Annual Report

2019

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Annual Report

2019

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ISSN 1421-7384
The annual report is also available in French and German in paper or electronic format, upon request.
© Fédération de l’industrie horlogère suisse FH, 2020

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Table of contents
The word of the President

4Highlights of 2019

6

Combating counterfeiting – Conquering new targets

8

Regulatory affairs – Legal seminar and position statement

10

ISO/TC 114 – Horology – Biennial meeting

12

Russia – Swiss watches without QR Code

14

Panorama of the 2019 activities

16

Improvement of framework conditions18

Information and public relations22

The fight against counterfeiting

26

Standardisation32
Legal, economic and commercial services33

Relations with the authorities and economic circles

34

FH centres abroad

37

The Swiss watch industry in 2019

38

Watch industry statistics

40

Structure of the FH in 2019

44

The FH in 2019

46

The General Meeting47

The Board

48

The Bureau and the Commissions

49

The Divisions and the Departments

50

The network of partners

51

The word of

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the President
2019 closed on a slightincrease in Swiss watch
exports, in line with theforecasts announced at
the start of the year. Their
total value was 21.1 billion
Swiss francs, an increaseof 2.4% compared with2018. However, growth
was uneven across thedifferent price segments,
increasing at the top of
the range and decreasingat the entry-level end of the market. Volumes declined sharply,
particularly for entry-level products. As I write, the uncertainties we are witnessing all over the world make it difficult tooffer a prognosis for 2020.
Nonetheless, the FH has continued to work hard on behalfof the sector. It has been particularly active in the area ofstandardisation, joining the highly skilled delegation from the
Swiss watchmaking industry at the ISO/TC 114 conference.
Standards play an important part, first, in the relationshipbetween industrial partners, since all parties are able to referto recognised requirements. Secondly, formally adopted international standards facilitate trade, since they reduce or eveneliminate the risk of technical barriers to doing business.
Trade facilitation remains a priority for the FH. It has beenworking particularly closely with Russia, successfully preventing a new regulation from complicating the trade in Swiss
watches made from precious metals. As long as these bear
the official Swiss hallmark, they will be exempt from the newmarking requirements imposed by the Russian authorities.

Our federation has also made strenuous efforts in respectof new environmental protection legislation. While climate
targets are to be welcomed, it is important to ensure that themeasures envisaged can be implemented on a reasonable
time scale and that they do not result in checks that simply
become a form of protectionism. This often involves seeking
a compromise or securing temporary exemptions.
One area in which seeking a compromise is quite inappropriate is combating counterfeiting, a real scourge that requires
a constant response. The FH has broadened the scope of
its interventions by tackling new targets, in both Egypt andSaudi Arabia.
This report describes the various activities in these areas that
we have been involved in throughout the year and provides
a comprehensive overview of all our actions in 2019. I hope
you find it interesting.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank our members,
whom we are delighted to serve, for their support, and to
express my gratitude to all FH staff for the dedication andprofessionalism.

Jean-Daniel Pasche

Highlights

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of 20192019 saw some notable achievements in combating counterfeiting, work on hazardous substances, standardisation andimproving framework terms and conditions in Russia. The
FH extended its hunt for fake watches to Egypt and India
through market analyses and carrying out operations in thefield. At the same time, it increased its expertise in regulatory
affairs by hiring a member of staff who specialises in thefield, and made this the theme of its traditional end-of-year
seminar. In terms of standardisation, the FH took part in theinternational ISO conference held in Marseille and made anactive contribution to the review of watchmaking standards.
Finally, following two years of work with the Russian authorities, the FH secured exemption from additional marking for
Swiss watches made from precious metals.

8

Combating counterfeiting
Conquering new targets
Egypt
In 2019, the FH embarked on an initial campaign to combat
counterfeiting in this part of North Africa. Tourism plays anessential role in the Egyptian economy and attracts millionsof visitors every year. While holidaymakers bring in foreignexchange that the region both welcomes and needs, they also,
unfortunately, drive the scourge of counterfeiting.
The FH offered to try to resolve the problem on behalf of its
members and take action on the markets. In practice, this was
one of the first large-scale operations by the FH in this area,
which was why it set itself some clear objectives at the outset.
The first consisted of finding a reliable partner in the region, who
could monitor each stage in the process in minute detail. The
FH activated its network and swiftly identified a firm of lawyers
specialising in intellectual property, and with solid experienceof organising raids. The two organisations have worked welltogether, to both sides’ satisfaction.

Subsequently, the FH carried out a market analysis to identify the most problematic areas for counterfeiting in Egypt. Its
investigations focused primarily on Cairo, Alexandria and thecoastal tourist destinations of Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh.
A total of 52 targets were analysed and 21 shops identified
as selling counterfeit goods. The market analysis produced
some interesting but at the same time, disturbing findings. First,
the investigators were surprised by the significant presence ofcounterfeit watches in luxury hotels. Large quantities of counterfeits were found in several hotels owned by renowned, international chains. Secondly, there were also significant numbersof counterfeit watches found in city-centre shops. The investigators found between 100 and 500 watches openly on display
in the windows of numerous outlets. In some cases, the counterfeits were quite carefully presented, in a way that was likely
to mislead genuine consumers as to the watches’ actual origin.
There is no question that the watches identified during the market analysis were clearly counterfeits. An initial analysis, carriedout by investigators appointed by the FH’s partner, was based
primarily on the price of the items and the information provided
by the sellers. Subsequently, the FH carefully analysed all thephotos taken and was able to confirm, beyond doubt, that theems concerned were indeed fakes.

A significant number of counterfeit watches are found in luxury hotels, including renowned international chains, as well as
in shops in Egypt

9

The FH then sought the necessary powers of attorney from therights holders and prepared to file criminal complaints against
the shopkeepers concerned. Initially, the FH has concentrated
on a few, highly visible targets selling a significant number offake watches, to test out the new process. If these cases are
successful, it will then be able to threaten other sellers withlegal proceedings and send them a formal notice demandingthat they cease selling counterfeit watches immediately.

India
India has also been in the FH’s sights with regard to combating
counterfeiting since 2019. An initial operation took place at theport of Surat, to the north of Mumbai. Some 12,000 counterfeit
watches, including 2,240 allegedly of Swiss origin, were seizedby the customs authorities. Several brands represented on
the FH’s anti-counterfeiting group were involved in the operation, which was managed locally by a long-standing partner inthe fight against counterfeiting, namely the Dutch association,
REACT. The organisation’s Indian office has been particularly
active and carried out numerous lobbying campaigns to makeprocedures more straightforward for rights holders. In practice,
the local customs procedure requires a substantial bank guarantee that is only recovered once the procedure is complete,
which takes several years. Inevitably, this acts as a disincentive
to rights holders to work with the local customs authorities tocombat counterfeiting in the country.
A second operation was carried out at Sutar Shawl market in
Mumbai. Raids were carried out on two storage areas, resulting
in the seizure of 9,000 fake watches, including almost 4,400
items that infringed the trademarks of members of the FH’s
anti-counterfeiting group. Since the raid was carried out by thepolice, it was a “standard” criminal procedure, the progressof which is being monitored by the FH in conjunction with its
local agents.
These actions reflect the growing interest in protecting intellectual property among the Indian authorities and strongly encourage the FH to continue along the same path.

Seizure operation at Sutar Shawl, in India

10Regulatory affairs
Legal seminar and position statement

The FH’s legal seminar attracted a large number of participants
The FH is particularly active in regulatory affairs and decided
to make this the theme of its traditional legal seminar, which
took place at the Congress Centre in Bienne on 12 November
2019. The topics covered related to changes in European
regulations on watch alloys and their surface treatments, legislation equivalent to REACH and RoHS around the world,changes in Swiss legislation on chemical products, news fromthe field of control of precious metals, changes to Proposition 65 and requirements linked to the trade in crocodile
and alligator leather products in California, and finally, thedetailed introduction of a procedure aiming to guarantee thecompliance of items such as leather straps. The event was a
resounding success, with over 80 attendees. The numerous
questions and comments from members of the audience werea clear indication of members’ interest in the topics addressed.

As well as organising the seminar, the FH is also involved indefending the interests of the watchmaking industry throughits contacts with numerous state and other organisations. It
also takes part in various public consultations associated with
topics that could have a significant impact on its members.
The case of its published position statement on substances inleather and textiles with the potential to cause a skin reaction
is a good example.
The Swiss watchmaking industry has adapted to the requirements of the European Union’s REACH regulation, which has
been in force since 2007, and aims to provide better protection for human health and the environment from the risks
associated with chemical substances. In particular, there
are restrictions on the use of lead and the release of nickel.

11More recently, Sweden and France have filed a joint proposal
to restrict substances with the potential to cause a skin reaction in leather and textiles. The main impact of the proposal
in the watchmaking sector would be on watch straps, which
are included on the list of items affected.
The proposed molecules are substances classed as skin sensitising - category 1/1A/1B as defined in Annex VI of the EU
Regulation on the classification, labelling and packaging ofchemical substances and mixtures (CLP) - and a list of allergenic disperse dyes defined in the draft. In simple terms, thistechnical vocabulary covers all substances that are recognised
as allergenic in their pure state, as well as certain dispersedyes used in leather and textiles.
The number of molecules currently classed as skin sensitising is over 1,000. However, not all of these are used in theleather and textiles industries; the draft sets out a primary listof 93 substances currently in use. Three options have been
submitted: RO1a covers all the molecules listed, RO2 only
restricts skin sensitisers and RO3 only restricts disperse dyes.
The draft stipulates that RO3 is the option with the best
cost-benefit ratio. However, it suggests choosing option RO1a,which would offer the best reduction in health risks. Should
the draft be accepted, the proposal is to grant a transition
period of 36 months.
Certain regulatory thresholds have been recommended
for the molecules concerned. For leather, formaldehyde,
for example, would be limited to 75 mg/kg and hexavalentchromium to 1 mg/kg, while the disperse dyes listed would
be strictly prohibited.
The FH set up a dedicated working group, in which several
brands took part, to study in detail the consequences that theplanned restrictions could have for the Swiss watchmaking
industry and be ready to defend its members’ interests.
Protecting consumer health is a fundamental value defended
by the Swiss watchmaking industry. In general terms, it wastherefore decided to support the planned restrictions. Accordingly, option RO1a emerged as the best choice, but with thesuggestion that substances listed in Annex VI for which there
was no proven risk be removed from the scope of the restriction. The issue of analytical techniques was also raised tosupport this point, on the basis that most allergens where
there is a proven risk are subject to specific standards todetermine their concentration, which is not the case withother substances.
The regulatory thresholds proposed in the planned restriction appear reasonable, with two exceptions. First, hexavalent chromium is already restricted in leather by the REACH
regulation, with a threshold of 3 mg/kg. If this value were
to be lowered to 1 mg/kg, it would be difficult to guarantee
compliance in leather tanned using chromium, even with anambitious programme of chemical analyses, because of thedispersal of concentrations within a single hide. Secondly,
it is technically impossible to determine the total absenceof the disperse dyes listed by analysis if no threshold is set,and similarly impossible to guarantee for the manufacturer.
According to the information obtained, it appears that thesedyes are not used in leather, except possibly in some highly
plasticised finishes. It was therefore decided to focus theargument on the case of hexavalent chromium.
These various points were set out in a position statementthat the FH sent to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA)
on 12 August 2019, in relation to the public consultation on
the proposed restriction. The document was also sent to theStanding Committee on European Watchmaking (CPHE) which
forwarded it to the ECHA on 15 August.
The public consultation remained open until 19 December
2019 and the two assessment committees of the ECHA must
now formulate their view on the proposal, before the European
Commission decides whether - or not - to adopt the restriction.

