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Geneva: Luxury and Diving Watches Explored

Unveil the legacy of Geneva as a prominent center for luxury and diving watches, highlighting its exquisite craftsmanship and connection to global trends.

Edward Girardet·
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Swiss watch exports in 2024 dropped largely due to poor economic performance in China and Hong Kong, yet they continue to appeal to well-heeled customers in the United States, Japan, Singapore and United Arab Emirates. Prestige-seeking customers like wearing extravagant deep sea pieces whether they dive or not. And in a new trend, smartphone-wielding young people are turning to wristwatches not so much for telling the time, but as a fashion statement.

As a young foreign correspondent covering wars and humanitarian crises during the early 1980s, I wore a vintage Richard wristwatch worth several hundred dollars, not because it was cool but for pragmatic reasons. It was automatic as well as shock and water resistant. I figured that it would serve well in a hostile environment, such as blistering deserts or high humidity rainforests, but also for diving the reefs off Port Sudan on the Red Sea.

To my dismay, while walking a street market in Nairobi in 1985, a mwizi, or thief, slashed it off my wrist with a razor and ran. Several hours later at the Norfolk Hotel bar, Kenya’s main expat watering hole, I lamented its loss to a veteran foreign correspondent. “Consider yourself lucky,” he told me gruffly. “These watches are worth a fortune to most of these poor buggers. They’ve taken to hacking off people’s hands. Get yourself a cheap watch…you’ll keep your hand.”

By then, Richard, a modestly sized Swiss watch company in the Lake Geneva town of Morges, had been taken over by Longines during the “quartz revolution”. This was when cheaper, quartz watches such as Japanese Casio, Seiko and Citizen with their digital displays nearly destroyed Switzerland’s analogue mechanical watch industry. Facing disaster, Swiss-Lebanese entrepreneur Nicholas Hayek, founder of Swatch, almost single-handedly saved the country’s centuries’ old watch production by absorbing numerous faltering companies, including Longines.

Smart phones had yet to make their appearance, and I ended up buying a simple, black 40-dollar plastic Swatch. Since then, I have lost quite a few Swatches, primarily forgetting them in hotels or gym showers. But I have at least kept my hands. Today, I still wear a Swatch. And I constantly warn people travelling the Third World not to wear ostentatiously expensive Rolexes, Omegas or other elaborate time pieces.

Today, however, most people buying extravagant hand-made Swiss watches are not particularly concerned about slashed wrists. They want an upscale, intrinsically made wristwatch to wear as a fashion proclamation like a luxury car. Or they see themselves as part of the international yachting, mountaineering or deep-sea world where elaborately flawless watches are considered prerequisite. Some, too, simply appreciate the high-quality complexity of Swiss watches, even if they are not more accurate than a 10-dollar Casio bought on the streets of Bangkok or Times Square in New York. People are buying into tradition, history and social standing.

How a hardline French protestant gave rise to Geneva’s luxury watch industry

The making of Geneva as the world’s hub for precision quality and luxury watches dates to the 16th century when John Calvin, a highly influential French theologian, fled Catholic outrage in neighbouring France to Geneva. There, as part of the protestant Reformation, he promoted God’s absolute sovereignty in the salvation of the human soul. Calvin’s own hardline rhetoric led to a curbing of freedom of expression and extravagance. His denouncement of Michael Servetus, a Renaissance humanist, for heresy resulted in the latter’s burning at the stake in Geneva, now often referred to as “the City of Calvin” and, ironically, the “Capital of Human Rights.” (See Global Geneva story on Calvin as a human rights abuser).

Calvin’s rigorous if not egotistical sense of austerity provoked his banning of anything ornamental to display of wealth. Geneva’s jewellers and goldsmiths turned in desperation to watchmaking, which Calvin considered practical. Perhaps in subtle defiance, they deliberately adorned their elaborate time pieces with precious metal and stones resulting in a completely new industry.

