Horological Meandering

Can anyone answer the question as to why certain dials are marked "Fab. Suisse", even though they already have the marking "Swiss" or "Swiss Made"? Was there a specific legal requirement, for watches being sold in France, that the "Produced in Switzerland... 

and start out thinking in their mother tongue. As far as I know the "Swiss Made" written in English is a requirement of the US Commerce Dept. and thus not needed for watches sold outside the US. The Swiss themselves will be speaking either French, German ... 

Hi, I am not sure if it was a legal requirement... but I know "Fab. Suisse" is found only on watches which were imported to France. just my 2 cent erich

... was brought into force only in 1971, and covers all kinds of indications of origin, be they German "Schweiz", "Schweizer Produkt", English "Swiss", "Swiss made", or french "Suisse" , "Fabriqué en Suisse". So all those designations indicate the same. T... 

I am still struggling to explain the "Fab. Suisse" marking on this Autavia dial, from 1962 / 63. Or the Carrera from 1968 / 70? Why the "Fab. Suisse" in the same hand / style as the "Swiss"? Jeff...  

... that these watches have been exported from Switzerland to France, as suggested below. Apparently, France once had a specific rule for the designation of product origin, not accepting English inscriptions (Swiss). Regards, Marcus

Hi Marcus, I was thinking of vintage watches well before 1970... was there any legal protection before the date you mentioned. I have watched "Fab. suisse" mainly on vintage Omegas as this my main subject when collecting watches. regards erich

I have not studied this in any depth at all, but I recall that Omega seemed to be fond of the "Fab Suisse" marking, inside the caseback and maybe on the movement (but rarely or never on the dial). Longines also seemed to use the mark frequently, over an e... 

Hi Jeff, I am talking about the dial, not the case! "Fab. suisse" on the dial of vintage Omegas I could find only on watches which were imported to France. regards erich

Did some digging as this has intrigued me as well. Getting there slowly. doc.rero.ch ,25,18,19360219.pdf News letter of la Federation Horlogere Suisse , 19 Februrary 1936 My rough translation (parts of it are a pig to translate ) Customs Label "Fab. Suiss... 

But I didn't know the text. This is typically the kind of mention you see on some Vintage JLCs, from the 40ies, and which are dedicated to the French Market. Now, I precisely know why. Thanks, Nick. Best, Nicolas.

Absolutely . . . I owe you a cold beer, or two, in Atlanta, Georgia. In all seriousness, I posted this question on three forums -- TimeZone vintage and Chronocentric / OnTheDash vintage Heuer forum being the other two -- and it's great to see that you hav... 

There was a French law (Art 15. de la loi du 11 janvier 1892) that said that it was prohibited to import into France any product whose brand, name, sign or mark could mislead the consumer in the sense that it could be understood as having been produced in...  

Marv: huge thanks for this fantastic piece of research and writing, to you and all the other contributors to this thread. With your permission, I would love to convert your posting into a webpage, so that it will be available for people trying to figure o... 

And you can of course convert it into a webpage. There should be no problem with the rights. Pics used to illustrate are photos of my watches - except the first illustration that is extracted from a vintage Ad. Could you please highlight the great resourc... 

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HI Marv, Excellent post! I followed up on the 1892 text you mention, and it's part of the law on customs tariffs. Later comments on it mention that it's to prevent customs fraud and protect French industry as much as to protect the consumer, and Swiss cri... 

MTF

A ladies' Jaeger - probably 40s. The band is 12mm at the lugs, so this is a small watch, but evidently not so tiny as to preclude complying with the letter of French law. Ginger...  

Thanks Marv and Nickd for their great detective work. Really great post.

I have created a blog posting / webpage, to capture Marv's message, in a more permanent format. http://www.onthedash.com/thoughts/the-fab-suisse-marking-on-watch-dials/ Many thanks Marv, nickd, and all who provided information. Jeff