12

ISO/TC 114 – Horology
Biennial meeting
The Vieux-Port is Marseille’s cultural and historic centre andthe city’s oldest port area. This picturesque setting formed the
backdrop for the 24th international standardisation conference
ISO/TC 114 - Horology, organised by the French delegation
and attended by almost 40 experts from Germany, China,
France, Hong Kong, Japan, Russia and Switzerland.
The welcome message from the Chair, Silvano Freti, was about
consumer expectations. From a general perspective, standards change. Initially and mainly focused on quality control,
they evolve by helping to facilitate exchanges along the supply
chain and incorporate a consumer information and in somecases, a consumer protection component. The same trend
can be found in the ISO standards applicable to watchmaking.
The conference began with a full day’s training based on ISO
guidelines and procedures. This was mainly aimed at people
involved in various ISO functions, such as chairing a sub-committee, leading a working group or acting as the secretariat
for one of them. The day was very interesting, useful andappreciated by everyone who attended.

In general terms, international standardisation efforts are proceeding satisfactorily, although in some cases rather slowly. The
main topic was the subject of water-resistant watches, since thereport of the working group created following the 2017 conference recommended a review of the standard ISO 22810- Water-resistant watches. Following numerous discussions, thereview was ultimately not launched, however the working groupremains in place and work continues on condensation testing.
A possible review of the standard could be decided in 2021.
Among other standardisation topics, primary cells and batteries– including those used in watches and dealt with by a technical committee (IEC/TC 35) in conjunction with the ISO/TC 114
committee – were the subject of two resolutions, adopted inrelation to the dimensions and tolerances of button batteries.
The review of standard ISO 764 on magnetic-resistant watches
begun in 2016 is coming to an end and the new version should
be released during the course of 2020. Recent discussions havefocused on the minimum value for resistance to magnetic fields,
testing methods and marking of magnetic-resistant watches.

Delegates in Marseille for the 24th international conference on standardisation ISO/TC 114 Horology

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The review of the standard on anti-reflective treatments forwatch glasses has also advanced significantly and the newstandard ISO 14368-4 will be published in 2020.
The project on a standard for watches made from hard material has reached its end. The final section, on the mechanicalbehaviour of assembled components, has now been finalised
and the new standard ISO 18684 - Timekeeping instruments- Watch external parts made of hard material - General requirements and test methods can be published.
In addition, the project on a standard for radio-controlled clocks
has made considerable progress and should be finalised during
the course of 2020.
Finally, the sub-committee ISO/TC 114/SC 5 - Luminescencehas decided to withdraw standard ISO 4168 and incorporate
the relevant sections into the review of standard ISO 17514 on
photoluminescent deposits. The first comments on the project
for the revised standard have been discussed and will be incorporated into the next iteration, after it has been put to a vote.
On the final afternoon, delegates had the opportunity to visit theCompagnie maritime d’expertises (COMEX), which specialises
in deep-sea dives, before agreeing to meet again for the next
international conference, which will take place in China in thespring of 2021.

14

RussiaSwiss watches without QR Code
Exemption from additional marking
The FH has worked tirelessly with the Russian authorities formore than two years, to secure exemption for Swiss watches
under the bill requiring compulsory additional marking on
watches made from precious metals (laser marking of a QRcode). The aim of the legislation, which is set to enter into
force in 2020, is to ensure the identification and traceabilityof every item made available for sale on the Russian market,
whether it is produced locally or imported.
In addition to the principles of administrative simplification, theapplication of WTO rules on trade barriers and the existenceof the manufacturer’s mark in effect in Switzerland, the FH
emphasised in particular, the provisions of the bilateral agreement on reciprocal recognition of official marks on watches
made from precious metals, which came into effect in 2013.
Negotiated by Switzerland as part of Russia’s accession procedure for membership of the WTO, the agreement specifically states that the parties waive their right to any additional
checks, analysis or marking on watches within its scope.
The decision had been in the balance for a long time, but was
finally reached in the early summer of 2019, during a visit byState Secretary Ineichen-Fleisch to Moscow, in which the FH
took part. Vice-Minister Oreschkin confirmed the exemption
for marked Swiss watches during talks with the Minister for
Economic Development and the decision was later communicated in writing. Switzerland is the only country to havebeen granted an exemption from the forthcoming Russian
regulation and it has obviously not been offered as a favour.
However obvious and logical it may appear, in practice it was
not a given, hence the strenuous efforts by the FH to protect
the sector’s legitimate interests.

In the same vein, and given that jewellery products will not becovered by the exemption, the FH has argued for a procedurethat is as simple as possible and that would protect product integrity as a priority, for example by allowing compulsory
marking on labels.

Eurasian Economic Union
In 2018, the Eurasian Economic Union - Armenia, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan and Russia - adopted legislation
aimed at limiting the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (EAWU 037/2016, also known
as EEU-RoHS). For reasons internal to the Union, the effective
date of the legislation has been postponed to 1 March 2020.
The current provisions of the EEU-RoHS are problematic in atleast two areas: first, its scope and secondly, in terms of its
administrative formalities, which are far more stringent thanthose currently in effect in the European Union, for example.
In practical terms, there are still differences in interpretation concerning product definitions and classifications, andtherefore a lack of clarity over whether electronic watches fallwithin the scope of the new legislation. As a consequence,
similar uncertainties exist over the product categories thatare explicitly targeted. At an administrative level, the Eurasianlegislation includes, among other things, an obligation for the
manufacturer to register their certificates of compliance. Thisis exceptional, given that it is not required by any other country
with similar regulations, not to mention the additional costs
and administrative delays it would cause, to the detriment of
the whole sector.

On the right, the QR code that the Russian authorities want to impose

15

The Swiss delegation that took part in the joint Swiss and Russian commission

The FH has contacted the Eurasian Economic Commission
on two occasions to request first, additional clarifications withregard to the watch products concerned if necessary and secondly, a review of the planned administrative procedures. In
the FH’s opinion, RoHS rules should be harmonised at theinternational level, which means that the obligation to register
certificates of compliance should be abandoned in favour ofsimple “EAC” marking as a valid certificate of compliance. Similarly, the FH has asked the Commission to abandon any othertesting procedures or additional product registration requirements, on the understanding that these already fall within thescope of the manufacturer’s competence and responsibility.

Panorama of the

172019 activities
As the leading organisation for Switzerland’s third-largest
export industry, the FH has many objectives: improving theunderlying conditions in the sector in Switzerland and therest of the world, dealing with the challenge of counterfeiting
and, for example, supporting its members and keeping
them – as well as the media and consumers – fully informed.
The following pages present a selection of actions carriedout by the Federation in 2019.

18

Improvement of framework
conditions
As evidenced by some of the actions described in the “Highlights” section, the FH continued to pursue its objective ofdefending the interests of the sector. It was active in numerous
markets, for example in relation to negotiations on entering
into new free-trade agreements or revising existing agreements, attending official meetings (during state visits or joint
bilateral commission meetings) or in response to requests
from members.
The Federation intervened in this way in around 15 markets,
including Argentina, Azerbaijan, China, Colombia, Indonesia,
Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Mexico, Uzbekistan, Peru, Serbia,
Turkey and Ukraine.
Market access conditions, technical or administrative regulations, technical barriers to trade, the organisation of distribution, the protection of intellectual property rights andeven temporary imports were among the main areas of intervention. A few of the actions undertaken during the year are
outlined below.

Changes to the free-trade agreement with
China
Discussions continued with China, notably on the occasionof Swiss Confederation President Ueli Maurer’s state visit
to Beijing in April. The FH continued to argue in favour of are-examination of the customs duties defined in the bilateralfree-trade agreement that came into effect in 2014, citing theevolutionary clause contained in the agreement.
The FH believes it is necessary to re-examine these duties totruly liberalise the Chinese market. In practical terms, fewer
than around ten watch tariff headings are affected, but theseaccount for over 90% of the total value of exports.
On the one hand, further reducing or even eliminating customs duties on some or all of these headings would be in linewith the long-term aim of the authorities in Beijing, namely
repatriating consumption to the domestic market. Such achange also seems reasonable in light of the limited level offinal duties negotiated, of around 4 to 6% from 2023. Finally,
it would help ensure the quality and proximity of after-sales
service, which is becoming increasingly important in light of
the growing volume of watches in circulation on the market.

Get Brexit Done
The Brexit outcome in the United Kingdom remained very
uncertain throughout 2019, which saw numerous meetings
with economiesuisse and the State Secretariat for Economic
Affairs (SECO).
Following Boris Johnson’s victory in the general election in
December, Brexit became a reality on 31 January 2020. The
withdrawal agreement, which covers financial commitments,
citizens’ rights and the Irish border, provides for an implementation period until the end of 2020. During this period,
the rights and obligations of the United Kingdom and theEuropean Union will remain unchanged. The same applies
to Switzerland.
Thanks to its Mind the Gap strategy and the various bilateralagreements concluded so far, including a trade agreement
signed on 11 February 2019, Switzerland has managed to
avoid a legal void in its future relationship with the United
Kingdom. That said, the transition period that has just begun
should also provide an opportunity to adapt these agreements, depending on the outcome of the bilateral negotiations between the United Kingdom and the EU.
For the Swiss watchmaking sector, Great Britain is the largestof its European markets and the fifth-largest worldwide.

Brazil removes the IPI stamp from watches
In a positive move, the obligation to affix an IPI stamp towatches, confirming payment of the tax on industrial products,
was removed by decree on 11 April 2019, with an effective
date of the following day.
The FH had long campaigned for the removal of a costly,
time-consuming administrative burden that also damaged
products, in this instance in conjunction with a number of
local watch distributors. Until then, watches – alongsideliqueurs and tobacco – had been the only products still subject to this obligation.
All watches under tariff headings 9101 and 9102, whether
imported and/or numbered are not, are now therefore exempt
from the requirement. IPI duty, which varies between 20 and
25% depending on the tariff heading, remains payable.

