BACK TO THE HEART

Difficult times for all of us, but we could do worse than look to the Swiss for inspiration

Is this a terrible time for the watch industry? Let’s look to Switzerland, the heart of watchmaking. Every year, companies from all over the world spend a vast amount of money showing off their new watches at trade shows in Basel and Geneva. They build eye-catching stands, decked out with champagne bars and fish tanks, sometimes even classic cars and speed boats. The aim is to make the biggest hoo-ha your Swiss francs can afford, all with the aim of bringing excited watch buyers flocking to the shops.

Well, not this year. Watch companies have gone into what can best be described as a defensive huddle. They are holding steady, unveiling a few watches via the internet, holding back some planned launches for an unspecified date in the future, depending how long the lockdown continues. But, before we fear the worst, it is worth remembering that not only has the industry faced tough times before, it was formed out of adversity.

Many of the pioneers of watchmaking were Huguenots, protestants who fled religious persecution in France in the 16th and 17th centuries and took refuge in the Swiss mountains. And most were farmers, who would have spent more time in the fields had the harsh winters not given them time isolated at home working on their handicrafts. This cottage industry became industrialised and, by the 19th century, the Swiss far outstripped Britain, once the biggest watchmaker in the world.

That success didn’t mean plain sailing for Switzerland. There was a little matter of two world wars, with Switzerland sat right in the middle and somehow managing to stay friends with anyone who fancied buying a watch. Then, in the second half of the 20th century, the industry faced another mortal threat, this time cheap quartz from the Far East. Switzerland weathered that storm, making its own battery-powered watches and, in doing so, keeping the mechanical watch industry thriving long past its supposed sell-by date.

So, yes, this is a very difficult time, and there will be casualties in every sector.

But the watch industry is not panicking. With Switzerland in charge, you wouldn’t bet against it powering through as well as anybody. Take a note from the steady Swiss: keep calm and weather the storm. Richard Holt