Horological Meandering

Rolex SA, ETA SA, etc.? I'm sure someone will know the answer to this question. I have often wondered to myself what the initials stand for, but searches bring too many results and I have never read any watch related material with the definition. Thanks, ... 

for Germany it means Saxony (Like in "A. Lange & Söhne, Glashütte i/SA") ;-) Edwin

This said, could someone confirm that SA (for société anonyme as quoted by Bill) corresponds to Ltd (limited) in the UK and Corp. or Inc. for US based companies ? When located in the German speaking part of Switzerland or even Germany, SA is switched to A... 

SA literally translates to anonymous company being a company made up of share holders. Each country that has this type of legal entity has it own rules as to the formation and regulation such as minimum of shareholders , number of directors, minimum paid ...