The notion of a “Watch Kingdom” wasn’t inherently tied to any nation, and Why Everyone Says Swiss Watches Are the Best?

The notion of a “Watch Kingdom” wasn’t inherently tied to any nation, and Switzerland initially wasn’t dubbed as such. A visit to the Beijing Forbidden City’s Clock Museum reveals that Swiss watches are not the majority; the most prominent pieces mostly originate from Britain. During the Qianlong era (1736-1795), Britain was renowned worldwide as the kingdom of clocks and watches. However, over time, with Britain preoccupied with numerous other matters, the epicenter of watch production gradually shifted to Switzerland, a slow and natural transition. Notably, the now-famous Rolex was initially founded in London in 1908 by a German and a Brit before relocating its headquarters to Geneva, Switzerland. It’s also worth mentioning the relatively fluid movement between European countries, akin to provincial interactions within a country, facilitating the migration of skilled craftsmen, including Swiss artisans working in London’s renowned clock factories during the Qianlong period.

Switzerland, nestled at the heart of Europe, serves as a crossroads for Europeans traveling from the south to the north and vice versa. Yet, its small, mountainous terrain is ill-suited for agriculture. Today, 90% of Switzerland’s watchmaking industry is concentrated in the French-speaking regions along the Jura Mountains, where the ancestors of these craftsmen, French artisans practicing Christianity 500 years ago, sought refuge from religious persecution. These secluded communities lived in near isolation, especially during the long winter months when snow sealed off the mountains for nearly half the year. Switzerland’s focus on precision manufacturing—with watchmaking as a prime example—stems from its geographical limitations and neutrality, which spared it from the devastation of both World Wars, allowing its watchmaking tradition and craftsmanship to evolve unparalleled.

The 1970s saw the Swiss watch industry nearly toppled by the advent of Japanese quartz watches. Yet, by the 1980s, the Swiss ingeniously turned the tide. Current smartwatches, unless they solve the issues of battery longevity and comprehensive functionality, pose no imminent threat to the Swiss tradition of watchmaking.