chmandaue
110
1978 interview with the president of the Federation of Swiss Watch Industry
Link
I am continuing to look for primary source material on the 1970s and early 80s crisis in Swiss watchmaking. ‘Primary’ means from people who were there, original documents etc. (anybody have a copy of the Hayek
Report?)
As FH president, the interviewee Matthey had a higher level view than the GP president whose interview I shared yesterday, but points to the same pressing problem in 1978, which was an overly cheap US dollar.
He also broaches the subject of "we haven’t yet reached the limits of collaboration at the Swiss level"
Which is code for mergers, i.e. the historical O/L/M/C/T brands losing their independence (and their privilege of bleeding bank money) by getting folded into the yet-to-be Swatch Group
Matthey also talks about outsourcing, and I found for illustration: 1978 and 1979 ads from a bracelet maker with (amazingly) factories in Japan, Korea, HK and a new Swiss plant.
Additionally, a Europa Star editiorial from the same period corroborates the exact same main concern - a Swiss franc exchange rate that made exporting profitably impossible.
