suisse» pour les montres, relating specifically Swiss watches. The text of either law is available in French, German or Italian, since those are the principal official languages of Switzerland.

Currently the aforementioned Swiss legal standards permit watch brands or watchmakers to label watches Swiss Made under certain legally defined circumstances. These standards have changed over time and were not always codified in the national law, so older watches which bear the mark Swiss Made may not necessarily meet the current legal definition. On the other hand, they might well exceed the current legal definition of Swiss made. Indeed, the current law of the applicability of Swiss made was codified on December 23, 1971.

The law "Ordonnance réglant l’utilisation du nom « Suisse » pour les montres" or Verordnung vom 23 Dezember 1971 über die Benützung des Schweizer Namens für Uhren (Ordinance regulating the use of the name "Swiss" on watches) first defines a "watch" (as opposed to a clock) by the dimensions of its movement. Thereafter, the law defines a Swiss watch, the definition of which is dependent on certain aspects of its movement. The law then goes on to define under what circumstances a watch movement may be considered Swiss made. The law then sets forth the conditions for the use of the name Swiss on watches, on watch cases, on watch movements, on watch dials and on replacement watch parts. The pertinent parts of the law are digested below.

In sum, a watch is considered Swiss whose movement is encased in Switzerland and whose final control by the Manufacture d'horlogerie takes place in Switzerland.

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Wikipedia