Swiss made

Swiss made is a label or marker used to indicate that a product was made or assembled in Switzerland or the geographic Swiss region. According to the Federal Act on the Protection of Trade Marks and Indications of Source, a good or service may be designated 'Swiss made' if:It is not generally known that quite a few Swiss companies have watches assembled in China for export to North America, Asia and even Europe, where the brand name is more important than the “Swiss made” label. Such watches may consist of a Chinese case and a Chinese crystal, a Taiwan-made dial and metal bracelet and Japanese hands. If the movement is to be considered Swiss, 51% of its value must be Swiss and at least the last wheel must be added in Switzerland. Swiss watch brands without the “Swiss made” label are usually equipped with a Japanese movement. The “Swiss parts” label means that the movement is assembled in Asia using kits consisting at least partially of Swiss made components.Accordingly, any mechanical watch in which at least 80% of the production cost is attributable to operations carried out in Switzerland would be considered as a mechanical Swiss watch. For other watches, particularly electronic watches, this rate would be 60%. Technical construction and prototype development would moreover need to be carried out in Switzerland. Raw materials, precious stones and the battery would be excluded from the production cost. The Swiss movement in the existing ordinance already has a value criterion, namely the rate of 50%. Considering that here, too, the definition needs reinforcing, the draft amends these value criteria. For mechanical movements therefore, the rate would be at least 80% of the value of all constituent parts. For other movements, particularly electronic movements, this rate would be 60%. Technical construction and prototype development in Switzerland would also be a requirement in this case. The draft also stipulates other provisions concerning the definition of Swiss constituent parts and assembly in Switzerland.Products are considered Swiss products if they are fundamentally local products or if they have been completely manufactured in Switzerland. In the case of products that have been only partly manufactured in Switzerland, the rule applies that the Swiss portion of the production cost (including basic materials, semi-finished products, accessories, wages and production overhead excluding distribution costs) must be at least 50%. However, this 50% portion is not the sole criterion for determining the Swiss origin of a product. The origin of the essential components and the manufacturing process through which a product obtains its characteristicfeatures, and – in borderline or doubtful cases – the origin of the intellectual property embodied in the product and the special circumstances in the respective industry must also be taken into due consideration. Swiss made is a label or marker used to indicate that a product was made or assembled in Switzerland or the geographic Swiss region. According to the Federal Act on the Protection of Trade Marks and Indications of Source, a good or service may be designated 'Swiss made' if: Most often associated with watches or timepieces made in Switzerland, a watch is considered Swiss if its movement is Swiss, if the movement has been assembled in the Swiss region, its final inspection occurred in Switzerland, and at least 60% of manufacturing costs are domestic. Besides the Swiss made requirements, watches may carry the Swiss movement ('Swiss Movt') marker if at least half of the assembled parts are of Swiss manufacture. In addition to 'Swiss made' and 'Swiss Movt', under Swiss law watches may carry the words 'Suisse', 'produit suisse', 'fabriqué en Suisse', 'qualité suisse' or simply the English translation, 'Swiss'. The wording was formally adopted in the late 19th century and is unique in that most other countries use the phrase 'Made in (Country Name)'. The most obvious place where the label is found is on Swiss watches. The Swiss laws permit the use of the words 'Suisse', 'produit suisse', 'fabriqué en Suisse', 'qualité suisse' or the translations, 'Swiss', 'Swiss made', or 'Swiss Movement'. On some older watches, for example, the word 'Swiss' appears alone on the dial at the six o'clock position. There are two discrete sections of the Swiss law that pertain to the use of the name Swiss made. The first law, which applies to all types of Swiss products, is the 'Federal Act on the Protection of Trade Marks and Indications of Source'. Its article 50 provided the authority for the enactment of the second law, Ordonnance du 23 décembre 1971, relating specifically Swiss watches. The text of either law is available in French, German or Italian, since those are the principal official languages of Switzerland. Currently the aforementioned Swiss legal standards permit watch brands or watchmakers to label watches Swiss made under certain legally defined circumstances. These standards have changed over time and were not always codified in the national law, so older watches which bear the mark Swiss made may not necessarily meet the current legal definition. On the other hand, they might well exceed the current legal definition of Swiss made. Indeed, the current law of the applicability of Swiss made was codified on December 23, 1971. The Ordinance regulating the use of the name 'Swiss' on watches first defines a 'watch' (as opposed to a clock) by the dimensions of its movement. Thereafter, the law defines a Swiss watch, the definition of which is dependent on certain aspects of its movement. The law then goes on to define under what circumstances a watch movement may be considered Swiss made. The law then sets forth the conditions for the use of the name Swiss on watches, on watch cases, on watch movements, on watch dials and on replacement watch parts. In sum, a watch is considered Swiss whose movement is encased in Switzerland and whose final control by the Manufacture d'horlogerie takes place in Switzerland.The legal standards for the use of 'Swiss made' on a watch are a very minimum standard, and the Swissness of a watch is largely dependent on the brand and its reputation. The Swiss watch industry has not reached an agreement over the specific definition of Swiss made, as some companies favor stricter regulations and others prefer including lower-cost foreign components. The Swiss Federal Council modified the ordinance regulating the use of the 'Swiss' name for watches in 1995. This revision was explained in a press release entitled On foreign parts for watches.