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Type Master's Thesis
Scope Discipline-based scholarship
Title The Swiss Watch Industry: Chronology of Economical Development and Current Situation Analysis
Organization Unit
Authors
  • Romain Paratte
Supervisors
  • Michel A. Habib
Language
  • English
Institution University of Zurich
Faculty Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Information Technology
Date 2014
Abstract Text EXECUTVIVE SUMMARY For centuries, watches have been associated with Switzerland. The precision and quality of Swiss watches have exerted an insolent domination over the world markets. Moreover, it contributed greatly to the good reputation of Switzerland. Within Switzerland, the watchmaking industry is of utmost significance regarding exports and employment. Surprisingly, the general history of the Swiss watch industry is still unknown and not easily to access. Most literature focuses rather on a single enterprise or a region. The intention of this master thesis is to show and explain the economical development of the Swiss watch industry from its early beginnings in Geneva in the 16th century until the year 2012. Although Swiss watchmaking was challenged several times and was even on the verge of collapse during the watchmaking crisis of the 1970s and 1980s, it successfully adapted and achieved a dominant position – particularly in the luxury segment – due to its worldwide reputation of excellence, geographical well diversified outlets and its minor dependence on the exchange rate. The period from 1990 to 2012 is analyzed in more details and supported by various data about the exports, imports, outlets and structure of the Swiss watch industry. A shift toward the Asian continent in combination with a focus on expensive mechanical watches can be observed over the last two decades. Additionally, a trend towards vertical integration of production and distribution can be seen. This development is mainly a consequence of the supply bottleneck and will be reinforced with the new Swiss Made amendment. Although the prospects of exports are rather bright for the big watch groups, this is not the case for smaller and independent watchmakers. The reason for this lies in the aforementioned supply side shortage.
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