19

Federal Council mission to Japan
Japan is the world’s third-largest economy, behind the UnitedStates and China but ahead of Germany; with a population of
127 million, it is an essential economic partner for Switzerland,ranked fourth after the European Union, the United States andChina. The trade balance between the two countries heavily
favours Switzerland. Watches are Switzerland’s second-largest
sector for exports to Japan, behind pharmaceutical products
but ahead of the “precious stones / precious metals / jewellery”,“optical and medical instruments” and machinery sectors. Imports
are concentrated mainly in the “precious metals / jewellery”,“vehicles and aircraft”, pharmaceuticals and machinery sectors.
It should also be noted that Japan is the largest Asian investor
in Switzerland, while we are the seventh-largest investor there.
Japan has therefore been an important market for the Swiss
watchmaking industry for a very long time. In fact, 155 years
ago, the ambassador appointed by the Federal Council toestablish diplomatic relations with the country came fromthe watchmaking sector and was called Aimé Humbert-Droz.
Swiss watches have been sold in Japan ever since, and are
now more popular than ever.
In 2019, watch exports to Japan were worth around
1.6 billion Swiss francs, an increase of 19.9% comparedwith 2018.
It was against this background that the official Swiss mission,
led by Guy Parmelin, took place, with the FH also represented.
The mission began at the Nicolas G. Hayek Center (Swatch
Group Japan) in Ginza and continued in various ministries andJapanese business organisations. The discussions, in particular with the Minister for Economic Affairs, Trade and Industry,
Yoshihiko Isozaki, focused on bilateral relations, which are, infact, excellent. They could still be strengthened, however, bymodernising the free-trade agreement between the two countries. There is room for improvement, particularly in agriculture(for example, processed products), public contracts, technicalbarriers to trade and certain biotechnological processes. It
should be pointed out that the EU and Japan have entered intoa free-trade agreement that goes further than the agreement
between Switzerland and Japan. It is therefore important toavoid a situation where Swiss businesses are less well placed
than European firms.

it appears that Japan is now keen to emphasise multilateralism (through the WTO) and regionalism (through theTrans-Pacific Partnership and the European Union) rather
than bilateralism. It therefore remains to be seen how the
new negotiations will develop.

The question of services, particularly in the financial arena,also merits re-examination. The various conversations wereencouraging, but now need to be applied in practice. However,As far as Swiss watchmaking is concerned, framework conditions in Japan are good and the FH will ensure that theyremain so.

Guy Parmelin and Yoshihiko Isozaki

20Indonesia and administrative difficulties
The FH is delighted by the signature of the free-trade agreement between EFTA and Indonesia in December 2018. In
principle, the agreement will be ratified in 2020, following which, Indonesia customs duties on watches will be
gradually withdrawn, up to a maximum of eight years after
the agreement comes into effect. A free-trade agreement
cannot resolve everything, however, and the meeting of thejoint bilateral commission in July was an opportunity for
the FH to talk to the Indonesian authorities about a number of administrative difficulties affecting the issue of CITES
certificates. At the same time, it argued for a relaxation ofIndonesian regulations on the size of commercial premises,
which penalise foreign businesses by imposing a minimum
size that is significantly higher than local standards. These
regulations are an obstacle to foreign brands that want to open
outlets in the country.

Precious metals: close to an agreementwith Kazakhstan
While experts made good progress with their discussions in
the first part of the year, Switzerland – and the FH – are still
awaiting a response from Kazakhstan on the draft agreementon mutual recognition of hallmarks on items made from precious metals. The draft, which includes watches and jewellery,is very closely based on the bilateral agreement entered intowith Russia in 2011 for watch products. The aim of signing an agreement at the meeting of the joint commission in
November was therefore not achieved, but it is only a matterof time. It is worth noting that Kazakhstan does not currently
recognise Swiss hallmarks and that an import licence isrequired, with each item subject to checking and marking.

Luxury watches hit with a discriminatory tax
in Argentina
The FH took part in the third meeting of the SwitzerlandArgentina joint commission, which was held in Bern in June.
Once again, it emphasised the difficulties of developing themarket in Argentina, in particular because of taxes on imports
and sales of luxury watches.

While the future free-trade agreement with Mercosur will provide a response in respect of import duties, the additional tax
on luxury goods (impuesto suntuario), charged at a rate of
20%, remains prohibitive for local consumers and discriminatory for Swiss watches, even more so when we know that thesame tax was reduced substantially for other similar products,
such as cars, a few years ago.
The current political and economic context in Argentina(marked by a changed of political majority and a financial
crisis) does not, unfortunately, look favourable for the prospect of a reduction or even withdrawal of the tax, which theFH has opposed for many years.

REACH: Turkish regulation goes too far
Although it is based on its European equivalent, the REACH
regulation in effect in Turkey has been in the FH’s sights
for several months. In practice, products that are subject
to import controls, including wristwatches, must be registered in the TAREKS imports system, on the basis of which,inspections and random audits are carried out by the Turkishauthorities. In certain cases, specific documents, such as
test reports from accredited laboratories, must be provided.
This is a major difference from the European and Swiss systems, insofar as a certificate of compliance issued by the
manufacturer is not sufficient. In addition, the import procedure under the TAREKS system is cumbersome in many
respects, and numerous shipments of watches have been
blocked at customs for inspection, in spite of strenuous efforts
by the brands.
The FH has therefore done everything in its power to intervene
on several occasions with the Turkish authorities, to encourage them to adopt harmonised, internationally recognised
procedures, i.e. first and foremost, rules that recognise thevalidity of certificates of compliance issued by manufacturers.
The FH is also requesting that the authorities abandon futile
laboratory tests for substances which, by definition, cannot
be found in products (for example, lead or cadmium in stainless steel). It is also arguing for a drastic reduction in the leadtimes (up to three weeks currently) and costs (between €60
and €90 per watch) associated with the procedure. Finally,
it wants to see the end of potentially destructive tests.

21Intellectual property protection andcombating counterfeiting
The various economic missions and other bilateral meetings inwhich the FH has participated once again proved very usefulin also addressing the issues associated with protecting intellectual property, the protection of geographical indications(“Swiss made”) and combating counterfeiting.
This was particularly true in Indonesia, with reference tothe numerous examples of abuse of Swiss-made watches
and the extreme difficulty of taking direct action against theoffending businesses. On this basis, the FH has reiterated
its requests for better cooperation from the police and judicial
authorities concerned.
From the FH’s perspective, the counterfeit watch situation in
Turkey is still as much of a concern as ever. Sales outlets exist
throughout the country, including in some hotel complexes.
In addition, the country acts as a transit point for a significant
proportion of Asian counterfeits destined for the European
market. Once again, procedural weaknesses present serious
obstacles to actions against the forgers and their networks, notto mention the fact that not all the products seized are systematically destroyed, instead returning to distribution channels.
A clear commitment by the Turkish authorities, alongside theFH, rights holders and their representatives is an essentialcondition for dealing successfully with the challenge of counterfeiting in the country.
Finally, the FH has made strenuous efforts with China (seealso the section on the Switzerland-China watches working
group on page 35) where the problem is found not only in
production but also in online and offline sales. It is particularly important to note that several online marketplaces andother social media still lack any proper coercive measures for
dealing with the sale of counterfeit watches on their platforms(such as checks, blocking accounts or withdrawals). Where
they do exist, withdrawal procedures are partial, excessively
long and therefore, ultimately ineffective. In addition, combating the spread of lookalike watches and registering stolen
brands has become an important issue in China.

The ATA carnet: a very useful passport
The ATA carnet, an international customs document recognised in 87 countries and territories, is used for temporary
imports and exports as well as for duty-free transit of goods.
The Swiss watchmaking sector is a regular user of the ATA
carnet, which is why the FH regularly encourages the authorities in certain countries to join the international convention
that regulates its use. In the year under review, it approachedAzerbaijan, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Kenya and Uzbekistan forthis purpose.
Inevitably, given the increasing use of digital technology, a
digital ATA carnet was presented for the first time at Zurichinternational airport on 20 October 2019.

22

Information and public relations
Media relations

General Meeting

The FH remains a key contact for the media, who regularly
approach it for comment on developments in the sector or
specific watchmaking topics. The introduction of the new“Swiss made” designation and interpreting the text of therevised ordinance gave rise to numerous interviews and articles, as did the current situation of the watchmaking sector.
Combating counterfeit goods, particularly those sold on theinternet, and the issues around social media led to several
reports, especially on Swiss television channels. Separately,
the FH regularly publishes press releases.

The 2019 General Meeting was held in Fribourg on 27 June,in the presence of FH delegates and members, as well as
numerous guests. Among them were members of the National
Council Jean-François Rime (UDC Fribourg and president of
USAM), Philippe Bauer (PLR Neuchâtel and president of theConvention patronale de l’industrie horlogère suisse, CP) andKurt Bisang (head of section at the Swiss Federal Office ofEnergy), the day’s speaker

Apart from regular contact with the watchmaking press andnumerous approaches at industry events – SIHH in January andBaselworld in March – the President also granted interviews tovarious Swiss and international publications. He also gave several talks, notably at the Rotary Club in La Chaux-de-Fonds andNeuchâtel, the Association suisse des cadres (French-speaking
Switzerland section), the Cartier Watch Industry Institute in La
Chaux-de-Fonds, the Fédération horlogère française and the
Gymnase français in Bienne.

FH General meeting

Berner Dictionary
The FH continued its work on updating the Illustrated
Professional Dictionary of Horology, widely referred to as the“Berner Dictionary”. This involves reviewing and updating thousands of definitions and drawings, as well as incorporating new
words and definitions. The project is being led by the FH withthe help of a standing group of experts, whose members are
as follows: Bernard and Marlyse Muller, designers and authorsof books about watchmaking; François Klopfenstein (ETA);

23

Antoine Simonin, former WOSTEP Director and publisher ofbooks about watchmaking, and Pierre-Alain Vuille, a former ETA
staff member. By the end of the year under review, the content
and form of all words and definitions had been reviewed. The
final proofreading has begun and will continue through 2020.

erated a significant amount of traffic. Visitors also regularly
viewed the News section, which reports on the latest developments at the FH, watch companies and new product launches.

