Is a Swiss Watch really Swiss?

[dba]

Interesting Read.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...9230KS20130304

[DreambreaX]

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=284434

[Hairdude1]

Thanks for sharing!

[DreambreaX]

Does rolex also get some spare part in china?

[mrbill2mrbill2]

Interesting read.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by DreambreaX

Does rolex also get some spare part in china?

Short answer no not for any parts for the watches,now as far as I know every part is Swiss made..

Posted this quite a while back now and don't know if Rolex still have home workers..

Rolex Home Workers.


Found this article on the net a few years back,perhaps this explains getting rid of anchor and penny pinching etc they might have to pay there home workers more wages.


To put the mentioned wages in perspective, a teenager working at McDonald's will make around 18 francs (10.50 USD)The luxury watch manufacturer Rolex turns over billions every year but lets their home workers down. They do the finicky work of finishing watch parts, for 7 to 12 francs (4 to 7 USD) per hour.



By Rahel Stauber.


The ladies watch Datejust from Rolex - in 18 K white gold studded with diamonds - costs a proud 72,600 francs (59,000 USD), nothing for small wallets. But the luxury watch business is booming. Christmas sales were better than they'd been for a long time, certain models are sold out and the manufacturers are announcing that they urgently need additional manpower and are offering "wages better than ever before". Sandra K. doesn't notice anything of this, the single mother of two children in school age works as a home worker for Rolex in Bienne. Using a loupe, she has to file the edges of thumb-sized watch parts. A finicky work. Average hourly wage: 10 francs (5.9 USD).

When Sandra K. started working a half year ago, she was in good spirits because she knew her qualities. "I'm a quick worker, that's what they told me at all my other jobs". And she knows the trade too. For 20 years she's regularly been working for one, or the other watch company. To do her job for Rolex well, Sandra started by working 8 half days at Rolex in Bienne, for altogether 250 francs (200 USD). The meager wage didn't bother her. But she wanted to know what she could earn in the future. "That's not important, all will be fine" the department head told her. And she believed him. After all, it wasn't some dubious company she was working for but Rolex - with estimated annual sales of 2.5 billion francs (1.47 billion USD) Switzerland's second largest watch manufacturer. According to the Swiss financial magazine "Bilanz", the co-owning family Borer is "easily in the mid-field of the 300 richest" in the country.

280 francs for 14 days of work
Sandra K.'s optimism quickly faded. Rolex, for example, pays 6 francs (3.5 USD) for the "rouage" of 100 pieces of Calibre 2030/5. At first, Sandra K. barely managed 50 pieces per hour. Her first pay statement looked accordingly: For two weeks of work, she received 280 francs (165 USD). "I was devastated, just couldn't believe it", Sandra K. says. A calculation error ? No. "The department head told me clearly that it was normal that home workers hardly made any money in the first year". Roughly 350 women work for Rolex under these conditions. Quitting isn't for Sandra. That's why she's diligently continuing to work, in the hope of becoming quicker. In the mean time, if she hurries, she can make between 7 and 12 francs an hour (4 to 7 USD). Still a pittance. And additional activities are required: She has to drive to Bienne every second day to pick up the parts - at her own cost.

Union wants to act
Why does such a noted company like Rolex let their home workers work in such miserable circumstances ? Franziska Borer-Winzenried, general directress of Rolex, Bienne wrote the "Beobachter" a dry note on ritzy paper with gold coinage: "Depending on pace and sensitivity, the monthly income can vary". Sure, could well be. But the law says something different. The employer must set a basic wage and a target time for the home worker - meaning an approximate time for the work. And: Home workers may not earn less than comparable employees working at the factory. In the case of Sandra K, this isn't true. What's even more offending is that - due to the fact that Sandra used to be unemployed and can't make ends meet with such a pay - she receives supplemental unemployment benefits. So Rolex is employing cheap labor at the expense of the state unemployment insurance. The union "SMUV" now wants to intervene. And general directress Borer-Winzenried writes that she will review the rates for home workers and "if required, adjust them appropriately". The requirement certainly seems to be her
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[Israguard]

Very upsetting frankly. To read that a $5000 Tag has Seiko parts . And what about the pretty $800 Wenger I bought that says "Swiss Made".. Is that 50% made in China?.

And IMHO.. If Rolex could get away with some parts from China or Japan, I wonder if they could or would resist the temptation to make more $$.

[Time2time]

Interesting read.

Hope Rolex stick to making all their parts in Switzerland.
Don't think they could maintain thier high prices if parts were sourced from abroad.

[Dr.Brian]

Originally Posted by Israguard

Very upsetting frankly. To read that a $5000 Tag has Seiko parts . And what about the pretty $800 Wenger I bought that says "Swiss Made".. Is that 50% made in China?.

It could actually be (and probably is) nearly 100% Chinese parts. As the law is now, only 50% of the value of the movement has to be Swiss. Ship Chinese case, dial, base movement, and bracelet over. Assemble in Geneva with a genuine Swiss manufactured winding rotar and mainspring (representing 51% of the value of the movement) and bam... It is now your new "Swiss Made" watch.
The law change is long overdue. I'm sure many people who shelled out good money for a nice (overpriced) Swiss watch would be horrified to learn the truth about their watches true origins. The big houses that we tend to like are probably immune, as proof of Chinese origins of cases, etc would be the kiss of death. Do people really think their relatively inexpensive "Swiss made" watches are really made in Switzerland of Swiss parts? Most likely yes.