Not What You Think! The TRUTH About Swiss Made Watches - Watch and Learn #93 

I'm gonna hijack and pin my own comment. I could put this in the description, but I have my doubts of how much that is read! Everything I speak about in this video comes from FHS.CH, the Swiss Watch Federation. I left links to the docs in the description, you should read them in you're interested. My intention here is to have fun, and of course, educate. Many people will say "well, it's all a lie". For some, that is probably a true statement. But I will say a majority of brands keep it real and do their best to provide a Swiss made product. Are there brands who are gaming the system? Sure. But there's loads of good actors. Lastly, I will say this. . . it speaks volumes that the Swiss had to create a 37 page document about what defines a Swiss watch (keep in mind, this is just watches, not cars, not electronics, nothing. . .). The Swiss Made moniker on watches is supremely important to the Swiss economy, and this document shows this.

This is why I like Marc: he's not a shady business guy. 👍 There is no point making this sort of video for him, but It's very considerate that he does.

I was vaguely aware that being Swiss made was not totally made in Switzerland but I had no idea of how diluted “Swiss made” could really be. Great presentation! 🥃

Let's face it. I didn't need a new watch, but I WANTED a new watch. So I just bought my first Islander.

Thanks for truth in production brother. First time I've ever personally seen someone pull back the curtain.

I’m from Thailand and while doing some research for work I found that one of the top export categories FROM Thailand TO Switzerland are watches and watch components. I know there is some watchmaking industry here, as a proud owner of WISE and other Thailand-made (assembled?) Casios and Seikos, but I had no idea it is that big.

I’m really enjoying these educational/informative videos I’m seeing on YT lately. Great content here that reminds me of the stuff Mike from ‘ This watch, That watch’ makes. Hope to see more.

And for the 93rd time, we are all smarter. Excellent video sir.

How about made in japan requirements next?

If you’re the owner of a movement manufacturer like the Swatch group is you can manipulate the pricing of the movements to get to 60% too, so Tissot makes less of a profit and ETA makes a bit more. I’m sure you can get an external accountant like PWC to approve it if you are creative enough.

Very interesting video concept, also very educational. Thankyou much Marc!! Keep up the great work!!

Nice job Mark. Very enlightening. Keep up the good work.

Great video !! So Informative !!! Thanks Marc

It’s been a little bit since I’ve watched one of your videos. Camera quality has improved and looks great in the last couple that I’ve watched. Great topic and thanks for the info.

Probably why so many bracelets look like an afterthought

Well, I watched the whole video!! I’ve now reached a level of Watch Nerditidy that I previously had judged inconceivable. Marc, you are so relatable and kind and informative that I actually stayed for the whole 15 minutes!! With my cute adult adhd, that’s saying something. Anyhoo, my first Islander watch will arrive next week!!!! Yahoo!!! Thanks, Marc!

Excellent video as always, Marc. Hey wait, is that a bottle of Sriracha hot sauce on the shelf? Lol.

Thank you for explaining ! Great information

ALWAYS educational (informative) and entertaining. Thanks for sharing, I can see a lot of research went into this. Love you, this channel and Island watch (own a few gems). Cheers! M.

Love those time pieces on the wall behind you. Amazing

This was SUCH good information - thank you!

Fine vid Marc. I learned a lot. Thanks

Another great video. Thanks Marc.

Thanks for sharing as always I appreciate the dedication that you put into Islander watches and your company overall Be well Godspeed and of course Wheels Up my friend 👍

Enlightening. Great video.

It’s like three crown monte….🤔. Always enjoys Professor Marc’s lessons.

This was kind of eye opening, thanks for the information

Awesome stuff, Marc. Thanks! New subscriber here, will 'drop by' your store and see whatchya got!!!

Thank you Marc for your brilliant analysis!

Outside movements is a Swiss thing. That’s one reason why I like Japanese watches. They are almost always in-house movements such as Casio G Shock and Grand Seiko.

Great presentation!

What a good info...! Thanks for sharing.

Well done video-- thanks

Thanks for the info. This was great and informative. You're the man!

Thanks for the great perspective

Hey Marc, love your videos mate, very educational, keep it up lad, quick question, should i get my NH35a serviced or just buy a new one?.

Great video. Subscribed.

