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Not-so-fun fact: a watch designated as “Swiss Made” doesn’t need to be 100 percent made in Switzerland (unlike the US’s stricter requirements). Instead, the industry operates under a 60 percent rule, which dictates that to be labeled “Swiss Made,” a watch’s production value needs to be of Swiss origin and assembled and tested in Switzerland. Not surprisingly, indie Swiss watchmaker H. Moser — who claims its watches are 95 percent Swiss — sees a problem with this and wants to protest the rule. For starters, the brand is no longer labeling its watches as Swiss Made. Furthermore, they’ve unveiled a truly bonkers watch: the Swiss Mad Watch, made out of Swiss cheese. Really.
The Swiss Mad Watch, H. Moser claims, is 100 percent Swiss. This is in part thanks to the 42mm case which is made from a combination of Swiss-made Vacherin Mont d’Or cheese and resin (to, you know, keep it solid and from going bad), as well as Moser’s HMC 327 caliber, an in-house, hand-wound movement with a three-day power reserve. H. Moser is only making one watch, with a price tag of 1,081,291 Swiss Francs (approximately $1.07 million), which it says is a reference to the signing of the Swiss Federal Charter on August 1, 1291. We also can’t help but assume the astronomical price is a dig at the inflated prices of Swiss watches as of late, but H. Moser also notes proceeds of the sale will go to create a fund that will, in the brand’s words, “support independent Swiss watchmaking suppliers currently suffering under the difficult economic situation and outsourcing to Asia.”
Further Reading
What Makes a Watch “American-Made?”
Behind the Scenes at Five Different Watchmakers