The tradition of “Haute Horlogerie”, or high-quality watchmaking, only began with the arrival in Geneva of French Huguenot refugees fleeing persecution in the late 16th century, such as the murder of thousands of minority Protestants by Catholics on St Bartholomew’s Night (August 23-24, 1572). Many were watchmakers who brought with them their skills rapidly gaining a reputation for precision craftsmanship. While Switzerland’s original watch mechanics had focused on constructing and maintaining clock towers during the Middle Ages, the advent of portable timepieces became popular from the 1650s onwards. But it was Geneva which excelled in small, portable timepieces eventually leading to the production of wristwatches.

Goldsmiths and watchmakers: a main driving force for Geneva’s new wealth

With its goldsmiths, enamellers and watchmakers as one of the main driving forces behind the city’s new economic prosperity, Geneva soon developed into the world’s timekeeping capital. Much of this was made possible by the artistry of its case makers and engravers, both with their own separate specializations, even allowing, highly unusual for its time, for the entry in 1690 of women as chain makers into the watchmakers’ Guild.

By the 18th century, Swiss watchmaking entered a new era when Abraham-Louis Breguet, one of the world’s most famous watchmakers, invented the tourbillon, a mechanism that significantly improved the accuracy of mechanical timepieces. Such advances established Switzerland as the global leader in watch technology with scores of factories established in Jura mountain towns and villages of the Vallee de Joux and La Chaud-de-Fonds northeast of Geneva which encouraged greater specialization. For over a century, the Jura Arc, nicknamed “Watch Valley – The Land of Precision”, produced 90 per cent of Swiss watch production with leading brands such as Audemar Piguet and Jaeger-LeCoultre.

The “Made in Geneva” Label: a new exclusivity

With rising competition not only from other Swiss cantons but abroad, Geneva stepped up its efforts to produce much sought after timepieces of perfection, beauty and precision, which industrial mass manufacturing could not easily replicate. Genevan watchmakers began engraving the name of their city as a symbol of superior quality. They also created the Société des Horlogers de Geneve (Geneva Society of Watchmakers) promoting the “Made in Geneva” label obliging all watchmakers to prove their origin with a certificate of authentication. By 1886, the parliament of the Republic and Canton of Geneva established the renowned Hallmark of Geneva (Poinçon de Geneve) certification label. Today, the government inspection office only presents this to watchmakers operating in Geneva itself.

By the end of the 19th century, Geneva’s annual production of nearly one million watches represented more than a third of total Swiss exports. Renowned brands such as Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin and Audemars further promoted Switzerland’s reputation as a watchmaking leader.

Conflicts helped too. During World War I, wristwatches became highly popular when soldiers in the trenches found it easier to read time from glancing at their wristwatches rather than awkwardly reach for a pocket watch. The same went for bi-plane combat pilots. Neutral Switzerland also benefitted from World War II, when American and German manufacturers either had to focus on war production, or, in the case of Nazi Germany, found its factories damaged or destroyed. This enabled Switzerland to take up the slack.

Romanticizing the wristwatch through racing and adventure

This romanticized approach in support of the adventurous prompted brands such as Cartier to expand its Santos pilot watch, first believed to have been worn in flight in 1904, to broader customers keen on the aerial image. Years later, in the 1950s, TAG Heuer was inspired to design its now famous Carrera watch based on the perilous five-day, 2,100-mile Carrera Americana race.

While the Swiss watch industry suffered various highs and lows throughout the 20th century, it embraced a double strategy of industrial mass production and the manual finishing of luxury watches requiring precision parts. Various crises during the 1920s and the Great Depression of the 1930s led to more organized Swiss watchmaking as a means of survival. This resulted in full recovery and expansion worldwide with over 1,600 watch companies, until the Quartz revolution of the 1970s, that is.

Swiss Watches: Appealing to exploration and Gen Z

Today, more than four centuries since Calvin’s attempt to thwart public ostentation, the Swiss watch industry represents the country’s third largest exporter after chemicals and machines with 572 companies, most of them high precision producers. Swiss watchmaking has adapted to current tastes by producing everything from cheap quartz fashion models to individually styled mechanical time pieces adorned with gold and precious stones worth hundreds of thousands of dollars sometimes taking months if not several years to produce.

