Swiss made

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Example of “Swiss made” printed on a watch face.
Victorinox Swiss Army Knife .
Button cell from Duracell "Swiss made".
Old label with the crossbow.

The term Swiss made (sometimes just Swiss ) is a designation of origin for products from Switzerland .

Since 2017, according to the Federal Act on the Protection of Brands and Indications of Origin , goods or services may be called "Swiss made" under the following conditions:

  • For food: 80% of the weight of the raw materials and the necessary processing must take place in Switzerland.
  • For industrial products: 60% of the manufacturing costs and the main manufacturing step must take place in Switzerland.
  • For services: The company headquarters and administration must be in Switzerland.

The label is also intended to serve consumers as a seal of quality. According to an international study from 2017, "Swiss Made" enjoys a high international reputation and ranks second out of 52 countries in the Made-in-Country Index behind " Made in Germany ".

Name origin

The term Swiss Made represents a label of origin for Swiss products, similar to other designations of origin such as B. Made in Germany . Terms such as Made in Switzerland , Fabriqué en Suisse or Manufactured in Switzerland could have led to problems as labeling on watch dials due to the length and spaces. Swiss law currently allows the terms Suisse , produit suisse , fabriqué en Suisse , qualité suisse or translations such as Swiss , Swiss Made , or Swiss Movement . The term can be found on many Swiss watches, usually on the dial at 6 o'clock and / or on the movement.

Use with Swiss watches

Former law

The legal provisions go back to 1971; in the ordinance of 23 December 1971 on the use of the Swiss name for watches (French Ordonnance réglant l'utilisation du nom “Suisse” pour les montres , Italian Ordinanza concernente l'utilizzazione della designazione “Svizzera” per gli orologi ) by the Swiss Federal Council the specifications of what a Swiss watch is are regulated.

  • Article 1 describes the general term for a Swiss watch.
  • Article 2 describes the requirements for a Swiss clockwork , literally in 2c: the components from Swiss manufacture make up at least 50 percent of the value without taking into account the costs of assembling.
  • Article 3 clarifies the requirements for using the Swiss name.
  • Articles 4–7 deal with the application of the label to watch cases , dials , watch components, samples and sample collections.

In addition to the conditions set out in Article 2c, the movement of a wristwatch must have been assembled, started up, regulated and checked by the manufacturer in order to be labeled as Swiss Made , and the watch must be subject to technical controls in Switzerland in accordance with the applicable standards.

Revision discussion

The Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH advocates tightening these rules. At the 2007 General Assembly it was passed to introduce a bill to the Swiss Federal Council that increases the values. At least 80 percent of the production costs for mechanical watches should be incurred in Switzerland. For electronic watches, the value should be at least 60 percent. In addition, the watch will be developed and prototypes made in Switzerland. The bill was introduced and approved in 2013. According to this, 60% of the production costs must now be incurred in Switzerland. However, unlike before, these may include development costs.

The price premium for Swiss watches is between 20 and 50%. Manufacturers who try to add this price premium with as little effort as possible should have a harder time.

In the context of the current crisis (as of 2016) in the Swiss watch industry, manufacturers who have called for a tightening of the Swiss Made legislation are now trying to backtrack a little: dials, cases and glasses should be taken from the “Swiss Made” calculation be excluded.

This exception rule would benefit watch manufacturers in the lower price segment in particular: Of course, watch manufacturers also manufacture automatically, but this is not always possible without problems for all components. Some components are still relatively labor-intensive.

Low-priced watch manufacturers, who have to reckon with a significantly lower absolute margin per piece, play it into the cards when z. B. Housing finishing can be carried out by cheaper workers in China etc. - without the company running the risk of falling below the 60% limit.

New law

Since 2017, the Trademark Protection Act has stipulated that at least 60 percent of the manufacturing costs of watches (like other industrial products) should be incurred in Switzerland.

See also

swell

literature

  • The Inside Story of the Swiss Watch. Swiss Watch Chamber of Commerce, La Chaux-de-Fonds o.J.
  • R. James Breiding: Swiss Made: The Untold Story Behind Switzerlands Success. Profile Books, 2013.
  • Hans-Martin Bürki-Spycher: Swiss world class. In: Schweizer Familie , July 30, 2020.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Federal Act on the Protection of Brands and Indications of Origin of August 28, 1992 (as of April 1, 2019).
  2. ↑ Global study: "Made in Germany" is the most popular label in the world In: Spiegel online from March 26, 2017
  3. ^ Ordinance of December 23, 1971 on the use of the Swiss name for watches. Legal writing. Swiss Confederation, July 1, 1995, accessed June 12, 2011 .
  4. ^ 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. 506.
  5. ↑ Changes in the trademark protection law approved after 4 years of debate. 09.086 - Business of the Federal Council. Vista Curia - Business Database, November 18, 2009, accessed May 17, 2011 .
  6. ↑ Swiss Made is to be softened. ›Chrononautix. May 4, 2016, Retrieved July 4, 2016 .
  7. ^ Ordinance on the use of the Swiss name for watches of December 23, 1971 (as of January 1, 2019).