Watch industry statistics
The statistics produced by the FH reflect the changes in the
sector from numerous angles. Based on the export declarations
compiled by the Federal Customs Administration, it is possible to track trends in the watchmaking sector in detail every
month, by price segment, markets and materials, among otherthings. The corresponding figures are modelled to produce
medium-term forecasts. As the only regular, reliable source ofquantitative data, aggregate export statistics for the sector also
provide a basis for comparison for the brands.
Nonetheless, export statistics are only the starting point for a
global analysis of the market. Every three months, the businessmagazine Tendances [Trends] summarises developments in thewatchmaking market in light of the many factors that influence
it. In 2019, Tendances tackled topics such as the luxury market,
tourism and duty-free goods, smart watches, e-commerce, distribution, the pre-owned market, sustainability and blockchain
technology, among others.

Revue FH
The Revue FH continued to keep members of the Federationand subscribers informed of all the latest news in the watchmaking sector in its 18 published issues. It produced a regularand comprehensive round-up of information about the sector,
but split over two issues fewer than in 2018. Among the subjects covered were the FH’s activities, news from watchmaking
companies and subcontracting, new products, extracts fromthe Register of Commerce and so forth. Highly appreciatedby both readers and advertisers, the publication is also available as a digital copy on the FH extranet (FH members’ area).

WebsiteRegarded as a reference for matters relating to the watch
industry, the FH website proved popular with visitors in 2019.
Of all the millions of pages viewed, statistics and the Illustrated
Professional Dictionary of Horology (Berner Dictionary) gen-Baselworld

Presence at Baselworld
The World Watch and Jewellery Exhibition ran from 21 to
26 March 2019. For this 102nd event, Baselworld attracted
520 exhibitors from all over the world, including 108 from
Switzerland, who presented their new products to 81,200
visitors and 3,300 representatives of the international press.
The FH was on hand to talk to its members and visitors
throughout the exhibition, thanks to a partnership with theCommittee of Swiss Exhibitors. The services offered by theCommittee this year included a USB stick and access to anelectronic platform, providing the press packs of around 80
Swiss brands.
The FH is also represented each year on the World Committeeof Exhibitors, which takes place on the final day of the event
and includes delegates from the main participating countries.

24

Launch of watch.swiss Japan, aimed specifically at the Japanese market

watch.swiss
The promotion of Swiss watchmaking abroad has enjoyeda great year. The FH installed its travelling exhibition
watch.swiss at Helsinki airport for one month and even createda little sister dedicated to the Japanese market.
Following the success of the first-ever showing of the exhibition in Japan in 2016, the decision was taken to create aversion specifically dedicated to the Japanese market. Twinsister of watch.swiss in its design, content and interactivity,
but in a more compact presentation, watch.swiss Japan was
launched in Tokyo at a watch week organised by one of thecapital’s main department stores. Two similar events were
held during the autumn in Nagoya and Fukuoka.

25

By addressing Japanese consumers directly, watch.swiss
Japan is seeking to make an active contribution to the promotion of Switzerland – and above all Swiss watches – in thisimportant market. The exhibition, fully translated and adapted
for this audience, provides thematic support for the presentation and sale of timepieces from our nation. Like its big sister,it can be implemented in the form of joint endeavours withlocal distributors or stores, in order to create ties with actual
products and increase the impact of this promotional platform. The FH centre in Tokyo will naturally continue to operate
watch.swiss Japan by targeting other exhibition venues, whileconsistently focusing on end consumers.
During the same period, the original version of watch.swiss
took up residence in Finland, more specifically at the heartof Helsinki airport. While this choice may seem surprising, it
is in fact a perfect way of meeting the exhibition’s objectives,
namely to present Swiss watchmaking to the widest possible
international audience. Helsinki is ideally located on the mostdirect route between Europe and the Far East. Many Asian travellers, as well as Americans, travel via this hub to visit Europe.
Installed after security checks, along the mandatory route ofpassengers in transit through the airport, watch.swiss wasbound to attract attention. It certainly did not fail to convey its
primary message – Watches are synonymous with Switzerlandand vice-versa – including to travellers glimpsing it only briefly
in passing. For others with more time between flights, it provided an opportunity to interact with the different modules ofthe exhibition, to take an interest in the content on the many
screens or to ask a question to the staff in charge of promotion. There were indeed thousands of “active” visitors, whilemore than 600,000 people passed through the area during
the 30-day exhibition period.

watch.swiss at Helsinki airport in Finland

26

The fight against counterfeiting
Scope of activities

BrazilIn 2019, the FH pursued many activities to prevent counterfeiting on behalf of members of the Anti-Counterfeiting
Group (GA) and the Internet Unit. We are reporting only themost salient points here, since a separate report is available
to interested readers on request.

Seizure operations on the markets
During the course of 2019, FH services (in Bienne and HongKong) dealt with over 3,200 cases around the world, ranging from the seizure of small postal packages to large-scale
operations in assembly workshops and on storage premises.
In total, these cases represented the confiscation of some
1,331,300 counterfeit watches. At the same time, the FH ran
several lobbying campaigns, to raise awareness among theauthorities of the importance of taking action against counterfeiting. Details of a few major operations conducted during
the year are set out below.

The Galerie Korai, in the well-known 25 de Marzo district ofSão Paulo, was the target of a major seizure operation in theearly hours of 7 May 2019. Over the course of three days, over
300 people (officials from the authorities and carriers) worked
to clear the 123 stores in the shopping centre.
Known as “Opération Chronos”, the Brazilian authorities
viewed the raid as one of the biggest ever carried out in
Latin America, with over 1,500,000 products seized (mainly
watches and spare parts for various brands). They included
around 40,000 watches and over 200,000 spare parts that
infringed the trademarks of members of the Federation’s
Anti-Counterfeiting Group.
It was interesting to note that assembly workshops werediscovered in the rear of several stores, confirming suspicions that have been circulating for several years, namelythat watches are shipped as spare parts and then assembled
and marked in situ.

Seizure operation in São Paulo, Brazil

27

India
In addition to the raid on the Sutar Shawl market in Mumbai in
October (see Highlights section), the authorities pursued theirinvestigations, resulting in the discovery of new storage facilities. In November, a second operation, targeting five premises
in the Maharashtra region (Mumbai), resulted in the seizureof 1,325 counterfeit watches. These were intended to supply
resellers in the Maharashtra, Gujrat and Goa regions. Legalaction is underway and the investigations continue.

Asia
On 7 September 2019, the company Selective Trademarks
Union (STU), the Federation’s partner in south-east Asia, wasawarded a special prize in recognition of the efforts it makes
throughout the year to combat counterfeiting and to thank it for
the technical support it provides, day after day, to the customs
authorities in Macau. The award illustrates the solid relationship established between STU and its director, Thierry Dubois,
with the institutions involved in combating forgery, in particularwith the customs authorities in the various countries it covers.

Thierry Dubois (centre), director of the FH Centre in
Hong Kong, received an award on behalf of STU

United Arab Emirates
As part of the programme of police actions in the United
Arab Emirates, 23 raids were carried out between Augustand November 2019, resulting in the seizure of over 120,000
fake Swiss watches, which have been stored until they canbe destroyed.
Most of the raids were conducted in the Karama markets in
Bur Dubaï and in the streets of Deira, in “old” Dubai. They
mainly targeted hidden showrooms, either in secret parts ofstores or in anonymous apartments. Criminal charges havebeen brought and the passports of the perpetrators confiscated while the legal proceedings are ongoing.

Universal Postal Union
The boom in e-commerce has been remarkable in recent
years. In Europe, over four billion parcels of goods ordered
online are delivered every year and the figure is increasing
all the time.
Among all these packages are large numbers of counterfeit
goods, which are most often sent by post. This is a particularly
useful distribution channel for counterfeiters, since it is quick,very cheap and carries minimal risk. Not to mention the factthat the sheer quantity of small parcels sent every day makes
it impossible for the authorities to check every single one.

In January 2019, representatives from the FH attended ameeting of the Postal Security Group of the Universal Postal
Union (UPU), to explain the problem in respect of combating
counterfeiting and outline a number of proposals, with the aimof making the authorities’ work easier. Among other things,
the Federation is calling for postal service providers to require
clear identification from senders (including the traceabilityof payment systems), which is not currently the case with
e-packets, preventing the authorities from tracking them backto the source. It would also be useful to introduce a prior electronic data transmission system, to provide better risk analysis,
and to cease any cooperation with identified bad actors.
Since then, the FH has established contact with the British
and Belgian customs authorities and with DG TAXUD (theEuropean Commission’s Directorate General for Taxation and
the Customs Union). Among other things, the FH passed
on a list of the names and addresses of repeat senders ofcounterfeit goods, so that the data can be included in futurerisk analyses.
An FH representative also took part in a seminar on the topic
organised by the EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property
Office) in Alicante, to raise awareness of the issue among theEuropean authorities.

28

Actions on the internet
The Internet Unit managed to remove over a million counterfeit watches from e-commerce platforms and social media
for the fourth year running. Nonetheless, it was not a foregone conclusion. Indeed, counterfeiters are using increasingly
sophisticated sales strategies to reach as many consumers as
possible, while remaining under the radar of both the authorities and rights holders. Unsurprisingly, the techniques used
include advertising on social media, which ensures optimal
segmenting of the target audience. They are also making useof more subtle strategies, such as creating lawful generic products on the major e-commerce platforms, and using online
storage services to host detailed photographs of the counterfeit products they are offering for sale. This allows counterfeiters to take advantage of the payment facilities and the ability
to get in touch with customers offered by the platforms, whileescaping the surveillance efforts of trademark owners, since
the incriminating images are hosted by a third-party provider.

Hong Kong Watch & Clock Fair

Hong Kong Watch & Clock Fair
The Hong Kong Watch & Clock Fair took place from 3 to 7
September 2019, in a complicated political and economic
climate. Like all events of this kind, the fair is suffering froma general lack of enthusiasm among exhibitors. Just 500 took
part in 2019, compared with 800 in 2018. The political situation, which had been unstable for several months, alongside
the numerous uncertainties associated with the trade war
between China and the United States, were both aggravating
factors. Neither was likely to brighten the start of this 38 th fair.
Nonetheless, the challenges of the situation did not prevent thesurveillance activities that the FH has traditionally carried out,
for over 12 years now. During the year under review, the FH
teams filed 23 complaints (31 in 2018). The judges on the panel
agreed that 16 of these were breaches. The seven remainingcases were dismissed, the judges appointed having assessed
the models concerned from a somewhat different perspective.
A total of 33 brands placed their trust in the FH to defend
their interests at the 2019 event. Ultimately, the complaints
involved 11 of them. As always, the rights invoked were mainly
around designs (20 cases) and to a lesser extent, trademarks(three cases).