One producer in Geneva’s Carouge district, who used to run a high-stress operation of 30 watchmakers, opted to downsize to only himself. He now produces half a dozen specially designed watches a year for individual customers, some of whom personally follow the process flying in specifically from Dubai or Singapore. “These customers don’t care how much the watch costs. They want something special, personal, and expensive, and they know that only Switzerland can do it,” he explained. “And that’s what they want to show off.”

In November, 2024), the pre-owned watch market broke new records at watch auctions. In Geneva, Phillips, Sotheby’s and Christie’s sold over 101 million USD worth of vintage watches. The Phillips Reloaded sale alone totalled 28,503,111 USD setting three world records. A F.P Journe wristwatch reached an incredible 8,390,916 USD for a platinum tourbillon with remontoire/winder), while an automatic Daytona for a white gold Rainbow made in 1994 went for 6,310,382 USD thought to be the first example of the model with a multi-colored gem-set bezel. A Derek Pratt for Urban Jurgensen attained its highest price at 4,229,847 USD for a detent escapement tourbillon pocket watch with remontoire. The other top sales included three Patek Philippes, an A. Lange & Sohne, an Audemars Piguet and a Cartier.

Geneva continues to excel as the global hub of highly specialized production. Offering a wide range of constantly evolving products from sports and fashion watches to elegant time pieces, high-tech ceramic designs and elaborate gold watches. Switzerland’s principal market is the world itself dominated by makes such as Rolex, TAG Heuer, BlancPain, Patek Philippe and Omega. An estimated 95 per cent of overall watch production is exported abroad. As part of its partnership with Rolex Watch Expeditions, the New York-based Explorers’ Club is offering its members the opportunity to carry one of three specially-numbered Rolex watches on their upcoming expeditions enabling them to join “a rich tradition of exploration.”

For evident reasons of survival, Switzerland’s watch industry with Geneva in the forefront is hoping to strike it hot with today’s affluent youth. New fashion trends and watch designs reportedly appeal to 35 per cent of the Gen Z (12-27 years) purchasing group, according to one poll. Another 27 per cent said they felt enticed by minimalist-dress watches while 26 per cent say they are more interested in vintage style pieces. Rolex (43 per cent), Cartier (25 per cent) and Omega (16 per cent) featured as amongst the top three brands appealing to this age group, particularly in high economic areas such as the Far East, North America and Europe, but also increasingly Africa. (March 29, 2024)

But that is not the only expanding market.

Swiss Tradition: A Collectors’ Market

New world records for collectible watches. (Photo: Philipps-Sothebys)

High precision Swiss watches tend to retain their value and even become high cost collectors’ items. Mass produced digital watches last only as long as their batteries while smart watches are quickly ‘out-teched’ with no particular re-sale value. Luxury watches, particularly those with a strong sense of history, are much sought after. Customers are willing to pay top dollar for expertly crafted second hand watches. Many dealers are now focusing on collectors worldwide prompting watchmakers such as Rolex and Patek Phillippe to maintain tight production lines in response to high demand. As one watch sales connoisseur noted: “When you wear a Swiss watch, you are carrying hundreds of years of fine watchmaking tradition on your wrist.”

With mixtures of success, various Swiss brands have sought to revitalise renowned watches of the past. In December 2023, Breitling CEO Georges Kern announced his company’s intellectual property acquisition of the famed Universal Genève, or UG, brand considered by experts to be the biggest news in recent years of Swiss watchmaking. This legendary defunct Swiss watch, which first emerged in 1919 as one of the most complicated and innovative chronographs of the 20th century, became the favoured brand of U.S. President Harry S. Truman, French author Jean Cocteau and other notables.

During the quartz crisis, UG crashed. Bulova, which owned the brand, sold it on to a Hong Kong company which down marketed it with sub-standard watches going for less than a hundred dollars before ultimately disappearing. However, the UG heritage watches of the past, such as the UG Aero-Compax, continued to obsess collectors including the likes of Eric Clapton with dozens of nostalgic vintage models pushing for some form of resurrection. According to the Robb Report, “bringing Universal Genève back to life would be among the most challenging and expensive undertakings in Swiss watchmaking this century.” Breitling’s revival of the three UG Polerouter wristwatches may now signal a full re-emergence of this classic brand.

