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- The Swiss watch industry faces a changing market. Mechanical watches are no longer necessary for telling time because smartphones perform that function, while luxury Swiss watches are also exposed to international trade disputes and US tariffs. Despite these pressures, the industry continues to command enormous prices and global demand.
- The origins of Swiss watchmaking lie in the Jura Mountains. The Vallée de Joux, approximately an hour north of Geneva, became a manufacturing centre in the 17th century. Local farmers began making watches as supplementary work during harsh winters, eventually developing an industry that produced major international brands and independent master watchmakers.
- Switzerland became the centre of high-end mechanical watchmaking. Although the French, Germans and British dispute who invented the wearable clock or watch in the 1500s, the Swiss established their reputation through intricate mechanical engineering, craftsmanship and exceptionally expensive timepieces.
- Philippe Dufour represents the traditional independent watchmaker. At 77, he works in a small, one-room workshop using traditional tools and methods. His working routine includes coffee, lighting his pipe and listening to classical music.
- Making a single handmade watch can take approximately 2,000 hours. Dufour recalled that his first watch took more than two years to complete. His current production rate is approximately one watch per year, reflecting the extraordinary amount of individual labour involved.
- Dufour built his expertise before establishing his own workshop. He attended the local watchmaking school and worked for major watch brands before becoming independent. He now enjoys considerable respect throughout the industry and personally crafts watches from beginning to end, using a magnifying loupe for extremely small components.
- Dufour's watches sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. They are custom-ordered and so difficult to obtain that he could not provide the visiting journalists with a spare example to inspect. The only available watch was the one he was wearing.
- Dufour's Simplicity model contains 153 individual components. Introduced in 2000, his original example is still worn by Dufour every day. He personally hand-finishes every component, and the broad decorative stripes on the movement are his distinctive signature.
- Dufour's work has achieved extraordinary auction prices. One of his watches reportedly reached approximately $7 million at auction. Dufour said he was happy about the result but did not receive the money because the watch no longer belonged to him. He regarded the price primarily as recognition of his craftsmanship.
- Swiss mechanical watches increasingly occupy the territory of fine art and collectible assets. Their craftsmanship, scarcity and reputation make them attractive to collectors, some of whom purchase them with the expectation that their value will appreciate and that they can later resell them at auction.
- Antoine LeCoultre established the foundations of Jaeger-LeCoultre in 1833. He converted his family's barn into a watchmaking workshop, which eventually developed into a major international luxury watch brand.
- Jaeger-LeCoultre divides watch production into approximately 180 specialised crafts. Individual employees concentrate on specific tasks, including adjusting springs and producing tiny components. This division of labour allows the company to combine numerous specialised skills in the manufacture of complex watches.
- Some watchmaking processes involve unusual materials and extraordinary artistic skill. One demonstrated process involved turning caterpillar secretions into adhesive for jewel bearings. Another artisan reproduced masterpiece paintings on the backs of watches using a brush with a single hair.
- The back of a watch can be an important artistic feature. Jaeger-LeCoultre's Reverso is particularly associated with its distinctive reversible case, originally developed for polo players who needed to protect the watch face during competition. The case flips over to shield the glass.
- A single Reverso requires extensive assembly work. The journalists watched an employee assembling his first example. The company also demonstrated a minute repeater, a mechanical complication that produces audible chimes to indicate time and requires hundreds of hours of refinement.
- Mechanical complications distinguish luxury watches from basic timekeeping devices. These are additional mechanical functions beyond displaying hours and minutes. Examples include minute repeaters and perpetual calendars.
- A perpetual calendar can mechanically track multiple aspects of the date. The demonstrated watch displayed the day, date and month while accounting for leap years. The presenter explained that it could continue operating through the remainder of the century without requiring the wearer to check the calendar manually.
- Even the most sophisticated Swiss watches can operate without electronics. The perpetual calendar demonstrated by Jaeger-LeCoultre used gears, gear trains, wheels and springs rather than electronic components. The watch only needed to be wound to continue operating.
