Geneva seal

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The Geneva Seal (also Geneva hallmark , French Poinçon de Genève ) is a legally protected certificate of quality and origin for mechanical watches that are built and regulated in the canton of Geneva . The hallmark is awarded by the Timelab Foundation.

Originally introduced in 1886, the conditions have been expanded in recent years, tightened considerably in 1957 and now include several criteria, which, including the new rules from June 1, 2012, relate to the following points:

  • Production, assembly and regulation of the movement take place exclusively in the Geneva canton.
  • Highest quality of all components of a movement
  • All steel edges, screw heads and other precisely defined surfaces must be ground or polished (see finissage )
  • Prescribed ruby bearings
  • Certain mechanical design features, such as the use of wire springs, are prohibited
  • An accuracy of less than one minute per day for seven days
  • The function of the calendar from February 26th over seven days
  • 24 hour water resistance
  • 24 hour power reserve

Watches that meet these criteria and pass the relevant test may bear the Geneva seal , the image of the Geneva national coat of arms, on the plate or the bridge of the movement. All criteria for the Geneva Seal relate to the quality of the manufacture and workmanship of a watch; accuracy, power reserve and water resistance have only been added since 2012.

The watch manufacturers who currently apply the Geneva Seal to some of their manufacture's mechanical movements are Cartier , Chopard and Vacheron Constantin . The company DeWitt , Gérald Genta and Antoine Preziuso had made watches with Geneva Seal. Patek Philippe had stamped all of its works with the Geneva hallmark until 2009, while today only the Roger Dubuis company stamps all of its works with the stamp.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Règlement sur le contrôle facultatif des montres de Genève. Legal text. Canton of Geneva, archived from the original on September 26, 2007 (French). ;
  2. ^ Helmut Kahlert , Richard Mühe , Gisbert L. Brunner , Christian Pfeiffer-Belli: wrist watches: 100 years of development history. Callwey, Munich 1983; 5th edition, ibid 1996, ISBN 3-7667-1241-1 , p. 504.
  3. ↑ Synthesis de l'évolution "Poinçon de Genève". (PDF) In: horlogerie-suisse.com. Archived from the original on April 18, 2012 (French, new version of the rules for the Geneva hallmark).;
  4. ↑ G. Claussen: Geneva hallmark, coining impression. In: Goldschmiedezeitung-Online. Archived from the original on August 1, 2012 .;