Sustainability and Ethics: A new focus for Swiss watchmaking

Leading technological innovation and design, Swiss watchmaking is still firmly regarded as the “gold standard” with some brands promoting their timepieces as works of art to last generations. Many, too, are increasingly honing in on the need to embrace responsible practices in favour of the environment and to promote themselves as pioneers in sustainability and ethics. In the age of climate change and rising concern for the environment, this is a critical if not vital approach for long-term survival for Swiss watches. As critics note, however, such purported engagement should not be limited to self-promotion. Watch companies should become more decisively involved with more results-oriented sponsorship of credible partners making a difference, whether local communities, exploration, media or science.

Such engagement is heavily promoted in brand advertising. Geneva-based Rolex stresses its support of outdoor exploration through partnerships with top photographers and media, such as National Geographic, to highlight the threats now facing fragile natural environments such as the Amazon. Its watches, such as the 7,600+ USD “Oyster Perpetual Deepsea” (waterproof to 3,900 m/12,800 ft) and the 26,000 USD “Deepsea Challenger” (11,000 m/36,090 ft), specifically designed as ultra-resistant professional divers’ watches for those “who push the boundaries of underwater exploration.”

Similarly, Blancpain, also operating out of Geneva, likes to stress its commitment to the oceans with high precision watches such as its high-tech, ceramic Bathyscaphe Fifty Fathoms line ranging from 6,800 USD to over 22,000 USD. These watches are adventurously aimed at genuine or wannabe outdoor generations as “resolutely sporty, contemporary”. They also seek to alluringly incorporate “robust, youthful, and dynamic DNA features” as part of the watches’ “bold, innovative nature…the perfect field of expression for Blancpain’s technological innovations.” How many of its wearers will ever descend to such depths remains questionable, but it’s the romanticism, the challenge and the dreams that matters. And the watches look cool, too.

Top Swiss Sustainability Brands (in no particular order)

The following Swiss watch brands have adopted high profile strategies to protect the planet.

  1. 1. Rolex. Without doubt, this Geneva-based watchmaking giant is the best known for its environmental, cultural and sports engagement, such as its Perpetual Planet Initiative. For nearly a century, Rolex has accompanied pioneering explorers pushing back the boundaries of human endeavour. Entering the 21st century, the company has moved from championing exploration for the sake of discovery to protecting the planet. To reinforce this commitment, the brand launched the Perpetual Planet Initiative in 2019. This supports individuals and organizations using science to understand the world’s environmental challenges and devise solutions that will restore balance to our ecosystems. It is rapidly expanding and now has a portfolio of more than 20 partnerships.

Rolex’s Mission Blue Ocean Initiative. (Photo: Rolex)

2. Chopard. As with other leading brands, this Geneva-headquartered company pushes sustainability such as responsible sourcing, environmental management, investment in its own people as well as awareness raising as crucial parts of its daily business. How much support it is providing for outside partners, such as media and local environmental actors, is another question. Perhaps a bit more commitment in the form of funding in these domains might come across less as self-promotion, but Chopard seems to be on the right track.

Chopard’s renewable electricity initiatives. (Photo: Chopard)

3. IWC. Based in Schaffhausen in northern Switzerland since 1868, this luxury watch manufacturer, originally the International Watch Company, has been pursuing engaged sustainability for more than a decade. As IWC maintains, its journey signifies forward-thinking and long-term vision – “thinking beyond our time” as it puts it. The company built on its history with a commitment to engineering excellence and an innovative spirit. Our commitment to sustainability is guided by these same tenets because we are not only crafting timepieces that stand the test of time. Not unlike Rolex, IWC could distinguish itself by engaging with outside partners across the planet rather than focus primarily on its own sustainability mantras.

