Swiss vs Japanese watchmaking: history, movements, groups

Par Gabriel Goldberg 10 September 2026 18 min read

A mechanical watch has between 130 and 400 parts. Any country can design one, assemble one, sell one. But almost none can manufacture all of those parts at home. Switzerland and Japan can — with two honest caveats, China and Russia, to which we devote a full chapter. That apparently trivial question explains almost everything you see in a shop window — the prices, the conglomerates, the collaborations, and why a superb French or British house so often hides a Japanese movement under its dial. Two automatic movements side by side, a Swiss calibre with a gilded oscillating weight on a red background on the left and a Japanese calibre with steel finishing on a blue background on the right, split by a white lightning bolt and the letters VS. The short answer: Switzerland and Japan are the only two countries with a complete watchmaking ecosystem — able to produce in-house the critical components: hairspring , escapement , mainspring , jewels , lubricants , quartz oscillator , dials , cases and bracelets . Switzerland built that autonomy over three centuries of craft and industrial consolidation ( Swatch Group , Richemont , LVMH , Rolex ); Japan built it in forty years of vertical integration ( Seiko , Citizen , Casio ). The result: most fine French, British, German or American brands buy their engines from these two countries — very often from Japan's Miyota (Citizen group) or Switzerland's Sellita . An honest caveat: China (Sea-Gull, Fiyta, Beijing) and Russia (Raketa, Vostok)…