Interesting thank you for the info

Very informative, thanks

Thank you for sharing this information Marc. 👍

i love this content. good for you mark

Fascinating.... Nicely done Mark. Perhaps I can go on holiday to Switzerland ( which is beautiful btw). While there I might build a Swiss Made watch, which will help pay for the holiday

Good timing on the video. This year I'd like to really save up and splurge on a Swiss made piece. Those Islander Republic GMT's look pretty appealing, any chance of a restock this year?

Just picked up my new islander watchb I live in England so...its worth it the watches are great, Next time I'm coming to get it.

Modern industries and legislation are so complex, thank you for breaking it down Mark.

Good stuff Marc, but there are other swiss calibre makers like La Joux-Perret, Soprod, Kenissi and STP just to name a few.

Saw some watches by NWC / navalwatches with “Swiss Mov’t” on the dial: immediately thought of what you said 07:00

Case in point - consider how many Invicta watches have said “SWISS MADE” on the dial. Great stuff as always Marc!

Hmmmmm. Marathon may be example of stretching Swiss Made a bit but wow excellent work.

thanks Mark great episode, not sure whether I should buy another ‘ Swiss ‘ watch or make my own, in layman’s terms it sounds quite achievable with the right drive/passion

Thank you for the knowledge sharing 👍🙏

Thank you for this video, Marc. Truth to be told 😉 This is also a reason for me not to overrate this Swiss Made stuff. Whenever I see a new brand that claims to be swiss my alarm bells are ringing.

Lots of Christophe Duchamp "Swiss Movement" watches being pedalled here in South Africa at ridiculous RRP, like Tudor BB money about and you see them on Marketplace for like a 10th of the RRP. I always thought it stank to high heaven. Thanks for this explanation, it makes a lot of sense now

Thank you, Marc, for covering such an important topic, I was always intrigued by the fact that how come these days so many microbrands are coming with Swiss made written on them, it always made me think that they lack in quality as compared to a Seiko or Casio at times but still are swiss made. Now I can very much understand where the problem lies. Obviously as you said no offence to great brands like Rolex or Omega. It was a great watch and learn video.

The 60% gig has been going on for a long time. Would be interesting to know what proportion of parts manufactur and assembly is required for the movement to qualify.

Love how the selfie at 9:10 shows a brick wall in Marc's sunglasses reflection :D

Interesting video, nice calculation and good explanation. 🙂 It's more strange for me that there are guys pretending to be watch enthusiast for many years and buying expensive watches without knowing actually what "Swiss Made" means... Anyway. However that's one reason I prefer brands with good traditions in the watchmaking, quality and even history with Swiss origin than a watch with "Swiss Made" written on the dial. Ronda also are producing quartz movements by the way 🙂

Great video! Thanks for making it and sharing this with us Marc!

Marc spills the tea.

Great Information 👍. I'm not sure if I dreamed it but did longines out sell rolex last year?

transparency is a factor to consider. some watch companies have opened their doors for you to see their process. others seem more mysterious. take Ball watches - and i own a couple - but i know little or nothing about the company and are not owned by a swiss concern but there it is, Swiss Made. oh and great video. wow great stuff.

Marc, great video. I like the way you think about things and are able to articulate your information on a chosen subject. You would probably make a good flight instructor one day! Anyway, over the years I've done the breakdowns of several aspects of automobile manufacturing, and your "Swiss Watch" feature reminds me of telling people about their BMW SUVs made in the good ol' USA and popping their baloon of thinking a skilled dude named Klaus in Bavaria made their vehicle, and it was likely a woman named Theona in Alabama or some such! Nothing wrong with that, but it has put some snooty people in their places. Cheers!

Thanks for this. You again prove that a businessperson can be reasonably transparent and still do well. I have a feeling that if the US made more watches, their lobbyists would try to get the US standards lowered. Our pols are probably getting money from Switzerland.

Important to note too that the assembly and QC of the watch are usually included in the manufacturing costs, which sometimes can be extremely expensive in themselves.

In addition to ETA, Sellita and Ronda, there are Soprod, STP, La Joux-Perret, Kenissi and a few other small manufacturers of movements in Switzerland.

I've been told some very interesting information about where the actual individual watch parts all come from. A good quality bracelet can sometimes actually cost more to make than the whole watch head.

Good video

Look and Learn Business edition - great

Invicta ( not that I’m a fan ) has a line called Reserve that had Swiss made on the dial. I noticed some time ago they no longer say that on the dial. Maybe they got busted? Thanks for the video. Have a great weekend! 🙏🏼

Love my Islander watches, Mark is the best!

