Many people travel through Switzerland with the intentions of purchasing anything ranging from a fine collector’s timepiece to a much less expensive Swatch-style watch. In terms of styles, there are basically two to consider: the quartz movement kind which are accurate to approximately one minute variance per year, or the mechanical styles which generally are composed of well over 100 plus parts. 90% percent of all watches made are of quartz movement while the remaining 10% mechanical styles are either manual (which need to be wound) or automatic (self-winding). The latter is what most of the high-end, expensive models constitute. In fact, it was Rolex who introduced the first such self-winding model called the Perpetual in 1931 which utilized the wearer’s arm movements to keep ticking.
In recent years the popularity of Swatch watches has allowed them to acquire the illustrious firms of Longines, Omega, and Rado. Many other major brands exist such as Audemars-Piguet, Pierre Balmain, Baume and Mercier, Bedat, Blancpain, Breguet, Bulgari, Cartier, Certina, Chaumet, Chopard, Corum, Ebel, Eterna, Franck-Muller, Girard-Perregaux, Gucci, Hublot, Jaeger-Le Coultre, Mechel Jordi, Parmigiani Fleurier, Jacob Jensen, Sector, Ulysse Nardin, Vacheron-Constantin, Van Cleef & Arpels, Patek Philippe, and Zenith.
- TAG Heuer www.tagheuer.com
- Rolex www.rolex.com
- Breitling www.breitling.com
- Longines www.longines.com
- Movado www.movado.com
- Omega from Biel (Bienne) since 1879 www.omegawatches.com
- Patek-Philippe www.patek.com
- Piaget www.piaget.com
- IWC (International Watch Company) www.iwc.com
- Rado www.rado.com
- Raymond Weil www.raymond-weil.com
- Swiss Army Watches by Wenger Co. or Victorinox www.swissarmy.com
- Swatch www.swatch.com
- Oris www.oris.ch
- Tissot www.tissot.ch
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