The Quartz Crisis: A Tragic Decade for Swiss Watchmaking (In-Person)

20 West 44th Street,New York NY 10036

07 September, 2022

Description

The Horological Society of New York (HSNY) September 2022 lecture will take place in person at the General Society Library. The lecture will also be livestreamed. Doors open at 6PM ET, lecture and Zoom livestream to begin at 7PM ET. * Note from the lecturer: Wear a Swatch if you have one! In the early and mid-20th century, the Swiss watchmaking industry was booming — until the quartz crisis happened in the 1970s and shook it to its core. At the September 2022 lecture of the Horological Society of New York (HSNY), watch and jewelry writer Hyla Ames Bauer will discuss the quartz crisis, beginning with what a quartz watch is, and why it's called a quartz watch and not a battery watch (or some other name). The lecture will also include an overview of how successful Swiss watchmaking was prior to the crisis, and how important it was to the Swiss economy. Bauer will describe the rapid development of quartz timepieces in Japan, at a time when the Swiss were just dipping their toes into quartz technology. Ultimately, in the mid-1970s, quartz watches became an inexpensive novelty that attracted millions of buyers. At that time, Swiss brands could not produce quartz watches at lower prices and the industry faltered. How many job losses occurred, and how many brands closed for good? Join us on September 7 as Bauer shares the facts on how Swiss brands were impacted and got back on their feet!