- Handling an exceptionally valuable watch creates real pressure for watchmakers. Jaeger-LeCoultre employees acknowledged feeling nervous when assembling watches worth approximately $1.5 million, particularly when the work can take more than a year to complete.
- Geneva is the commercial centre of the Swiss luxury watch industry. The city combines its financial and international business environment with an extensive luxury watch retail presence.
- Rolex dominates Swiss watch production. The company manufactures more than one million watches annually and accounts for approximately one-third of the Swiss market's market share.
- Watchmaking has a cultural importance beyond its economic contribution. Pharmaceuticals and banking are larger sectors of the Swiss economy, but watchmaking is presented as an industry that particularly expresses Switzerland's national identity and reputation for precision.
- Mark-André Deschoux, founder of Watches TV, explained the Swiss emphasis on precision. He described the national approach as a commitment to doing things well, with particular attention to extremely small details.
- Mechanical watch accuracy must be understood relative to continuous operation. Deschoux explained that a movement operates 24 hours a day, or 86,400 seconds. A deviation of five seconds daily represents less than 0.01% of the total time, illustrating the precision involved.
- The Swiss watch industry was severely damaged by the quartz crisis of the 1970s and 1980s. Japanese manufacturers, in particular, began producing more accurate watches at a fraction of the price using quartz crystals and batteries. This challenged the traditional Swiss mechanical watch business.
- Switzerland responded by pursuing two different strategies. The industry introduced the inexpensive, fashionable, quartz-powered plastic Swatch watch while simultaneously strengthening its position in the high-end mechanical market. Limited production, high prices and exclusivity became central to the luxury strategy.
- Swiss watches occupy a disproportionately large share of the global industry's financial value. They account for fewer than 2% of watches sold worldwide but generate more than 50% of the industry's overall market value. The strategy prioritises expensive products rather than competing for mass-market unit sales.
- Richard Mille demonstrates the extreme pricing of contemporary Swiss luxury watches. The journalists tried on a mechanical watch priced at approximately $2 million, with a thickness of just 1.75 millimetres. Its price illustrates how engineering achievement, exclusivity and luxury positioning can command extraordinary premiums.
- Luxury watches function as status symbols for an extremely wealthy customer base. The programme compared expensive watches to Ferraris for the wrist. Their appeal extends beyond practical timekeeping to ownership, prestige, craftsmanship and exclusivity.
- Buying a highly desirable luxury watch is not necessarily a straightforward retail transaction. At Patek Philippe, journalists were shown a split-second chronograph with a list price exceeding $300,000. Customers cannot always walk into a shop and purchase a model simply by presenting a credit card.
- Some luxury watch waiting lists extend for as long as ten years. Patek Philippe explained that customers sometimes need considerable patience before obtaining a desired watch. The company described the process as a journey rather than a simple transaction.
- Scarcity and waiting lists are deliberate elements of luxury positioning. A Patek Philippe representative acknowledged that limiting immediate availability helps create desirability. The company's explanation was that purchasing the watch is not simply a question of having enough money; customers must also go through the process of obtaining it.
- US tariffs temporarily increased the pressure on Swiss watch manufacturers. Earlier in 2026, the United States imposed a 39% tariff on Swiss exports, creating the prospect of substantially higher prices for Swiss watches entering the American market.
- The Swiss tariff rate was subsequently reduced from 39% to 15%. The reduction followed a visit to the White House by Swiss business leaders, including executives from the watch industry, the previous month. The change provided some relief to Swiss exporters.
- Rolex's CEO gave Donald Trump a gold-plated desk clock. The clock was identified during the discussion of the Swiss industry's visit to the Oval Office, illustrating the high-profile relationships between Swiss luxury watch executives and American political leadership.
- Max Büsser built a deliberately unconventional watchmaking business. An engineer by training, he founded MB&F in 2005 and initially struggled to establish the company. His approach emphasises unusual designs and mechanical creativity rather than conventional luxury watchmaking.
