Swiss made

"Made in Switzerland" redirects here. For the album by Gotthard, see Made in Switzerland (album).
A Swiss Army knife typically has the words "Swiss made" engraved into the knife blade. Considered emblematic of Switzerland, the military grade knife (right) is issued to all new army recruits in the Swiss Armed Forces.
The TAG Heuer chronograph (left) indicates that its "Swiss made" while the automatic (right) indicates the unlawful indication “Swiss Movt”".

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.[1] 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:[2]

  • For food products: 80% of the weight of the raw materials and the essential processing must take place in Switzerland.
  • For industrial products: 60% of the manufacturing costs and 50% of the essential manufacturing step must occur in Switzerland.
  • For services: the company headquarters and administration must be located in Switzerland.

Most often associated with watches or timepieces made in Switzerland, Swiss law considers a watch to be Swiss made if its technical development is carried out in Switzerland, its movement is Swiss, if its movement is cased up in Switzerland, if the final inspection of the watch is conducted by the manufacturer in Switzerland, at least 60 per cent of the manufacturing costs are incurred in Switzerland. These legal criteria are stated in the Ordinance on the Use of «Switzerland» or «Swiss» for Watches.[3] Besides the "Swiss made" requirements, the indication «Swiss movement» may be placed on watches that contain a Swiss movement. The word «movement» must be written in full and must be of the same typeface, size and colour as the designation «Swiss». In addition to "Swiss made", under Swiss law watches may carry the words "Suisse", "produit suisse", "fabriqué en Suisse", "qualité suisse" or simply the English translation, "Swiss" if the legal criteria stated in the abovementioned Ordinance are met.

Outside of the jurisdiction of Switzerland, the same legal requirements for the use of the terms "Swiss" and "Swiss Made" may apply, notably for watches in the European Union, United States and Hong Kong as certification/collective marks “SWISS” are registered.

  1. ^ "Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property".
  2. ^ Federal Act on the Protection of Trade Marks and Indications of Source, status as of 1 January 2017 (page visited on 17 October 2018).
  3. ^ Ordinance on the Use of «Switzerland» or «Swiss» for Watches, status as of 1 January 2019.