# Does "Swiss Made" actually mean anything when it comes to watches? (other than it was made in Switzerland) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 4, 2024, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-swiss-made-actually-mean-anything-when-it-comes-to-watches-other-than-it-was-made-in-switzerland/1002465 "2024-06-04T04:30:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2024, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-swiss-made-actually-mean-anything-when-it-comes-to-watches-other-than-it-was-made-in-switzerland/1002465/1 "2024-06-04T04:30:09Z")
Title kinda says it all. Many watches tout that they are “Swiss made” and will print it on their watch faces. I am wondering if this means anything? Are Swiss made watches just better than (say) German made or Japanese made watches? What does “Swiss made” actually mean? I know in today’s global markets various parts are often made in many places and then assembled. Your car is likely the product of many countries even if it is an American or German or whatever brand. Even among Swiss made watches there is variation in price and quality. As a consumer should I care if a watch is Swiss made or is is just a marketing term? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2024, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-swiss-made-actually-mean-anything-when-it-comes-to-watches-other-than-it-was-made-in-switzerland/1002465/2 "2024-06-04T04:49:29Z")
Some Swiss watches are generally acknowledged as the highest quality and most accurate timepieces made. Those are also the most expensive with differing opinions of whether they are worth the higher price. I think ‘Swiss Made’ is mostly marketing term but sets some kind of standard for watches. ---
**Author:** ![DaveUnknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@DaveUnknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveUnknown)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2024, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-swiss-made-actually-mean-anything-when-it-comes-to-watches-other-than-it-was-made-in-switzerland/1002465/3 "2024-06-04T05:37:14Z")
I think “Swiss Made” is not as important as “Swiss Made Certified” when it comes to watches. Certified Swiss watches have to meet some standards set by industry or the Swiss gov’t. or industry. A brief check says “COSC” is the ceritifcation standard organization. “The Contrôle officiel suisse des Chronomètres, the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute, is the institute responsible for certifying the accuracy and precision of Swiss watches…” Still, I doubt any of the finest mechanical Swiss watches can beat the accuracy of a $10 quartz Casio. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2024, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-swiss-made-actually-mean-anything-when-it-comes-to-watches-other-than-it-was-made-in-switzerland/1002465/4 "2024-06-04T05:44:36Z")
> [@DaveUnknown](#): > > Still, I doubt any of the finest mechanical Swiss watches can beat the accuracy of a $10 quartz Casio. The introduction of which nearly caused the Swiss watch industry to collapse in the '70s. > **[Quartz crisis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartz_crisis)** > > The quartz crisis (Swiss) or quartz revolution (American, Japan and other countries) was the advancement in the watchmaking industry caused by the advent of quartz watches in the 1970s and early 1980s, that largely replaced mechanical watches around the world. It caused a significant decline of the Swiss watchmaking industry, which chose to remain focused on traditional mechanical watches, while the majority of the world's watch production shifted to Japanese companies such as Seiko, Citize The q... ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2024, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-swiss-made-actually-mean-anything-when-it-comes-to-watches-other-than-it-was-made-in-switzerland/1002465/5 "2024-06-04T06:07:58Z")
That’s a very interesting question. Around here quite a few top shelf products use some variant of the word Swiss or the Swiss flag or its colors to indicate their quality, and they generally are of very good quality (and I buy them). But I would also be interested to know about any official regulated branding or certification. ---
**Author:** ![DaveUnknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@DaveUnknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveUnknown)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2024, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-swiss-made-actually-mean-anything-when-it-comes-to-watches-other-than-it-was-made-in-switzerland/1002465/6 "2024-06-04T06:14:13Z")
deleted, redundant to the quoted wikipedia article above