Hi Mark, new subscriber!

I want that hoodie.

New camera? Looks good.

Thank you so much for this video! Well that explains why some “Swiss made” watches look oddly similar to some Chinese made ones. If I were San Martin I would rent a small apartment in the Swiss alps now 😂

New high def camera set up?

I just loved this! Does this help to explain my $499 Herodia Mediterraneo? Which I still love? With the SW200 movement? Which leads me to this ... from the blurb on your new $$$$ Laco watches ... "Movement: Laco 200, based on the Sellita 200 ( Top ), with date display at 4 o'clock or Laco 330, based on the Sellita SW 330 ( Top ), with date display at 6 o'clock and GMT function" My clomage has a similar (but unregulated) movement??

Makes sense why so many brands from so many countries all have the same basic look with their cases, bezels etc (prob Asian made), yeah qa/ac is likely better in certain countries which may get you a better watch but as far as looks they all can kind of look similar.

there are equally made watches from all around the world.. what happened was Switzerland stayed neutral in WW2 and they were able to preserve their watch making industry while everyone around them was literally decimated... post WW2 they were the only game in town for mechanical watches..

Are those tally sheets available somewhere to look at?

Is that a big bottle of Sriracha on the shelf?

Very good information. I aways find these types of languages fascinating. Along with how certain food names are geographically protected. Thank you my good man. How about i stir the pot a little and bring up that USA is the name of a secret country. Lol

If Im not mistaken, the sub portion that describes a "swiss movement" stipulates that only 50 percent of that needs to be swiss as well. So when you get into it, its increasingly less swiss. Im not even sure if they stipulate what that percentage means (volume, quantity, time, cost, etc).

Do assembly costs also count as part of the 60% costs? The high cost of Swiss labor would far outweigh the costs of a third party off-the-shelf movement and make it even easier to reach the required quita.

Now the question is how much if the movement can be made outside of Switzerland. How many parts in the Sellita SW200 are made in Switzerland?

Liked and subbed

I thought I saw on a RU-vid channel, maybe Jenni Elle, that the Swiss were looking at changing it from 60% to 80% but some big watch lobby got the legislation stopped. This was maybe 2 years ago

Hello Marc,, I am still alive 😂 Interesting video with what is the requirments for Swiss Made. One more Interesting thing is why do you have a great big bottle of Sriratcha sauce in your studio?

I have your Purple Pheobas/Islander collaboration.... its as accurate if not more accurate than the Swiss movements I have...

Could you consider doing the quartz version of Swiss made?

I think most watch nerds know this but it's worth reiterating. No matter where a watch is made the buyer mustn't take anything for granted. I like watches from many countries but German manufacturers have my greatest respect. Made in Germany is very loose but their QC standards are high, even their entry level brands. Glashutte manufacturers are in a class on their own.

Looking forward to a Swiss made THX Certified Islander - 😎

Hi Mark! New subscriber...I have been watching your informative videos for sometime. My passion is Rolex and Seiko mostly and now Long Island watches. I enjoyed this video however I have question...is there a possibility that if this excercise was put into motion and after some complaints from swiss watch makers do you think that the process would be subject to tariffs?

3:59 Ronda does make automatics, Adina (Australian watch company who do what you are doing with your Ameriquartz watches, but in Australia and in house) uses a lot of Ronda movements now that ETA doesn't sell to outside companies any more, Ronda are pretty good.

Could you make the statement that no matter what it says on the dial if it has a seiko movement its essentially a seiko. Just like volkswagen group cars using the same running gear and parts bin .but put a different body on it and it's a audi, skoda, or vw.

i think there ia two more swiss made movement, roamer is using stp-1, and forget about second one but also eta clone

I'd love to know what percentage of Rolex and Patek are actually Swiss Made. Are they hovering around the basic requirements or are they closer to top end of the percentage?

So basically I can buy one of the higher end Chinese/AliExpress watches that offers a Sellita or ETA movement and other than the fact that it wasn't assembled in Switzerland would be just as Swiss as some Swiss made watches.

You make Jews, Americans and New Yorkers proud! God bless you man!🙏🇺🇸

Marc please put your two toned brookville on sale ! I’ll buy it right now

So I assume that if you get a quartz watch with Swiss Made label on the dial it might’ve been of a higher value for the price as the minimum of 60% would have probably been allocated for some more expensive parts!