Swiss-made versus Japanese Movement in Watches Explained

The watch’s movement is the mechanism that drives the watch (like it’s engine!).  Nowadays, the majority of watch movements are designed and manufactured in either Switzerland or Japan.

Definition of Swiss-made Watches

Swiss-made watches are considered to be the best made watches in the world and are renowned for their precision time-keeping and quality.  Switzerland’s watch-making heritage dates back to the 15^th Century with high-esteemed watchmakers in Geneva.  Luxury watch brands since have carried the Swiss-made movement, including Longines, Omega, Cartier, Breitling and others.

Swiss-made watches are highly sought after by keen watch collectors.  But what does Swiss-made actually mean in today’s terms?

To officially be labelled as Swiss-made, a watch has to meet certain criteria:

·         The watch’s movement has to be made by a Swiss manufacturer

·         The Swiss-made movement has to be cased-up in Switzerland

·         The final inspection of the watch has to be made by the manufacturer in Switzerland

Providing that all of the above criteria is met, a watch can be labelled as Swiss-made.

If the watch movement has been made in Switzerland (over 50% of the movement must be assembled in Switzerland with Swiss parts) but not cased-up in Switzerland, the watch can be labelled as Swiss Movement but NOT Swiss-made.

Interestingly, the other components of a watch do NOT have to be made in Switzerland, i.e. the case and the strap can be made anywhere else in the world.  For example, you could have a Swiss-made watch with a leather strap from Italy or a case made in China.

The Swiss-made movement is also referred to as the Swiss ETA movement.

Definition of Japanese Movement in Watches

Japanese watch production started around the late 20^th Century, much later than when watch-making began in Switzerland.  The Japanese watch industry has managed to manufacture a watch movement that is highly accurate yet much cheaper to produce than the Swiss-made movement.

Although, generally speaking, Swiss-made is still considered by some to be more reliable and accurate, Japanese movements have vastly improved since the 1980s and have caught up in quality.  Many watch manufacturers have full confidence in the Japanese movement and it has even been used as the official time-keeper in Olympic sporting events.

Being cheaper to produce and with what is now considered to be a highly precise mechanism, the Japanese movement has been embraced by many watch manufacturers producing more affordable watches, like Casio, Michael Kors, Citizen, and others.

The Japanese movement is also referred to as the Miyota movement.





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