Another technique is to exploit the weaknesses of certain
platforms by offering unmarked watches for sale, and thengiving the customer the option of having the logo of theirchoice engraved on the product. It goes without saying thatthese watches are sufficiently recognisable for the buyer toknow precisely which logo they want, but not to the extent thatthe platforms will agree to remove the items concerned on
the basis that they infringe a registered trademark. This typeof case therefore involves protecting the design itself. Some
platforms accept this as an argument for removing them inaccordance with the relevant conditions, while others simply
refuse. The situation has therefore become extremely complex,
both in terms of detecting offers of counterfeit goods and withregard to reporting. The imbalance between rights holders
and counterfeiters is increasing year by year. In practice, it is
becoming increasingly time-consuming and difficult to havecontent removed from a platform, while an increasing numberof tools are now offered to sellers so that they can post detailsof items quickly and simply, whether they are genuine or not.
In 2019, the Internet Unit embarked on the development of
a new surveillance tool for monitoring both social media ande-commerce platforms, which aims to improve the detectionof items offered for sale and simplify the reporting process.
The tool will be launched in late 2020.
In terms of dedicated sites, the FH continues to run efficient
surveillance activities through its WebIntelligence platform.
Domain name seizure operations were also carried out over29

the course of the year, particularly for “.top”, “.nl”, “.uk” and“.io” extensions. At the same time, there has been a particularfocus on financial intermediaries. Accordingly, the Internet
Unit took part in the Rogue Block programme of the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition which aims to shut down
shopping-basket systems on counterfeiting sites.

Swiss consumers were reminded to stay within the law afterordering a fake watch on the internet in 2019. We hope thatmost of them will have learned their lesson.

The Internet Unit has also made outstanding efforts in termsof strategic actions, successfully bringing legal proceedings
against an uncooperative hosting provider in early 2019, as
well as proceedings to seize the assets of sellers with a PayPal
account, thus directly targeting the counterfeiters’ wallets.

• downmarket, with poor-quality counterfeits aimed atonline platforms such as Wish or AliExpress,• upmarket, with higher-quality pieces aimed at sales sites
such as Prestige Replica.

Finally, the Internet Unit was kept busy for a large part of theyear on a case that involved reselling Chinese counterfeits
in Europe. Behind the sales is a methodical, well-organised
network. Numerous investigations have been conducted to
identify those responsible. A claim based on the information
gathered will be filed in 2020.

Technical analyses
During the year under review, FH watchmakers carried out atechnical analysis of 271 samples, i.e. eight fewer items thanin 2018 (-3%). The outcome of these analyses was recorded
in 267 reports on origin, five fewer than in the previous year(-1.5%). The items listed made unlawful use of 22 different
marks (28 in 2018). The samples examined in 2019 wereseized or acquired in 22 countries (18 in 2018). The watches
and reports were forwarded to the rights holders, as well as
to the bodies that had originated the confiscation actions.
In parallel, in the course of the same financial year, theFH anti-counterfeiting service processed 1,618 requests forcertificates of counterfeiting (1,309 in 2018, an increaseof 24%).
The reduction in the volume of activities linked to technicalinvestigations, which began in 2017, stabilised in 2019. The
Federal Customs Administration has been forced to review
the implementation of its austerity programme under combined pressure from rights holders and the FH. As readers
may recall, this programme resulted in a very significant
reduction in inspections and seizures in commercial traffic(-75%) in 2017 and 2018. In 2019, border inspection activities regained some momentum, resulting in a doubling ofseizures, which increased from 301 reports in 2018, to 638
last year. In total, combining certificates from the Federation’s
joint submission and those from subcontractors, over 1,600

On the technical front, 2019 was marked by a new “armsrace”. This developed in two different directions:This development is taking place in an environment of unbridled competition, resulting in a broader range of products
on offer and an increase in the number of labels. The fakewatches market in 2019 could be described as an eclectic
amalgam of crude counterfeits, manufactured in industrial
quantities, and sophisticated copies produced by a small
number of workshops equipped with highly advanced technologies. This contradicts the arguments of those who believedthat very cheap fakes would disappear. On the contrary: an
app such as Wish has boosted the market for a category of
products of such poor quality that they seem to have turned
the clock back by 15 years, targeting customers who are
attracted solely by a price that defies any kind of competition. At the other end of the scale, while the best-madecounterfeits, with a so-called “similar finish” still only accountfor a tiny percentage of the overall market, they drasticallyundermine consumer confidence and have a much moredamaging impact on brand image than the most common
products. In the era of social media, “making a buzz” is nolonger reliant on selling thousands of items. The market has
therefore broadened, with prices ranging from around 10
Swiss francs to almost 2,000. At this level, identifying fakes
becomes highly complicated.

“Swiss made” still highly desirable
As usual, the vast majority of the samples involved counterfeit
brands and/or models. The remainder consisted of unlawful
indications of origin, in other words, all the items that used a
Swiss geographical indication (“SWISS MADE”, “FABRIQUE EN
SUISSE” or a derivative such as “GENEVE” or “INTERLAKEN”)
in a misleading manner or in breach of the regulations in force
in Switzerland or the destination country. During the course of
the year under review, the anti-counterfeiting service drew up
17 reports on this issue (14 in 2018), taking a detailed look at 17
samples (15 in 2018). These came from test purchases made

30

to flesh out existing cases and provide evidence for current legal
proceedings, and in certain cases, to check that a company isfulfilling the commitments it has made.

means analysing it from multiple perspectives as part of abroader ambition, which consists of exploiting the full potentialof any traces, of any kind whatsoever.

Alongside copies of brands or models, we also find unlawful
technical indicators, mainly the “CHRONOMETER” label and
the Geneva hallmark, as well as fake precious metals hallmarks.
In recent years, the “CHRONOMETER” label, which nowadays
enjoys high prestige, has proved attractive to the counterfeiters.
In 2019, the FH recorded 100 cases of unlawful use of thislabel or its derivatives on both watches and the commercial
documents that accompany them (80 in 2018).

According to this approach, a counterfeit watch should beconsidered as a piece of evidence, which reveals physicaland chemical data that can be observed at several analyticallevels, combined with spatio-temporal data. Combining allthese sources provides access to the underlying structure of
the criminal networks involved. It is therefore understandable
that the difficulty of grasping this structure results less fromthe fact that it exists on multiple levels and more from thecomplexity of the links between them. Accordingly, using thedata sources available – whether they are physical, chemicalor spatio-temporal – even if it does not result directly in a clear
and simple explanation – allows the systematic formulationof hypotheses that are either verifiable or verified in the field.

After processing in the database, all the information gathered
during the year was used to produce six summary reports (eightin 2018) to supplement individual reports on origin. These
reports provide a statistical panorama of counterfeiting bybrand and model, offering further points for consideration thatcan be incorporated into the preventive strategies developedby the companies concerned. The FH now has access to ahuge volume of data (91,000 records of fake watches, 107,000
examples of illegal marking and 6,700 records of seizures). In
the era of big data, using and summarising these data is now
a major objective and will no doubt become a routine activity
in the fight against counterfeiting.

Fake watches under the researchers’
microscope
The FH has been working regularly with the School of Criminal
Justice at the University of Lausanne for several years now,
suggesting research topics to students in relation to counterfeit
watches. This initiative began in 2007 and was crowned in 2019by the publication of a PhD thesis, the first, to our knowledge,
on the issue of combating counterfeiting.
Any PhD research project is always the result of a long process, with many questions and much trial and error along theway. The starting hypothesis was simple but ambitious: namely,
working out how to examine sample watches with “forensic precision”, to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms governing criminal counterfeiting activities. The thesis referenced
various research projects carried out in the drugs field anddemonstrated that a rigorous analysis of connections between
samples in spatio-temporal, physical, analytical or contextual
terms can produce a map of the criminal network involved. In
other words, gaining a better understanding of counterfeiting

At the same time, the research demonstrates that a significant
volume of information can be extracted from a limited sample
in terms of the number of items: the size of the sample does
not therefore appear to be a limiting factor.
Until now, combating fake watches was a matter for specialist lawyers, working with watchmakers on a case-by-casebasis. Today, thanks to this first thesis and all the work done
upstream by the School of Criminal Justice at the Universityof Lausanne, forensic science has entered the fight against
counterfeiting on an equal footing, shedding new light on the“scene of the crime”.

31

The trade routes of fake goods (source: OECD)32

Standardisation
With the help of its Standardisation Committee (SC), the FH
coordinated and followed up several national (NIHS) and international (CEN and ISO) projects.
At the level of national standardisation, the main projects
involved the reorganisation of work with the revision of the
document NIHS 00-01 on standards development, the creation of a new standard on gauges for miniature threads (NIHS
06-12), the development of a standard on quality control ofsmall diamonds (NIHS 67-01), and a revision of the standards
on the shocks absorbed by watches during wear (NIHS 91-30
and NIHS 93-20). Seven watchmaking standards were subject
to detailed examination during the year. One was confirmed
and the others were transposed into guides, which allows
them to be kept for teaching purposes. The ninth edition of
the extract of NIHS standards, aimed principally at training
for future watchmakers, was published.

Ninth edition of the extract of NIHS standards
The NIHS service at the FH has been asked by the Swiss
Association for Standardisation (SNV) to provide the secretariat for the interdisciplinary committee INB/NK 164 - Jewellery
and precious metals, an institution that mirrors the five corresponding committees at European (CEN) or international(ISO) level. Working in cooperation with the appointed experts,
it is therefore responsible for acting on the votes initiatedby these committees and then forwarding a representative
position statement for the whole of the Swiss industry to the
SNV. Over 25 votes were coordinated in this way during thepast year. A plenary meeting was held at the end of April;
the main subjects discussed were the new structure of the
INB/NK 164 committee, the reports by the heads of delegationon the mirror committees, the QR Code in Russia, the draft
standard on the clarity of watchglasses and the issue of nickel
release. The establishment of an action plan will ensure better
follow-up of tasks and activities.
The FH continues to have an excellent relationship with theEuropean Committee for Standardization (CEN), mainly on
draft standards with an indirect link to watchmaking. This
relationship has been further strengthened with the appointment as the chair of the Technical Committee CEN/TC 347 Methods for analysis of allergens of Patrick Lötscher, the headof the NIHS service, who attended a training course aimed at
the heads of European Technical Committees.

Turning to international standardisation, the main event in 2019was the organisation of the international conference ISO/TC 114 Horology which took place in Marseille from 17 to 24 May (seeHighlights section, page 12). Steady progress is being made on
ISO draft texts, in areas such as ISO 18684 - Timekeeping instruments – Watch external parts made of hard materials – General
requirements and test methods, anti-reflective coatings ISO
14368-4 - Mineral and sapphire watchglasses - Part 4: Coatings
or radio-controlled clocks (ISO 23346). The revision of thestandard ISO 764 - Magnetic resistant watches is coming toan end, while the review of the standard on luminescence
ISO 17514 - Time-measuring instruments — Photoluminescentdeposits — Test methods and requirements began at the conference. In addition, the working group examining the potential
for improving standard ISO 22810 - Water-resistant watches
continued its work with the establishment of an experimental
plan for condensation testing.
Finally, we should note that four standards examined as partof the systematic examination process were confirmed forfive years. These concern the battery life of battery-powered
watches (ISO 12819), qualitative criteria for watchglasses (ISO
14368-3), functional and non-functional jewels (ISO 1112) andcrowns and sealed tubes (ISO 10552).