- The COVID-19 pandemic generated extraordinary demand for MB&F watches. In 2020, thousands of people contacted the company asking how they could obtain its watches. Despite the surge in interest, Büsser refused to increase production.
- MB&F deliberately limits annual production to approximately 400 watches. Büsser said he had no interest in expanding the company simply to satisfy additional demand. Maintaining a small production operation allows the company to preserve its particular approach to craftsmanship and design.
- MB&F watches combine elaborate visual designs with functional mechanical engineering. Some movements resemble miniature cities, with intricate structures and tiny components. Büsser emphasised that the mechanisms must not only look beautiful but also function correctly.
- The scale of MB&F's craftsmanship extends to components smaller than grains of sand. The journalists examined screws and other tiny parts through magnification, demonstrating the precision required to construct the watches.
- Büsser challenges the idea that most watchmaking deserves to be called art. He argued that if watchmaking is genuinely an art form, it is difficult to explain why approximately 99% of watches look the same. His own designs deliberately reject conventional appearances.
- One MB&F design was inspired by a bulldog. Büsser uses unusual subjects and forms to create watches that stand apart from traditional luxury models. For him, telling the time is not the principal purpose of the product.
- Büsser openly considers mechanical watches functionally unnecessary. He argued that mechanical watches became practically pointless when the quartz era arrived in 1972. Their remaining justification is emotional value, artistic expression and artisanship rather than any practical advantage over modern timekeeping technology.
- An MB&F watch can contain hundreds of individually assembled components. One demonstrated movement contained 364 components, while its case contained another 92. This illustrates the engineering and labour behind the company's unconventional designs.
- Chanel acquired a 25% stake in MB&F. Büsser disclosed that he had recently sold one-quarter of the company to the luxury brand. Despite the investment, MB&F remains a relatively small operation.
- Büsser personally interviews prospective customers before selling them watches. This remains possible because of MB&F's limited production scale. Individual watches can easily cost approximately $250,000.
- Büsser strongly dislikes customers treating his watches primarily as investments. He said it genuinely annoys him when buyers view his creations as financial assets rather than works of art.
- Büsser distinguishes between accepting resale appreciation and encouraging investment-driven purchases. He is happy when customers avoid losing money or even make a profit by reselling an MB&F watch. However, he considers financial gain the wrong reason to purchase something he regards as beautiful mechanical art.
- Philippe Dufour was a major influence on Max Büsser's approach to independent watchmaking. Büsser described Dufour as a legend who established himself independently at a time when almost nobody was pursuing that path. Dufour's example helped shape Büsser's own ambitions.
- Philippe Dufour has begun passing his craft to the next generation through his daughter. His 24-year-old daughter, Daniela, has become his apprentice in the family workshop.
- Daniela's interest in watchmaking developed through her close relationship with her father. She was curious about the time he spent in his workshop and gradually became fascinated by the intricate work taking place at his bench.
- Daniela describes watching a mechanical watch come alive as a defining experience. She explained that the first movement of a newly assembled watch resembles the creation of life. Seeing the mechanism begin beating inspired her to pursue the same craft.
- The Dufours preserve the cultural and emotional traditions of the Vallée de Joux. Before the journalists departed, they demonstrated six pocket watches chiming simultaneously, creating a sound intended to echo the traditional bells heard in the valley.
- The synchronized pocket-watch demonstration connects modern watchmaking with the region's farming history. The family explained that the chimes recall farmers walking up the mountains with large bells. The sound remains personally meaningful and continues to bring them pleasure.
- The industry's continued appeal rests on craftsmanship, emotional value and exclusivity rather than practical necessity. The experiences of Dufour, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Patek Philippe and MB&F show different approaches to preserving mechanical watchmaking: traditional individual craftsmanship, specialised industrial production, controlled luxury distribution and experimental artistic design.