The Business of Time

The business of time explores the evolution of the global watch industry from the mid-nineteenth century to the present, offering a comprehensive history of the sector. Watch production today is concentrated in three countries: Switzerland for luxury products, Japan for mid-range and China for mass-produced. The industry is dominated by a dozen large companies, most of them organised on a global scale. But a hundred years ago the picture was quite different. Throughout the twentieth century, countries such as Great Britain, France and the United States saw the industrial manufacture of watches disappear from their territory, while Hong Kong went from being a subcontractor to an intermediary between China and the world market. Highlighting the conditions that enabled watch production to spread around the globe, The business of time explains how multinationals came to dominate the industry and how Swiss companies established themselves as the undisputed leader in luxury watches.

The business of time presents a comprehensive history of the global watch industry from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Watch production in the twenty-first century is concentrated in three countries: Switzerland, Japan and China. The industry is dominated by a dozen or so large companies, including the Swatch Group, Richemont, LVMH, Seiko and Fossil. But a hundred years ago the picture was dramatically different. Over the course of a century, Great Britain, France, the United States and Russia saw the manufacture of watches disappear from their territory. At the same time, Hong Kong went from being a subcontractor of watch components to an intermediary between Chinese factories and the world market. Revealing the conditions that drove the spread of watch production around the globe, The business of time explains how multinationals emerged to dominate the industry and highlights how Swiss companies were able to establish themselves as the undisputed leader in luxury watches.