IWC’s Sustainability Committee in Schaffhausen. (Photo: IWC)

4. Blancpain. Producing amongst the world’s best known dive watches, this Geneva-based watchmaker works closely divers, scientists, explorers, environmentalists, filmmakers and photographers dedicated to preserving the world’s oceans. See Blancpain’s Ocean Commitment. As this nearly 300-year-old brand explains, the Blancpain Ocean Commitment is a tribute to its historic ties with the oceans. In 1953, Blancpain launched the first true diver’s watch, the Fifty Fathoms marking the of its support for ocean exploration. Since then, it has engaged in numerous collaborative initiatives for biodiversity preservation with local communities with only one constant, as the company maintains: Blancpain’s determination to make a difference.

Blancpain’s Ocean Commitment. (Photo: Blancpain)

5. Breitling. Based in Grenchen, Switzerland, this renowned 140-year-old watchbrand has established broad credibility by its efforts to respect climate, water and biodiversity. It also works closely with local stakeholders to develop a regenerative approach to nature and take tangible action, including on reducing plastic waste. Its greenhouse gas reduction targets are aligned to the Corporate Net Zero Standard and validated by the Science Based Targets initiative. Breitling is only one of eight early adopters in Switzerland of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures. Breitling supports initiatives such as the Surfrider Foundation, an NGO devoted to ocean conservancy and the preservation of our coastlines. The Swiss brand is also engaged with Climate Impulse, a historical flight planned for 2028 aims to serve as a flagship for climate action, showcasing how efficient solutions can set the world on a sustainable course.

6. Omega. Headquartered in the Swiss bilingual town of Biel/Bienne at the foot of the Jura mountains, OMEGA created its first dive watch in 1932. Since then, the brand has been passionate about the world beneath our oceans. With a Alifelong commitment to exploration, the Swiss brand believes that the world’s seas must be protected. The company now works alongside dedicated partners, such as the GoodPlanet Foundation, to raise awareness and help protect the future. Ever since Omega’s Speedmaster was the first watch to be worn on the moon, the brand has also extended its commitment to sustainability in outer space.

7. Oris. As part of sustainability efforts as a Basel-based brand, Oris’ is working with Welcome 66 which seeks to help refugees and migrants who have fled their home countries, many by boat. By teaching them to swim, Welcome 66 helps them overcome their fears, build confidence and begin new lives. One of those involved is Yusra Mardini, who, at 17, fled civil war in Syria. Through courage and determination, she realized her dream of going to the Olympics, competing in the butterfly at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Games. She now helps teach with Welcome 66.

Yusra Mardini, an Oris success story. (Photo: Oris)

8. Ulysse Nardin. Headquartered in Le Locle in the “Valley of Watches, Ulysse Nardin collaborates with high-tech start-ups and environmental advocates as a means of investing its expertise into finding new innovative materials and technologies to raise awareness about environmental responsibility. The brand is also involved in planetary conservation with two main priorities. The first seeks the purposeful development of recycled and upcycled materials to reduce environmental pollution. The second entails investing in initiatives committed to safeguarding the oceans.

9. The Ocean Race. This Ulysse Nardin brand works with the French company Fil & Fab, which develops new products including the recycling of fishing nets. (Photo: Ulysse Nardin)9. Panerai. Part of the Geneva-based Richmond Group, Panerai has steadily expanded its efforts to promote sustainable practices, both in its internal operations and through external outreach and educational initiatives. Panerai Ecologico is a five-pillar approach embracing all its sustainability activities. As a brand profoundly wedded to the sea, its has has an extensive history of engaging with environmental concerns and institutions, including collaborations with activist-adventurers such as Swiss-South African explorer Mike Horn.

Things to Do on the Watchmaking Trail

Global Insights editor Edward Girardet is a journalist and author focusing on conflict, humanitarian crises, environment and development. He is a founder of WIKI’s Centennial Expedition and the multi-media HelpSaveTheMed initiative of the non-profit Global Geneva Group. Girardet has written and edited various books on Afghanistan and other conflict and humanitarian zones as well as the crucial role of credible journalism as a means of informing the public in an age of misinformation and disinformation. Girardet has recently completed a new book to be published in 2025: Tales of the American Club: From the Hippie Trail to the Afghan Wars.

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