33

Legal and economic services
Several services are available on the FH extanet site. These
are reserved for its members, giving them access to privileged information and useful working tools. Topical news
items linked to FH activities or matters of direct concern to
its members are updated regularly.

Legal services
Rules of origin, competition law, guarantees, reptile leathers
in California and other regulatory affairs were just a few ofthe many and diverse topics examined in 2019. The FH wasvery busy throughout the year, providing legal assistance toits members and responding to hundreds of questions, four
examples of which are outlined below.
In 2019, the Californian legislature decided to end the moratorium on imports for commercial purposes of products madefrom crocodiles and alligators and allow them to be sold temporarily in the state. Art. 653o of the California Penal Codetherefore entered fully into force after a fierce political battle.
The victory for supporters of the ban on these products was
short-lived, however, since several associations involved incrocodile farming and the leather industry decided to bringtwo cases against the State of California. Both targeted Art.
653o(b), which bans the import for commercial purposes andparticularly the sale of the skins of these reptiles, and challenged its constitutionality given that the new laws in California
were contrary to US Federal law. During the trial, the judge
ordered provisional measures that allowed the import andsale of items made from alligator skin, such as watch straps,
to be reinstated for a few months. However, the situation in
California remains very uncertain.
Regulatory affairs become increasingly important every year. In
2019, a proposal to restrict allergens in leather and textiles was
put forward as part of the European REACH regulation. The
proposal relates to a number of disperse dyes and chemicals
classed as skin sensitisers in category 1/1A/1B, as defined in
the CLP regulation, which represents a significant number ofsubstances. A working group of the FH legislative monitoring
committee examined the proposal and a position statement
was produced. This focused on three main points. First, theproposal concerns over 1,000 chemical substances, a number that is likely to grow over time. Secondly, the classification
concerns pure products, although substances may behave
differently when they are incorporated into another material.
Thirdly, for leathers, hexavalent chromium is already restrictedunder REACH. If the proposal were accepted as it stands, themaximum concentration of this heavy metal would be reduced
from 3 mg/kg to 1 mg/kg. This would be a difficult thresholdto achieve for tanning using chromium.
On geographical indications, the FH supported a proposal
for Switzerland to accede to the Geneva Act on the Lisbon
Agreement on appellations of origin and geographical indications.
Unfortunately, the protection of geographical indications (GI) at
the international level suffers from a lack of harmonisation, particularly in the non-agricultural area. A degree of harmonisation
exists only for wines and spirits as part of the TRIPS agreements.
The result is that the holders of Swiss GIs can only secure adequate protection abroad through national procedures or bilateralagreements. The Geneva Act now offers a very interesting opportunity for holders of Swiss GIs to secure increased protection ina large number of countries, at a lower cost than for national
procedures. In addition, the Geneva Act offers GIs a high level ofprotection that also applies to translations and indications suchas “style” or “type”. Moreover, a protected GI cannot be viewed
as a generic description. In light of these advantages, it goes
without saying that the position statement by the FH, which was
produced in conjunction with its legal committee, was broadly infavour of the proposal. The Geneva Act can enter into force threemonths after five parties have filed a valid accession instrument.
Still in the area of geographical indications, the FH pursued its
plan to register “Swiss” as a collective mark in the European
Union. Unfortunately, it is currently impossible to object to theregistration of EU marks that include Swiss designations. Registering the mark will allow the FH to defend Swiss designations
more effectively in the European Union, particularly against registrations of marks that are deemed unlawful. A draft regulation
has been produced, which replicates some of the conditions
defined in the Ordinance governing the use of the word “Swiss”
for watches. As a result, the FH will have more means at its
disposal to protect its members from parasitic uses of Swiss
geographical indications.

Economic services
Members of the association had access to extensive statisticaland economic information via the FH extranet. This provides
access to the complete database of watch export statistics, quarterly analyses of trends in the sector in the magazine Tendances
and information on exports from other major global players.
Distribution of the magazine was broadened and targeted moreclosely at the relevant people in businesses following a promotional campaign, with some very positive feedback.

34

Relations with the authorities
and economic circles
Watchmaking associations
For the 21st year in succession, watchmaking associations
from different parts of the world met at Baselworld, at theinvitation of the FH, to discuss topics of interest to the sector
as a whole. The meeting was attended by representatives ofthe following countries: Germany, China, France, Hong Kong,
Italy, Japan and Switzerland.
The initial overview of economic trends affecting the watch
industry confirmed that, after a prosperous year in 2018, theprospects for 2019 overall were more measured, with someindustries already seeing a reversal of the trend. The majorrole played by China in the watch trade, including the China
Horological Association itself, attracted a great deal of interest.
Another permanent feature of these meetings, the strengthening of the Swiss Made label, was an opportunity for the FH
to remind participants that the two-year transition period tosell through products made under the old law – before the
new Swiss Made legislation came into effect, i.e. before 1
January 2017 – had now expired. Moreover, the obligation toensure that technical development took place in Switzerlandcame into effect on 1 January 2019. Finally, it was noted that
all the relevant information on the new Swiss Made label wasavailable on the FH website.
The technical aspects of environmental legislation wereanother recurring theme. An update was provided on thesituation on the use of lead in the European Union, in light of
the REACH and RoHS regulations.

economiesuisse
As an active member of economiesuisse, the FH is represented on the following bodies: General Meeting (Jean-Daniel
Pasche, FH), Committee (Thierry Kenel, Swatch Group,
Me Theda Koenig Horowicz, Rolex, and Cédric Bossert,
Richemont), Executive Committee (Thierry Kenel, Swatch
Group), Board of Association Managers (Jean-Daniel Pasche,FH), Legal Commission, WTO Working Group, Working Groupon questions of origin and customs issues, Expert Group on
intellectual property, Working Group on short-term economic
issues, Expert Group on relations with the European Union,
Competition Commission.

Meeting of global watchmaking associations at Baselworld

35

Switzerland-China Watch Industry
Working Group
Established under the bilateral free-trade agreement between
Switzerland and China, the four-party working group met for
the fifth time in Bienne in October.
The Chinese delegation was led by Gao Yanmin, Director
General of the Department for the Consumer Goods Industry
within the Ministry of Industry and Information Technologies,
and Zhang Hongguang, President of the China Horological
Association. For its part, the Swiss delegation was led
by Fabienne Wassermann, Head of the “Bilateral AsiaPacific Economic Relations” section at the State Secretariat
for Economic Affairs (SECO) and Jean-Daniel Pasche,
FH President.

Meeting of the Swiss-China working group at the FH
Most of the discussions centred on protecting intellectual
property rights and the fight against counterfeiting. While
the FH welcomed the improvement in cooperation with thevarious Chinese authorities concerned, it also reiterated its
call for action to tackle the counterfeits found on the internet
and particularly on social media, on an ever-expanding scale.
While there has certainly been an improvement in cooperationfrom some marketplaces, significant efforts are still required,including a tangible and effective commitment from otherplatforms operating in China, transparency around methodsof combating counterfeiting, simplifying the procedures forwithdrawing products offered for sale, coercive measures todeal with repeat offenders and dealing with so-called no-nameor other lookalike products.
The inevitable corollary was that the FH reiterated the pressing need to strengthen the protection of geographical indications as well. Several clear cases of abuse of the Swiss Madelabel and other emblematic references to Switzerland werehighlighted to illustrate the full scale of the problem, not tomention the endless succession of tactics employed by thecounterfeiters, who have no hesitation in falsifying FH documents, including signatures, to support their claims that the
products they sell were made in Switzerland.
Two memoranda, duly documented, and a black list of brands
notorious for making unlawful use of the Swiss Made label
were handed to the Chinese representatives so that they could
follow up on the FH’s requests.

Both parties were also able to make significant progress oncooperation arrangements for training for the Chinese authorities responsible for combating counterfeiting. The FH has
extensive experience in this field and regularly delivers similar
training all over the world. It should be possible to set up asimilar system in China as well, starting next year.
The Chinese delegation emphasised the importance of theChinese market for the Swiss watch industry and its decisiverole in distribution. It also explained a number of activities that
Chinese watchmakers were organising in the country, suchas the Watch and Clock Fair in Shenzhen, in June each year.
The working-group meeting ended with a visit to Omega andthe chance to explore the Cité du Temps (Omega and Planet
Swatch museums).

Standing Committee of the European Watch
Industry
At the invitation of the FH, the German, French, Italian andSwiss delegations to the Standing Committee of the European
Watch Industry (CPHE) met in Lausanne at the end of 2019.
Chaired by Jean-Daniel Pasche, the meeting first provided
an opportunity for a review of the situation with regard toprojects and other initiatives aimed at protecting geographical36

indications. In this instance, the work underway on the “Madein France” indication is focusing on defining specifications andexamining criteria that are likely to be included in the requirements for the French label. In Germany, the charter introducedby the BV Schmuck + Uhren association is based on the commitment and individual responsibility of each manufacturer interms of satisfying certain additional quality criteria.
In terms of the Swiss Made indication, the European delegation was informed about the steps taken by the FH to register“Swiss” as a collective mark in the European Union, in light ofsimilar registrations already in place in the United States andHong Kong. The aim of registration is to strengthen efforts tocombat unlawful use of the Swiss Made indication on watches
throughout the European Union.
Turning to standardisation, the CPHE reviewed the progressof work at the ISO/TC 114 conference, held in Marseille inthe spring, which examined water resistance, magnetic resistance, batteries and anti-reflective coatings on watch glasses,
among other things.
The committee devoted a considerable amount of time to the
proposed REACH restriction on skin sensitisers (allergens) inleathers and textiles, as well as the procedure for reviewing
the CLP (Classification, Labelling and Packaging) classification
for silver (see Highlights section, page 10).

Zhang Hongguang and Jean-Daniel Pasche

Finally, there was a wide-ranging discussion among the delegates on various subjects of topical interest, such as the institutional agreement between the European Union and Switzerland,
the availability of spare parts (a law on the obligation to offer
repairs was thought to be being drafted in the French Senate),
the responsibility of e-commerce sites with regard to sales ofcounterfeit goods, and recent free-trade agreements.
The meeting ended with a very interesting – and much appreciated – visit to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
Lausanne (EPFL), with a focus on the theme of innovationand including the chance to explore the ArtLab, which ishome to the Venice Time Machine, as well as the Montreux
Jazz Heritage Lab.

