Time to panic?

Ever since the creation of the Watchmakers Guild of Geneva in 1601, the global focus, the epicentre of the watch-making industry has been Switzerland. Although Swiss influence on the international market has varied over the centuries from undisputed mastery to almost total inconsequentiality, today its status as the main player is beyond question. While China and Asia are critical export markets for the luxury watch market segment and important manufacturing bases in the mass-market sector, Switzerland has maintained its iconic status, despite a near catastrophic failure to react to the quartz watch revolution in the 1970s.