SWISS WATCH INDUSTRY - Origins and History. The art of making timepieces.

Swiss watch industry beginings. How it was started in 1541. Reforms implemented by Jean Calvin and banning the wear of jewels, forced the goldsmiths and other jewelers to turn into a new, independent craft : watchmaking. By the end of the century, Genevan watches were already reputed for their high quality, and watchmakers created in 1601 the Watchmakers' Guild of Geneva, the first to be established anywhere.