Followers

Tuesday 7 August 2012

Foto Fun Week 68 - Embossed

watch 007
Now here I am in Switzerland, the inventors of the watch, at least we think we are. So here is my favourite watch, the one I wear most of the time. In 1989 Michel Jordi, a watch company owner who actually comes from the small town of Grenchen, just ten minutes  by car from where I live, had a brilliant idea. He designed a watch with a typically Swiss design. For each Kanton (county/state) he brought a watch with the Kanton emblem on the front and on the back of the watch case you find in colour the shield of the Kanton. The watch straps all have the same design in various colours with an edelweiss flower stitched on them. I remember when they came onto the market, I just loved them and my swiss husband gave me one for Christmas. Mine has the emblem of Kanton Schwyz, although I live and am a Solothurner, I preferred the design of the Schwyz watch. They all have the cows embossed around the dial.

Unfortunately there was a crisis that occurred in the swiss watch industry due to the increase of more and more automatic watches with battery. Many companies collapsed. The so-called Swatch was one of the watches that saved the industry, as well as Michel Jordi's ethno watch as in the picture. Some years ago Michel Jordi also had problems and he became bankrupt, although you can still buy the spare parts for the watch in the photo, and also the watch straps.

To put you in the picture a bit more, the area where I live is or was one of the main centers for watchmaking. In our town of Solothurn we even had the watchmakers school, which has now been moved to Grenchen. Watches are also made in the French part of Switzerland , Geneva and area.

I would add this is not one of those watches costing over 1,000 Swiss francs. It is not cheap, but not a luxury article.

No comments:

Post a Comment