The Revival of the Swiss Watch Industry

For a study of an trade that has revived itself from near death to glowing health one would like look no further than at the Swiss watch industry. In the early Eighties Swiss watch-creating seed to be a dying art. A country that had once been the world's leader in making traditional mechanical watch movements and cases was on the verge of extinction. The threat at the time came from Japan and therefore the introduction of quartz watch movements. Quartz watches were cheap. They might be made with little fuss for about one tenth of the cost of a ancient hand-made mechanical watch. And, at the time, labour prices in Japan were far less than they were in Switzerland. They were accurate too.
Several of the biggest corporations were slow to adapt. And many that did tried to do therefore by going downmarket and trying to copy the Japanese. Even Rolex, a long-established luxury complete in Switzerland, ended up introducing quartz movements in its watches. Yet even this was not enough for most corporations to remain competitive.
Two trends emerged at the time, but, that marked a turnaround in the Swiss watch industry. The first was the event of the Swatch. This was a breakthrough in watchmaking as a result of it did away with the ancient case and abundant of the assembly required to make quartz watches by putting in the movement directly onto the rear of the watch and then sealing it. The emergence of the Swatch allowed for highly mechanized production, that offset Switzerland's high labour costs and allowed the country to produce genuine Swiss watches that were far cheaper than many created in Asia. The mass production techniques conjointly allowed for rapid innovation and amendment in vogue therefore that Swatch might produce watches in a large choice of colors and models that could be changed with the season. This method of seeing watches as nearly disposable items that could be changed with ones garments caught on across the globe and allowed Swatch to sell the large volumes of watches needed to support and industrial producing process.
The other trend was towards high-end jewellery watch making. Companies like Blancpain marketed themselves on the idea that they were keeping alive a centuries recent tradition of craft and had never, nor would they ever, adopt quartz movements. That too caught on as manufacturers helped revive a fascination in the movement of a watch. Many currently feature glass portholes or cases that allow one to work out the inner workings. Though less correct than quartz, these watches have become symbols of fine craft and careful work. Owning them becomes more than simply a standing image however a sense that one is contributing to a centuries old tradition.

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