Des nations, des firmes et des montres. Histoire globale de l'industrie horlogére de 1850 à nos jours [Countries, companies, and watches: A global history of the watch industry from 1850 to today] by Pierre-Yves Donzé (review)

Studies on the history of watchmaking (watches and clocks) are not new. In 1967, Carlo Cipolla showed the link between watchmaking and modernity (Clocks and Culture 1300–1700). His work was continued in 1983 by David S. Landes, who analyzed the emergence of new uses of time as a result of the invention and improvement of the mechanical clock in the West, in Revolution in Time. Pierre-Yves Donzé is a specialist in the global history of industrial companies, and the watch industry in Switzerland and Japan. His book offers a new synthesis of the history of watchmaking from the mid-1800s to the present day. Unlike earlier works by historians in this field, who compared watchmaking in different countries, Donzé focuses on the emergence of globalized firms in the twentieth century. Considered an ornament under the Ancien Régime, the watch has indeed become a universal object meeting consumers' everyday needs, before evolving into a luxury item once again.

According to Donzé, while watchmaking activities were organized within a national framework until the mid-1900s, everything changed a century later. As in other major industrial sectors, "globalized firms with much weaker territorial roots […] compete on world markets" (p. 10). Donzé takes a systemic approach at company, national, and global levels to highlight the interactions between technology, marketing, political decisions, and the global economy. Readers of this journal will appreciate the importance the author attributes to technology in this evolution. In Donzé's view, "the changes in the conditions of competition and the transformation of the industrial organization of the watch sector are essentially the result of the evolution of technological and institutional factors" (p. 125). These technological factors concern both the watch and its production processes.

Donzé distinguishes four phases in this history. Until 1914, the watch industry centered on the national market. The United States is the best example of this type of operation, based on the model of the large integrated company, which allows both mass production and lower production costs. The Swiss watch industry, which is older and cannot rely on its domestic market, remains globally faithful to the model of the dispersed factory; the importance of this industry's exports is proof of its efficiency. The interwar period saw the spread of protectionism, even in Switzerland, which sometimes went as far as what the author calls "de-globalization." This situation did not prevent innovation or the consolidation of earlier innovations, particularly in Switzerland. There was a tendency to abandon the pocket watch for the wristwatch, which made it possible to develop the ladies' watch. The Swiss firm Rolex, in Bienne, launched the waterproof watch (1926) and automatic movement (1931).

The 1950s and 1960s marked the implementation of standardized mass production, particularly in Japan, where two large companies, Seiko and Citizen, demonstrated their capacity for innovation. They introduced tolerance standards to ensure quality control and the interchangeability of parts. In 1946, Seiko launched the extra-flat pocket watch. In addition, the world's major watchmaking companies began to outsource the assembly and subcontract components with simple technology.

From the 1980s onwards, the major technological innovation of the electronic watch led to an explosion in demand and production, supported by the liberalization of trade and the opening up of China. These events challenged the balance of power between the major watchmaking firms and nations. Multinationals, such as the Swiss firm Swatch Group, are asserting themselves by relying on global value chains. Global marketing is becoming more important than reducing costs. Swiss-based companies are making their mark in the luxury sector, while Chinese production, the largest in volume, remains confined to the low-cost sector.

The eight...