History of the ‘watchmaker holidays’

In 1928, the Swiss watch industry's fiduciary body, Fidhor, was founded to regulate relations between banks and watchmakers. Collective agreements now determined production, pricing and export policy.

In 1930, the SSIH Société pour l'Industrie Horlogére SA was founded in Geneva as a financial holding company (AC 5.3 million CHF). Under unified management, it united the finished watch manufacturers (today Swatch Group).

In 1931, the private sector Allgemeine Schweizerische Uhrenindustrie AG (ASUAG) was founded. It was a super holding company that had a virtual monopoly on the production of ebauches and regulators (today's Swatch Group).

1934 On 12 March, a federal decree was issued requiring authorisation for the opening and expansion of companies and for the export of watch components, raw movements and templates. This decree of legal measures is known as the Uhrenstatut (Watch Statute).

On 15 May 1937, nineteen employers' associations and the SMUV trade union signed an agreement to end an impending strike that threatened to spread throughout the entire watchmaking industry. This made the watch industry the first industry in Switzerland to conclude a collective employment agreement. For the first time, this included six days of holiday, mainly for production-related reasons. The watchmakers' holiday is still a familiar concept in the industry today. Although it is no longer implemented across the board, the Convention Patronale issues a recommendation every year on the duration and timing of the summer break.