Guides
Guides for watch founders
Practical, sourced guides on building a watch brand with Swiss suppliers.
11 min read
How to start a Swiss Made watch brand
A practical guide for founders: choosing a production model, sourcing a Swiss movement and components, prototyping, assembly and meeting the legal Swiss Made requirements.
8 min read
Swiss Made rules for watches, explained
What the law actually requires for a watch to be labelled Swiss Made: the five conditions, what makes a movement Swiss, what counts in the 60% rule, and how the Swiss movement and Swiss case designations differ.
7 min read
Minimum order quantities in watch manufacturing, explained
Why Swiss watch suppliers set minimum order quantities, how MOQs work across movements, cases, dials and assembly, and practical ways for a micro-brand to launch with a small first run.
8 min read
Private label or your own supply chain? How to choose
The two ways to produce a Swiss Made watch brand: working with a private label manufacturer, or coordinating your own suppliers. What each route involves, the trade-offs, and how to choose for a first collection.
7 min read
How to write a sourcing request to a Swiss watch supplier
What to include in a request for quotation to a Swiss watch manufacturer or component supplier, a template you can adapt, and the mistakes that make suppliers ignore a request.
7 min read
Watch assembly stages explained: T0, T1, T2 and T3
What the T0, T1, T2 and T3 assembly stages mean in Swiss watchmaking, what happens at each step, which ones a micro-brand usually outsources, and how they relate to Swiss Made.
10 min read
The trades behind a Swiss watch: who does what
An illustrated guide to the Swiss watch supply chain: designers, movement makers, bar turners, case, dial and hands makers, decorators, enamellers, assemblers and more, with their French names.