A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their parts, by hand. Modern watchmakers, when required to repair older watches, for which replacement parts may not be available, must have fabrication skills, and can typically manufacture replacements for many of the parts found in a watch. The term clockmaker refers to an equivalent occupation specializing in clocks.
A clockmaker is an artisan who makes and/or repairs clocks. Since almost all clocks are now factory-made, most modern clockmakers only repair clocks. Modern clockmakers may be employed by jewellers, antique shops, and places devoted strictly to repairing clocks and watches. Clockmakers must be able to read blueprints and instructions for numerous types of clocks and time pieces that vary from antique clocks to modern time pieces in order to fix and make clocks or watches. The trade requires fine motor coordination as clockmakers must frequently work on devices with small gears and fine machinery.
Biel/Bienne is a bilingual city in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. With over 55,000 residents, it is the country's tenth-largest city by population. The Biel urban area has a population of around 100,000 inhabitants. Biel/Bienne is the capital of the Biel/Bienne administrative district. The city has been an industrial and watchmaking heart of Switzerland since the 19th century. With world-famous watch brands such as Rolex, Omega and Swatch based in Biel/Bienne, the city is one of the main centres of the Swiss watch industry and is also referred to as the "world capital of watchmaking".
Bulova is an American timepiece manufacturing company that was founded in 1875 and has been owned by Japanese multinational conglomerate Citizen Watch Co. since 2008. The company makes watches, clocks and accessories, and it is based in New York City.
The Contrôle officiel suisse des Chronomètres (COSC), the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute, is the institute responsible for certifying the accuracy and precision of Swiss watches.
Vacheron Constantin SA is a Swiss luxury watch and clock manufacturer founded in 1755. Since 1996, it has been a subsidiary of the Swiss Richemont Group. Vacheron Constantin is one of the oldest watch manufacturers in the world with an uninterrupted watchmaking history since its foundation in 1755. It employs around 1,200 people worldwide as of 2018, most of whom are based in the company's manufacturing plants in the Canton of Geneva and Vallée de Joux in Switzerland.
Breguet is a Swiss luxury watch, clock and jewelry manufacturer founded by Abraham-Louis Breguet in Paris in 1775. Headquartered in L'Abbaye, Switzerland, Breguet is one of the oldest surviving watchmaking brands and a pioneer of numerous watchmaking technologies such as the tourbillon, which was developed into a practical solution by Abraham Breguet in 1801. Abraham Breguet also invented and produced the world's first self-winding watch in 1780, as well as the world's first wristwatch in 1810.
Saint-Imier is a municipality in the Jura bernois administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located in the French-speaking Bernese Jura.
Audemars Piguet Holding SA is a Swiss manufacturer of luxury watches, headquartered in Le Brassus, Switzerland. The company was founded by Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet in the Vallée de Joux in 1875, acquiring the name Audemars Piguet & Cie in 1881. The company has been family-owned since its founding.
WOSTEP, the Watchmakers of Switzerland Training and Educational Program, is an internationally recognized professional qualification in the maintenance and care of fine-quality watches. It was devised by the Centre Suisse de Formation et de Perfectionnement Horloger and is sponsored by manufacturers and retailers within the horological industry in Switzerland.
Swiss made is a label or marking used to indicate that a product was made on the territory of Switzerland. It is also a geographical indication protected under different Swiss and international laws and treaties. According to the Swiss Federal Act on the Protection of Trade Marks and Indications of Source, a good or service may be designated "Swiss made" if:
Adria and Adriatica are parent Swiss watch brands manufacturing for Eastern European markets.
Ernest Borel is a Swiss watch manufacturer founded in 1856 in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, and has established itself as a renowned brand in the world of watchmaking.
The Uhrencup is a club football tournament, held annually in Grenchen and Biel in Switzerland. The Uhrencup is seen as a testament to the major influence that is exercised by the local watchmaking industry on the cultural lives of the area's residents. The tournament usually features four teams, each playing two matches, and is held in July as a friendly tournament, the format of which tends to be fluid. For the teams taking part, the tournament is a welcome opportunity to prepare for the upcoming football season.
Bovet Fleurier SA is a Swiss brand of luxury watchmakers chartered 1 May 1822 in London, UK by Édouard Bovet. It is most noted for its pocket watches manufactured for the Chinese market in the 19th century. Today it produces high-end artistic watches with a style that references its history.
Léon Louis Gallet (1832–1899), watchmaker, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and past family patriarch of the Gallet Watch Company of Switzerland, is considered as one of the primary architects and founders of the 19th century industrialization of the Swiss watchmaking industry.
Century Time Gems Ltd was founded on January 5, 1966, by Hans-Ulrich Klingenberg, the first day upon the abolition of the "Statut horloger", which had prohibited the entry of newcomers into the watch industry in Switzerland for almost 40 years.
The Gruen Watch Company was formerly one of the largest watch manufacturers in the United States. It was in business from about 1894 to 1958 and was based in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1894 by German-born watchmaker Dietrich Grün, who changed the spelling of his name to "Gruen" because the letter ü does not exist in English.
Dominique Loiseau was a French and Swiss watchmaker who worked at the highest levels of complex horology from the mid 1970s onwards He was the creator of several notable timepieces, including six Montres de Sables, the Rose de Temps clock, the Renaissance or Capriccio pocket watches and the Blancpain 1735 wristwatch. In 2011 he presented, the Loiseau 1f4, one of the most complicated automatic watches with eight patents. Loiseau announced in 2012 a collaboration with Swiss watch manufacturer Girard-Perregaux.
Kintarō Hattori was a Japanese businessman and one of the first and most important Japanese watchmakers in history, as well as the founder of Seiko, one of the world's largest manufacturers of watches. He was a permanent council member of the Japanese Red Cross.
