To answer this question, it’s best to start with something other than an hour-long story. Six years ago, enthusiasts from Amsterdam launched the Fairphone project, which literally translates as “Honest Phone”. The idea of the device is that it is a smartphone assembled from standard interchangeable parts that are 100% recyclable. The owner does not need to buy a new device if the old one breaks or becomes outdated – he can easily replace any part or board and use it for years. This second-generation “Honest Phone” costs a little more than 500 euros. And this is where the fun begins. The creators of Fairphone have made a price calculator publicly available, clearly explaining what this amount consists of.

Myths and prejudices

One watch collector, seeing this calculator, grabbed his head and shouted: “If only they could force the Swiss luxury manufacturers to make the same thing, so that I can understand where my money is going!” Indeed, it is puzzling how a few grams of gold, steel and brass (we are not talking about jewelry watches), folded into a miniature device with the sole purpose of measuring time, turn into an object whose price starts from several hundred and ends in hundreds of thousands Swiss francs. Since luxury manufacturers are not going to reveal all the ingredients of their cuisine, various rumors and legends inevitably arise around the Swiss made industry. Including how the price of a watch is determined.

MYTH NO. 1 – SWISS WATCHES ARE A MARKETING CONSPIRACY

That in fact people pay not at all for the product as such, but for a beautiful story. Here, centuries-old traditions and snow-covered mountain huts are used, in which watchmakers assembled cogs and wheels on long winter evenings, and great moments in history, such as the landing on the Moon or the ascent of Everest, in which watches took part. It is clear, of course, that today there is nowhere without PR and marketing, but it is still easy to notice: many modern prestigious brands feel great without a great past. Like, for example, Maurice Lacroix and Frederique Constant . Or they skillfully combine their heritage with new achievements, like Rolex, Officine Panerai , IWC and many others.

MYTH NO. 2 – SWISS WATCHES SERVE A HUGE INFRASTRUCTURE

Indeed, over the past quarter century, the popularity of wrist mechanics has grown exponentially. Brands opened representative offices and branded boutiques all over the world; their maintenance is expensive, and they also have to feed an army of workers. So you have to include these expenses in the cost of the watch. True, we must not forget that in recent years the Internet has developed just as intensively. And now many Swiss brands are doing well without any representative offices, selling pre-owned luxury watches through their own website, online stores and even social networks.

MYTH #3 – THE PRICE OF WATCHES INCREASES IF CELEBRITIES WEAR THEM

If only because an advertising contract with a really famous ambassador is not cheap for a brand. This is simply a misconception. Many stars and politicians collect watches themselves, so they have no problem posing with their favorite brands.

Real values

Putting all the popular myths together, you can understand that they are supported by people who themselves do not wear watches. If you strip away all this nonsense about ancient legends, luxury boutiques and Hollywood stars, what remains? An ideally thought-out and beautiful accessory, which in the future can work for hundreds of years (!!) without a power source or repair. There is simply no analogue to watch mechanics in modern technology. But to achieve this requires serious effort.

INVESTMENT NO. 1 – MANUFACTURING THE MECHANISM

Every year, approximately one billion wristwatches (not including smartwatches ) are produced worldwide . Of these, Swiss mechanical ones are about six million. That is 0.6% of the total global hourly turnover. This is because making a quality watch movement is incredibly difficult. For example, the robot spends exactly one second to produce the most popular quartz movement in the world, PC-21 from Seiko. Zip – and the mechanism is ready, you can insert it into your watch. Whereas each mechanical caliber includes from 120 to 1000 miniature parts. They need to be made, measured, polished, defects weeded out and then perfectly assembled. Even when it comes to mass production of mechanical movements, for example, ETA or Sellita calibers, their cost starts from several hundred francs. And this is in the basic “blank” version, despite the fact that most brands then manually modify, improve and finish these calibers. If we are talking about an exclusive mechanism produced in a small batch at our own manufactory, the production price increases many times over.

INVESTMENT NO. 2 – TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT

For all Swiss manufactories today, their own R&D department is no less important than their own production. Constantly conducted research, experiments with new materials and technologies ensure the future of watches. Investments in development over the past twenty years have resulted in silicon spirals, anti-magnetic alloys, shockproof housings and lubrication-free wheels. Not to mention all sorts of clever complications and indicators that are simply pleasing to the eye.

INVESTMENT #3 – HANDMADE

Perhaps this is the most important component, without which Swiss watches simply would not exist today. The same PC-21 caliber operating shop, which produces 300,000,000 movements annually, is serviced by one operator. Those who have visited Swiss factories have seen that hundreds of specialists work there. Those who manually assemble hundreds of movement parts, engrave them, polish the cases , and make guilloche dials. Each such profession requires serious study; these specialists are worth their weight in gold, especially those who know how to work with extremely complex mechanics, for example, minute repeaters. Naturally, these expensive craftsmen live where they are in demand – in Switzerland.

So Swiss watches are indeed an expensive luxury. And not only in price, but also in the degree of effort put into them. But the end result is a product whose value can be easily verified by only one criterion – time itself.