The company that is most associated with the Swiss Army brand, Victorinox, has been in existence for more than a hundred years. Everybody knows about the classic Swiss Army knife after all these years, but not as many people are aware of the great quality that goes into their Swiss Army watches. This article will share some of the reasons that these timepieces are of the highest quality.
After more than a hundred years of riding the momentum of their main product's success, Victorinox felt the need to expand their product line. They had a study done in the US and found that their customers their wanted them to create more products of similar quality to their famous knives. After throwing around some ideas, they made the decision to produce a line of high-quality watches to go with their knives, in part because of the success of the Swiss watchmaking industry.
The only problem was that, in order to maintain the same level of quality consumers expected, they would have to control the assembly process and ensure they were of highest quality. To do this, Victorinox built a new factory in 2002 Switzerland that allowed them to oversee the creation process directly. This gave them total ability to examine every little detail about their watches before they hit the market.
Bear in mind a great deal of the effort behind assembling and producing quality watches must still be done by hand by experts with great technical and watchmaking ability. The fact that they continue to make watches of such great quality is an amazing feat in and of itself; Swiss Army creates almost a million watches annually, even with a workface that is heavy on the human side.
Swiss Army only accepts the highest quality materials to be put into their watches. The central component of every watch, known as the movement, is bought from a Swiss company by the name of ETA. This company is also responsible for supplying movements (the part of the watch that causes the hands to spin and thus, tell time) to other Swiss greats like Omega and Tag Heuer.
The carefully cultivated reputation of Swiss-made watches is experiencing a new threat these days. Swiss-made watch companies have seen competition increase from unscrupulous foreign companies. That's because of the rule that the movement of each watch only has to be made with at least 50% Swiss-made parts.
Many companies, especially from Asia, have chosen to take advantage of the sterling reputation of Swiss watches by exploiting this rule. It is easy for them to make watches that are technically Swiss made, but in reality don't match the same standards of quality as a genuine Swiss Army watch. Many of the new brands have even publicly acknowledged that they get a lot of mileage out of being thought of as a "Swiss watch." Consumers immediately associate that label with high quality.
Still, Swiss watchmaking companies continue to enjoy the success that they have rightfully created. Consider this shocking statistic: Swiss watch companies only make three percent of the entire global supply of watches, but yet they bring in about half of the US $40 billion spent across the globe on watches. That's because they are a respected and admired brand across the world. And right in the thick of that market, Victorinox and their Swiss Army watches stand as a beacon of both affordability and the high quality we have all come to expect from Swiss watches.
After more than a hundred years of riding the momentum of their main product's success, Victorinox felt the need to expand their product line. They had a study done in the US and found that their customers their wanted them to create more products of similar quality to their famous knives. After throwing around some ideas, they made the decision to produce a line of high-quality watches to go with their knives, in part because of the success of the Swiss watchmaking industry.
The only problem was that, in order to maintain the same level of quality consumers expected, they would have to control the assembly process and ensure they were of highest quality. To do this, Victorinox built a new factory in 2002 Switzerland that allowed them to oversee the creation process directly. This gave them total ability to examine every little detail about their watches before they hit the market.
Bear in mind a great deal of the effort behind assembling and producing quality watches must still be done by hand by experts with great technical and watchmaking ability. The fact that they continue to make watches of such great quality is an amazing feat in and of itself; Swiss Army creates almost a million watches annually, even with a workface that is heavy on the human side.
Swiss Army only accepts the highest quality materials to be put into their watches. The central component of every watch, known as the movement, is bought from a Swiss company by the name of ETA. This company is also responsible for supplying movements (the part of the watch that causes the hands to spin and thus, tell time) to other Swiss greats like Omega and Tag Heuer.
The carefully cultivated reputation of Swiss-made watches is experiencing a new threat these days. Swiss-made watch companies have seen competition increase from unscrupulous foreign companies. That's because of the rule that the movement of each watch only has to be made with at least 50% Swiss-made parts.
Many companies, especially from Asia, have chosen to take advantage of the sterling reputation of Swiss watches by exploiting this rule. It is easy for them to make watches that are technically Swiss made, but in reality don't match the same standards of quality as a genuine Swiss Army watch. Many of the new brands have even publicly acknowledged that they get a lot of mileage out of being thought of as a "Swiss watch." Consumers immediately associate that label with high quality.
Still, Swiss watchmaking companies continue to enjoy the success that they have rightfully created. Consider this shocking statistic: Swiss watch companies only make three percent of the entire global supply of watches, but yet they bring in about half of the US $40 billion spent across the globe on watches. That's because they are a respected and admired brand across the world. And right in the thick of that market, Victorinox and their Swiss Army watches stand as a beacon of both affordability and the high quality we have all come to expect from Swiss watches.
About the Author:
Rob Dunwoody is an expert on Swiss Army watches. For more info on these fine Swiss timepieces, make sure you check out Rob's personal watch site. You can also find other great Swiss watch info by clicking here.
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