37

FH centres abroad
FH Centre in Hong Kong
The FH Centre in Hong Kong once again pursued a series ofactivities to benefit the sector and members of the Federation.
First, it provided practical assistance to several dozen delegatesfrom FH member companies who were travelling to the region,
along with their Asian representatives. This regular assistancecovers such varied domains as putting commercial or industrial
partners in contact with each other in Hong Kong, China or
elsewhere in the region, identifying qualified personnel, helping with company formations and accompanying staff on theirvisits to markets in South-East Asia.
At the same time, the FH Centre increased its contacts withthe media, local professional organisations, the authorities anddiplomatic representations throughout the region, particularly
in Hong Kong, Beijing, Guangzhou and Bangkok.
Finally, the Hong Kong Centre also responded to many requests
made by FH members, especially in the legal field and on
preventing counterfeiting throughout the region. In particular,
it provided assistance to many brands to facilitate their registration with the Chinese and Korean customs authorities. Similarly,
it conducted several dozen investigations of local companies
and filed a number of objections each month against the registration of marks in Class 14 (watch industry), both in Hong
Kong and elsewhere in the region.

close relationship with local professional organisations anddiplomatic representations, as well as responding to specificrequests received on a daily basis from Japanese consumers
or companies.
The FH Centre also provided regular follow-up in the area ofafter-sales service, for a number of FH members (through theafter-sales service pool). In spring 2019, it worked particularly
hard to identify a new partner to provide the necessary service
for watches still under warranty and those whose warranty has
expired. A new cooperation contract was agreed to the satisfaction of both parties.
The second watch industry seminar organised by the Centre in
July focused on the theme of “The current situation of infringements of intellectual property in Japan and its solution”. Around60 participants, all from the brands’ Japanese representations(CEO, marketing directors, brand directors, etc.) particularly
appreciated the quality of the various presentations, including
the one by Thierry Dubois, director of the FH Centre in HongKong. They also clearly reiterated their interest in this type of
event being organised by the FH, and a follow-up was therefore
set up for the end of the year.

On the Japanese market, the FH Centre in Tokyo responded tonumerous requests from FH members and their local agents, by
supplying commercial information, establishing business contacts and providing linguistic assistance, among other things.
It also acted on requests from the media and maintained a

The year’s main project, creating the Japanese version of thetravelling exhibition watch.swiss, began in August, as part of
the “watch weeks” organised regularly by the main commercial
centres (see page 24). Events in 2019 were held in Tokyo (Tobu
World Watch Fair), Nagoya (Mitsukoshi Sakae World Watch Fair)
and Fukuoka (Daimaru Fukuoka World Watch Festival). Several
dozen Swiss brands participate regularly in each of these promotional events, which are a typical feature of the Japanesemarket. The themes presented by watch.swiss Japan certainly
supported the watch industry by underlining the message, “You
can’t talk about watches without Switzerland, and you can’t talkabout Switzerland without watches”.

Watchmaking seminar organised by the FH Centre in Tokyor

Japanese version of the travelling exhibition watch.swiss

FH Centre in Tokyo

The Swiss watch

39

industry in 2019
The statistics processed, distributed and analysed by the FH
are a key indicator for the sector. Prepared by the Federal
Customs Administration on the basis of declarations madeby firms, they constitute the main official, regular and reliable
source for monitoring the development of watch exports.
Through a wealth of detailed information concerning markets,
products and price segments, the FH can pinpoint recent or
historic trends in the Swiss watch industry.

40

Watch industry statistics
General situation
The watch market has faced a complex environment, marked
by some fundamental and increasingly rapid changes. The
new rules of the game echo a number of trends that are often
observable, sometimes measurable and in some cases, caneven be modelled. Accordingly, the sector needs to adapt
and brands need to define their strategy to respond to thechanges and continue to attract interest among consumers.
From an export perspective, the Swiss watch industry performed well in 2019, with two reservations. First, growth
was not consistent and not all actors benefited. There weresometimes marked differences between the main markets
and price segments. Secondly, the number of items exported
fell to a record low. Eighty-five percent of the decline was in
the entry-level segment and is a particular concern for subcontractors, for whom volumes are essential to the way production plants operate and maintaining both their workforce
and investments.
In this respect, the Swiss watch industry is in line with a trendthat is favourable to luxury products, particularly in China, butalso numerous other markets in Asia and the United States.
The complexity of the general situation requires watch brands
to make continued efforts to adapt. The high level of the Swiss
franc, restrictive regulations in Russia and Turkey, changes

Swiss watch exports (in billion francs)

in both physical and digital distribution, the consumption
patterns of generations Y and Z, the sharp increase in the
pre-owned market and the measures needed for sustainable
development are all factors that need to be built into strategies for the next few years. Some of these factors are not new,however, and the sector is already moving in this direction.
The events in Hong Kong since the summer have made it particularly complicated to analyse the watch market and havedramatically reduced visibility. The demonstrations there haveaffected sales in the region since July and had a significant
impact on exports since October. The paralysis in the market seems likely to last, given Beijing’s view of the protestors’
demands. The slowdown in Hong Kong in the fourth quarterof 2019 reduced the growth in watch exports worldwide byfour points.

Swiss watch exports
The Swiss watch industry saw exports exceed the already highlevel achieved in 2018, in line with the forecasts produced
a year ago, in a complex and fast-changing environment.
They were also faced with increased competition, both in
the higher value segment and at entry level, where volumes
were particularly hard hit. Ultimately, Swiss watch exports
were worth 21.7 billion francs in 2019, an increase of 2.4%

41

Exports by material
Most of the main groups of materials saw an increase inexport turnover in 2019, with steel (-1.9%) the notable exception. Growth has been driven by precious metal and bimetal
watches. In volume terms, the main categories (Steel, Other
materials and Other metals) recorded double-digit declines.

Main markets
Exports of wristwatches (in billion francs)
compared with 2018. Growth in the second half of the year(+3.2%) was twice as strong as in the first six months ofthe year (+1.5%), however the rate of growth slowed in the
fourth quarter (+1.1%), as a result of very poor performancein Hong Kong.

Swiss exports of watches
Wristwatches set the tone for 2019, representing almost 95%
of total exports by value. Exports passed the 20 billion francs
threshold (to 20.5 billion), an increase of 2.6% compared with2018. Conversely, the number of items declined by 13.1%.
The downward trend seen for many years worsened during
the summer of 2018 and had a marked impact on every
month in 2019, without exception. Switzerland shipped 20.6
million watches to other countries, 3.1 million fewer than in
the previous year. This historically low level, below even thecrisis of 2009, is comparable to the volume exported during
the dip in the early 1980s.

Asia’s share of Swiss watch exports decreased slightly,
because of the negative impact of Hong Kong. Nonetheless,Asia still accounted for more than half (53%) of the export
turnover generated by Swiss watches in 2019. Europe represented 30% and America 15%.
Overall, watch exports to Asia increased by 2.3% comparedwith 2018. Not all the main markets were close to the average,
however. Hong Kong was heavily penalised by the protests
that have been taking place there since June, finishing theyear with a fall of -11.4% (-25.9% during the fourth quarter). Conversely, China regularly increased its pace of growth,ending on +16.1%, while exports to Japan grew by +19.9%.
Singapore (+14.6%) was the third market to achieve strong
growth, thanks to an excellent second half. Growth in South
Korea (+4.9%) was more moderate. In the Middle East,
exports increased to the United Arab Emirates (+2.4%) but
declined in Saudi Arabia (-6.4%).

Exports by price range
A line can be drawn at 3,000 Swiss francs (export price),
below which results were down both by value (-6.5%) andnumber of items (-14.4%). Over 85% of the fall in volumes
was attributable to watches priced below 200 Swiss francs.
At the other end of the scale, watches priced at over 3,000
Swiss francs grew strongly.

Exports by price segment (variation compared with 2018)42

Europa6,625.0+1.0%

America
3,156.2+6.1%

Asia
11,462.9+2.3%

Africa181.1-2.5%

Oceania
255.4
-0.8%
World
21,680.6+2.4%

Total value of exports in 2019 (in million francs)

The lowest level of growth was in Europe (+1.0%), driven
mainly by the United Kingdom. Germany (+0.2%) and France(+0.2%) stagnated, while Italy (-4.2%), Spain (-1.1%) and theNetherlands (-3.0%) fell back slightly.
America (+6.1%) was the most dynamic region, thanks to theUnited States (+8.6%), which alone absorbed three quartersof watch exports to the continent.

43

Other exported products
As well as wristwatches, the Swiss watch industry exported arange of other products in 2019, such as clocks, alarm clocks
and pocket watches, as well as spare parts. The total valueof these items was 1.2 billion Swiss francs, a fall of 1.4%
compared with 2018.
After three years of negative performance, exports of alarmand other clocks returned to growth (+16.9% by value). Conversely, exports of pocket watches fell by 27.2%. Swiss watch
movements proved less successful on the export market. The
number of items fell by 10.2% compared with 2018, to 4.4
million units.
Exports of watch cases and wristlets fell, mainly reflecting
processing traffic.

Watch imports
Swiss watch industry imports passed the 4 billion Swiss francs
mark in 2018 but dropped back to 3.8 billion in 2019 (-5.5%).
At a more detailed level, wristlets followed the same trend(-6.0%), as did supplies of components. Imports of watchcases and wristlets recorded a steep decline, in line with thefall in volumes.

Main export markets in 2019

Swiss watch imports (in billion francs)

Structure of

45

the FH in 2019
An organisation representative of the Swiss watch industry as
a whole, the FH has the following main tasks and objectives:
helping to defend and develop the sector, establishing a permanent link between its members in order to promote theirshared interests, representing the Swiss watch industry in its
dealings with Swiss and international economic authorities andorganisations, asserting the interests of its members duringconsultation procedures preparing the ground for nationaland foreign legislations, defending its members’ interests inthe legal arena, and fighting actively against infringements
of intellectual property rights and acts of unfair competition.

46

The FH in 2019
On 31st December 2019, the FH included 428 companies,
associations and institutions (approximately 90% of the Swiss
watch industry manufacturers), including 167 firms in the finished products sector. In terms of products, markets and busi-

ness size, the Swiss watch industry is characterised by its very
great diversity. The FH is therefore structured with a view toharmonising the different interests of its members through thebalanced composition of its statutory organs.

General Meeting
60 delegatesCouncil20 delegates

Bureau4 members

Presidency

Commissions

47

The General Meeting
Governing body of the association, the FH General Meeting
comprises a maximum of 60 delegates totalling 60 votes. Lasting three years, terms of office are renewable.

bers to the Board, as well as the president of the association,
and appoints the auditor; it discusses and approves the annual
report and the accounts, as well as the scale of subscriptions.

