The perfect enticement for a tourist seeking an affordable Swiss timepiece. Many of its chronographs were stylish and high-end in appearance, using steel or thin gold-plated cases (in some cases solid 14k or 18k gold) and fancy dials.

These companies provided high-quality, reliable but relatively inexpensive movements – in the same vein as Seiko or ETA today (understanding that Seiko isn’t Swiss, but you get the idea). Most of its watches, whether self-branded or adopted by others, had Swiss Venus, Landeron or Valjoux movements. That’s not an entirely accurate comparison, however, as Chronographe Suisse didn’t produce in-house movements. Those brands don’t have Seiko on their dials and the same movement powers many of Seiko’s own pieces. It often reminds me of companies like Seiko (relatively speaking, of course), which provides movements and parts to other brands, such as the Seiko calibre NH35A used by multiple micro brands. It’s difficult to really pin down the roots of Chronographe Suisse. Let’s take a closer look at this somewhat forgotten chapter of twentieth-century watch history. This successful business model thrived from the 1940s to the 1970s, before the quartz revolution wreaked havoc on the industry overall. At its peak, over 500 workshops were producing watches with supplies from Chronographe Suisse. Popular in the European market as (relatively) cheap Swiss watches for tourists, Chronographe Suisse became a significant revenue source for small, often forgettable brands and many of these watches are collectables today. It sold watches with in-house “Chronographe Suisse” branding as well, adding some confusion into the mix. Even local jewellers branded these watches as their own. Back in the 1940s, a brand known as Chronographe Suisse (Swiss Chronograph) provided inexpensive “generic” chronograph watches and parts for brands to adopt and add their name. Not all companies can build from scratch and even major luxury brands use ETA movements and various outsourced components. to assemble at their base location, and then stamp their name on the dial and call it their own. It’s not uncommon for watch brands to outsource cases, movements, crystals, straps, etc.

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