This may seem like an odd question to ask as i've been collecting watches for some time but ....

WHY SWITZERLAND ?

Why have the Swiss become so renowned for quality watches ?
I'm certain there are many historical reasons which have combined to have helped Switzerland evolve into the premier producers of watches.
I can instantly offer up some ideas under the following headings :
- GEOGRAPHY
- TAXES
- TECHNOLOGY
- POLITICAL ASSISTANCE

Add in some other major influences such as the fact that Switzerland has remained neutral throughout 2 world wars and had political stability for some hundreds of years we can see they have had furtile ground to build up the watch making industries.

There are still further questions i have to the above.
I dont want to stir up a hornets nest here but in terms of simplicity i think of Switzerland as a tri-culture country, divided along the lines of the 3 major spoken languages ( German, French , Italian ). Which one of these 3 cultures has the bulk of watch production (or perhaps even the major labels) within Switzerland?

I'm hoping to provoke some thoughtful responses from the forum readers here.

Have a think and i look forward to reading your idea's.

- Darren