The General Meeting takes decisions on issues submitted to
it by the Board concerning the interests of the Swiss watch
industry and the association’s general policy; it elects mem-On 31st December 2019, the FH General Meeting was composed of the following delegates (some with more than onevote):

Grégory Affolter
Pignons Affolter SA

Philippe Gurtler
Rolex SA

Sébastien Roche

Karlheinz Baumann
Richemont International SA

Thierry Kenel
The Swatch Group SA(FH Vice President)

LVMH Swiss Manufactures SA

Denis Bolzli
Aéro Watch SA
Cédric Bossert
Richemont International SA
Patrick Brandelet
Joray & Wyss SA
Pascal Bratschi
Manufacture des Montres Rolex SA

Christian Klever
Breitling SA
Aurélien Le Bigot
Zenith, Branch of
LVMH Swiss Manufacture SA
Giuseppe Maesano
Universo SA

TAG Heuer, Branch of

Alain Sierro
Fraporlux SA
Manuela Surdez
Goldec SA
Alberto Tellan
Manufacture des Montres Rolex SA
François Thiébaud

Alain Marietta
Métalem SA

Tissot SA

Jérôme Cavadini
Richemont International SA

Pierre-André Meylan
Piguet Frères SA

La Montre Hermès SA

Dino D’Aprile
Rubbattel & Weyermann SA

Olivier Montavon
Simon et Membrez SA

Pascal Dubois
Dubois Dépraz SA

Corine Neuenschwander
Neuenschwander SA

Joris EngischJean Singer & Cie SA

Marianne Pandiscia
Multitime Quartz SA

Christian Feuvrier
Nivarox-FAR SA

Jean-Daniel Pasche
FH President

David Guenin
Gimmel Rouages SA

Flavio Pellegrini
MGI Luxury Group SA

Jean L. Guillod
Guillod-Günther SA

Adrianna Pozza
Victorinox Swiss Army SA

Pierre-André BühlerETA SA Manufacture horlogère suisse

Pierre Verdière

Andreas Voll
IWC Schaffhausen,
Branch of Richemont International SA
Roger Wermeille
Le Castel Pendulerie Neuchâteloise
Eric Yersin
Raymond Weil SA
Vladimiro Zennaro
Bergeon SA
VacantPatek Philippe SA Genève

48

The Board
Comprising twenty members elected for three years by theGeneral Meeting, the FH Board, which meets four times a year,
has the following main attributions: it defines the association’s
policy and monitors its application; it rules on the admission ofmembers; it gives its opinion on issues to be submitted to theGeneral Meeting and executes the latter’s decisions; it elects the
Bureau and appoints the vice-president(s); it appoints headsof division and commission members; generally it assuresa permanent link between members of the association, theauthorities and third parties; it approves agreements concluded
between the association and its members or third parties; etc.

Raynald Aeschlimann
Omega SA

Alain Marietta

Karlheinz Baumann
Richemont International SA

Olivier Montavon

Denis Bolzli
Aéro Watch SA

Arianna Pozza

Cédric Bossert
Richemont International SA

Sébastien Roche

Pierre-André BühlerETA SA Manufacture horlogère suisse

On 31st December 2019 the Board was composed of the following members:

Métalem SA

Simon et Membrez SA

Victorinox Swiss Army SA

TAG Heuer, Branch of LVMH Swiss Manufactures SA
Alain Sierro

Christian Feuvrier
Nivarox-FAR SA

Fraporlux Swiss SA

Philippe Gurtler
Rolex SAThe Swatch Group SA

Thierry Kenel
The Swatch Group SA
Christian Klever
Breitling SA
Massimo LongoRoventa-Henex SA

Peter Steiger

Alberto Tellan
Manufacture des montres Rolex SA
Andreas Voll
IWC Schaffhausen, Branch of Richemont International SA
VacantPatek Philippe SA Genève

49

The Bureau and the Commissions
Comprising the president, the two vice-presidents and one or
two members, the Bureau examines issues delegated to it by
the Board and, exceptionally, questions of an urgent nature.

The FH also has six permanent Commissions responsible
for examining issues of general interest dealt with by the
association.

At the end of 2019, its composition was as follows:

The Commissions and their presidents:

Jean-Daniel Pasche
FH

Economic Commission
Thierry Kenel

Carole Décosterd
Rolex SA

Financial Commission
Pascal Bratschi

Thierry Kenel
The Swatch Group SA

Legislative monitoring Commission
Olivier Blanc

Alain Marietta
Métalem SA

Legal Affairs Commission
Jean-Daniel Pasche

The president of the Financial Commission is regularly invited
to attend the Bureau’s meetings.

Standardisation Committee
Silvano Freti
Anticounterfeiting Group
Jean-Daniel Pasche

50

The Divisions and theDepartments
At 31 December 2019, the FH employed 32 full-time equivalentstaff in Bienne (31 in 2018). Its organisation chart is as follows:

Presidency
Jean-Daniel Pasche

Communication
Philippe Pegoraro

Information Department
Janine Vuilleumier

Economic Division
Maurice Altermatt

Legal Division
Yves Bugmann

Adminstrative Division
Alain Guillaume

External Affairs
Department
Maurice Altermatt

Legal Department
Yves Bugmann

Administration
Department
Alain Guillaume

Economic and Statistical
Department
Philippe Pegoraro

Anticounterfeiting
Department
Michel Arnoux

Information Technology
Department
Fabrice Erard

Promotional Affairs
Department
Hélène Leonardi

NIHS Department
Patrick Lötscher

FH Hong Kong Centre
Thierry Dubois

Internet Unit
Yves Brouze

FH Japan Centre
Ayako Nakano

FH Latin America
Delegate
Philippe Widmer

51

The network of partners
The FH would be nothing in the globalised world without asolid network of partners, which can be found both within andoutside the sector on all five continents. Non-exhaustive, thelist below provides a summary of this network.

Watchmaking Partners◆

All India Federation of Horological Industries◆

Hong Kong Watch Manufacturers Association◆

American Watch Association (AWA)◆

Infosuisse Information horlogère et industrielle◆

Japan Clock and Watch Association◆

Japan Watch Importers’ Association

◆

◆

◆

◆

Association des fabricants de décolletages et detaillages (AFDT)
Association patronale de l’horlogerie et de la
microtechnique (APHM)◆

Association patronale des industries de l’Arc-horloger
apiah

◆

Korea Watch and Clock Industry Cooperative◆

Société suisse de chronométrie (SSC)

Association pour l’assurance qualité des fabricants debracelets cuir (AQC)◆

Association suisse pour la recherche horlogère (ASRH)◆

Associazione Ticinese Industria Orologiera-ATIO◆

Assorologi (Italy)◆

BV Schmuck + Uhren (Germany)

◆

◆

◆

◆

Centre suisse d’électronique et de microtechnique(CSEM)
Centredoc Centre suisse de recherche, d’analyse et desynthèse d’information◆

Joyex - Asociación Espagñola de Fabricantes y/oExportadores de Joyería, Platería y Relojería

The Federation of Hong Kong Watch Trades &Industries Ltd
Union des Fabricants d’Horlogerie de Genève, Vaud etValais (UFGVV)
Verband deutschschweizerischer Uhrenfabrikanten(VdU)

Federal Administration◆

Bureau central du contrôle des métaux précieux◆

China Horologe Association◆

Commission des experts douaniers◆

Comité des exposants suisses à Baselworld◆

Direction générale des douanes (DGD)◆

Comité permanent de l’horlogerie européenne (CPHE)◆

Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI)◆

Contrôle officiel suisse des chronomètres (COSC)◆

Office fédéral de la santé publique (OFSP)◆

Fédération de l’horlogerie (France)◆◆

Fédération romande des consommateurs (FRC)◆

Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie◆

Fondation Qualité Fleurier◆

Fondation WOSTEP◆France Horlogerie Industries du Temps et desmicrotechniques

Office fédéral de la sécurité alimentaire et des affaires
vétérinaires (OSAV)◆

Présence suisse◆State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO

52

Chambers of commerce◆◆

Alliance des chambres de commerce suisses
Arab-Swiss Chamber of Commerce and Industry(CASCI)◆

International Chamber of Commerce international (ICC)◆

Swiss-Chinese Chamber of Commerce◆

Swiss-Indian Chamber of Commerce◆

Joint Chambers of Commerce (Russia, Ukraine,
Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova)

Customs and police organisations◆

Agenzia delle Dogane, Roma◆Commandement général de la Guardia Civil (Espagne)◆◆

Commandement général de la Guardia di Finanza(Italie)
Direction générale des douanes et Droits indirects dela République française

◆Europol◆

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)Interpol◆Swiss-Asian Chamber of Commerce◆◆

Swiss Business Council Abu Dhabi◆

Organisation mondiale des douanes◆

Swiss Business Council Dubai◆

Police cantonale de Neuchâtel◆

Swiss Chamber of Commerce in Japan◆

Police cantonale du Jura◆

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Economic organisations◆

BUSINESSEUROPE◆

economiesuisse◆

Switzerland Global EnterpriseTechnical organisations◆

Centre technique de l’industrie horlogère française
(CETEHOR)◆

Ecole d’ingénieurs ARC◆

International Electrical Committee (IEC)◆Tokyo Watch Technicum

Organisations involved in standardisation◆

Association française de normalisation (AFNOR)◆

Association suisse de normalisation (SNV)◆

British Standards Institution (BSI)◆

Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)◆

Comité européen de normalisation (CEN)◆

Deutsches Institut für Normung (DIN)◆

Federal Agency on Technical Regulating and Metrology(GOST R)◆International Organization for Standardization (ISO)◆Japanese Industrial Standards Committee (JISC)◆

Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS)◆

Standardization Administration of China (SAC)53

Anticounterfeiting organisations
◆
◆

◆
◆

◆

Anti-Counterfeiting Group (ACG)
Brandowners Protection Group (Gulf Cooperation
Council)Ecole des Sciences Criminelles, UNIL
INDICAM - Associazione italiana per la Lotta alla
Contraffazione
STOP PIRACY – Plate-forme suisse de lutte contre lacontrefaçon et la piraterie◆

The Anti-Counterfeiting Network (REACT)◆

Union des fabricants

Legal organisations◆

Association internationale pour la protection de la
propriété intellectuelle (AIPPI)◆Association suisse du droit de la concurrence◆

Association suisse du droit européen◆

Commission européenne, DG Environnement◆

International Trademark Association (INTA)◆

Ligue internationale du droit de la concurrence◆

Organisation for an International Geographical
Indications Network (Origin)

Rue d’Argent 62502 Biel/Bienne
Switzerland

info@fhs.swiss
www.fhs.swiss
Tél. +41 32 328 08 28