Post by normdiaz on Jul 1, 2013 13:15:25 GMT -8
Apparently Swiss sold through a Hong Kong vendor. (vendor's image)
Found some scant info on PMWF:
"Same Onwership as Pronto, that is why the text below is identical to the PRONTO page
Not much information about this company can be found online. I was surprised to learn a bit about the background when talking to our old watchmaker in Hong Kong. He obviously knows the "resurrector" of the brand: an old Cantonese business man that had bought the rights to a couple of Swiss brands that disappeared in the "Quartz Turmoil" in the 70ies and revived them in the 80ies. Also since seemingly none of the heirs is really interesting to continue the watch business with the passion of the "old man", it seems that some of those brands are quite inactive now.
The FHS (Federation of the Swiss Industry) defines Swiss Made like this. In a nutshell: the movement of the watch should be assembled in Switzerland. Also the fitting into the case, the mounting of dial and hands and the quality control are carried out in Switzerland. 50% of the watch movement caliber have to be manufactured in Switzerland.
As you can see the definition above leaves some room for companies where to setup their workshops. Intuitively I would have labeled the PRONTO brand like the Sandoz Hong Kong brand "Swiss Movts, assembled in HK". However the dials of our incredibly affordable OCTO models say "Swiss Made" and thus I have to believe that the company adheres to the FHS standard definition. I also know that the FHS and the Hong Kong watch industry work together closely. After all the Hong Kong manufacturers need the Basel Watch Fair as an exhibition platform. Thus I believe, that a company could not print wrongfully "Swiss Made" on their dials without the FHS interfering.
Regarding the movements: a 25 Jewel ETA automatic 2846 with handwinding but no hacking is used in all OCTO watches."
Found some scant info on PMWF:
"Same Onwership as Pronto, that is why the text below is identical to the PRONTO page
Not much information about this company can be found online. I was surprised to learn a bit about the background when talking to our old watchmaker in Hong Kong. He obviously knows the "resurrector" of the brand: an old Cantonese business man that had bought the rights to a couple of Swiss brands that disappeared in the "Quartz Turmoil" in the 70ies and revived them in the 80ies. Also since seemingly none of the heirs is really interesting to continue the watch business with the passion of the "old man", it seems that some of those brands are quite inactive now.
The FHS (Federation of the Swiss Industry) defines Swiss Made like this. In a nutshell: the movement of the watch should be assembled in Switzerland. Also the fitting into the case, the mounting of dial and hands and the quality control are carried out in Switzerland. 50% of the watch movement caliber have to be manufactured in Switzerland.
As you can see the definition above leaves some room for companies where to setup their workshops. Intuitively I would have labeled the PRONTO brand like the Sandoz Hong Kong brand "Swiss Movts, assembled in HK". However the dials of our incredibly affordable OCTO models say "Swiss Made" and thus I have to believe that the company adheres to the FHS standard definition. I also know that the FHS and the Hong Kong watch industry work together closely. After all the Hong Kong manufacturers need the Basel Watch Fair as an exhibition platform. Thus I believe, that a company could not print wrongfully "Swiss Made" on their dials without the FHS interfering.
Regarding the movements: a 25 Jewel ETA automatic 2846 with handwinding but no hacking is used in all OCTO watches."
