Zurich Mayor's Chinese Watch Controversy

Marcus Hanke · 2009-01-21T10:59:11Z

Zurich's mayor sparked controversy by ordering Chinese-made watches as city gifts. This incident ignited a debate on 'Swiss Made' authenticity, manufacturing ethics, and industry hypocrisy.

Marcus Hanke

WPS member · Horological Meandering forum

26 replies2801 views0 photos

Marcus Hanke reports on a peculiar incident involving the Mayor of Zurich and a batch of Chinese-made watches intended as official city giveaways. This post sparks a lively debate about the 'Swiss Made' label, manufacturing ethics, and the perceived value of Swiss horology versus global production realities.

26 collectors discussing this on the WatchProSite forumJoin the Conversation →

So this is indeed a weird news: Elmar Ledergerber, mayor of the Swiss capital, wanted to impress guests and friends of the city with something typical Swiss. And what can be more typical Swiss (except chocolate) than a watch? Since it should not be a simple watch, but a unique Zurich watch, Mr Ledergerber ordered a custom-made series of plastic quartz watches with the city's skyline printed over the strap and the dial. A neat idea.

(c) Tages Anzeiger

However, Swiss are not only known for their watches, but also for being very cost-sensitive. When the various offers were checked, the offer from the Swatch-subsidiary Endura in Biel was by far the cheapest: each one of the 1,000 watches costs 12 Swiss Francs. And here the trouble starts:Endura is not producing in Switzerland, but in China. While the company claims that Swatch is supervising the work standards in China, company spokespersons did not want to disclose where exactly the production facilities are located, so a true control of the working standards is not possible. However, a truly Swiss-made watch would have cost twice as much, and so Mr Ledergerber decided to accept the Far East-variant of the famous Swiss timekeepers.

As you can imagine, the release of this news created some turbulences. Normally, the purchase of products made in China is an everyday activity, and it should also be clear and welcome, if city officials choose the cheapest way spend money for representation and advertising. However, Switzerland is THE watch country, so any guest receiving a watch from the hands of Zurich's mayor naturally would think it to be a genuine Swiss product. Currently, the Swiss watch industry feels threatened by the productivity of Asia, and that the Swiss capital is marketing itself with a watch made there, is widely considered to be a bad joke, rather than an economically wise move.

Now Nick Hayek, Swatchgroup's CEO is entering the scene: Annoyed that Ledergerber, whom he knows personally, did not talk with him BEFORE ordering the watches, he complained that it is absurd to distribute watches from an "unknown" Chinese production, representing the capital of world's most famous watch producing country. Interestingly, he seemed uninformed of the production site of his own subsidiary ...

Anyway, Hayek offered to accept the 1,000 watches for destruction (remember: these watches were produced by a Swatch subsidiary!), and to replace them with "purely" Swiss watches at no surcharge. Luckily for himself and the Swiss tradition, Ledergerber accepted this offer, thereby ending the burlesque story.

By the way, Mr Hayek also protested against the Swiss airline selling only Chinese and Japanese watches during the flights ...

Regards,
Marcus

This message has been edited by Kong on 2009-01-21 11:41:36

Key Points from the Discussion

The Swiss airline also sells watches, including a specific automatic model with an ETA 2893-2 movement for 990 CHF, highlighting a potential inconsistency in promoting Swiss products.
The situation exposes hypocrisy within the Swatch Group, questioning why Chinese-made Swatch products are acceptable for sale but not as official Swiss gifts, especially when produced by a subsidiary.
It is seen as 'stupid' for Swiss watch companies to promote 'Swiss supervision' for sales while complaining about Asian manufacturing when it's publicly discussed.
The incident prompts a re-evaluation of the actual value proposition of mass-produced Swiss watches versus their premium pricing, suggesting a need for manufacturers to adapt to economic realities.
Many outside (and some within) the watch enthusiast community still hold a romanticized view of Swiss watches as entirely handmade, an illusion perpetuated by the industry at the cost of transparency.
The story serves as an ironic commentary on the state of the Swiss watch industry and its perception of global manufacturing.

The Discussion

DRMW

Jan 21, 2009

"Interestingly, he seemed uninformed of the production site of his own subsidiary" I think it's stupid for Swiss watch companies to think it's fine to advertise the fact that 'Swatch supervises the work standards' to make a sale but then turns around and complains about the Asian market when it's brought up. "By the way, Mr Hayek also protested against the Swiss airline selling only Chinese and Japanese watches during the flights " I wonder if he complains if they serve French or California wine

MTF

Jan 21, 2009

Marcus, Thanks for the story....cheered me up a bit, which is hard to do, these days :-( I bought some SwissAir ....apparently real-Swiss Made Ltd Edn watches before.....er.....the airline went bust! They were both made by Tissot and represented aviation-related designs - a chronograph and a navigation aid timepiece. I did not wear them much.....maybe 2 times each.....so I sold them to more enthusiastic Tissot fans..... I guess that the current Swiss representative airline is keeping costs down

VPREGULATOR

Jan 21, 2009

I believe if a watch is good enough to bear the Swatch label it should be a good watch never mind where its made. If the Swiss are so embarassed by the idea of Chinese made Swatches then they should close down their subsidiary in China which I believe was set up to lower down their cost of production. But are Chinese made Swatches priced any cheaper than Swiss made ones? Are the people at Swatch HQ practising double standards? If not, then they should be proud of the fact that any original Swatc

mokling

Jan 21, 2009

Asia? Third World countries? or .....? May be Swatch group does not know the answer either. Regards Ling

VPREGULATOR

Jan 21, 2009

Its blatant hypocrisy - in its most extreme form Just like some drug companies selling substandard drugs to third world countries . I am really sickened by this disgusting act of discrimination.

Ornatus-Mundi

Jan 21, 2009

specially produced for Swiss International Airlines. It is an automatic watch with an ETA 2893-2 inside (pic from Swiss website): It costs 990 Swiss Franks and can even be ordered on the Swiss website [commercial link deleted] I appreciate the fact that an international airline sensibly chose to create a watch with a second timezone. Other watches are Swatch, Mondaine or Edox. But I very much agree on the lack on regional/national representation on airlines. I consider airlines, at least the lar

Continue the conversation

This thread is active on the Horological Meandering forum with 26 replies. Share your knowledge with fellow collectors.

Join the Discussion →

Key Points from the Discussion

Continue the conversation

More from this Forum