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S U B S C R I B E
Wednesday, 20 April, 2011
Federation upsets some firms with content rules for 'Swiss-made' watches
Can “Swissness” be measured? The watch industry thinks so and wants the rules governing Swiss timepieces to be more stringent. Among other things, the industry would like a minimum of 80 percent of production costs for mechanical watches (60 percent for electronic watches) to be incurred in Switzerland to earn the label “Swiss made.” However, some makers say this could increase prices and force companies out of the country. WRS’s Alex Helmick speaks to Jean-Daniel Pasche, from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, an umbrellla group that promotes watches from Switzerland. The group supports tighter rules:
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However, Ronnie Bernheim, co-owner of the Mondaine watch company, says that the proposed regulations will have a massively adverse impact on watchmakers in Switzerland. Mondaine makes a number of styles of watches, but is perhaps best known for its official Swiss railway watch. Alex Helmick asks Bernheim what would happen to Mondaine under the Swiss content controls:
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