A “Made in the USA” Swiss watch

I was having a conversation with an acquaintance as we stood gazing into a showroom display case full of Swiss watches that were probably worth at least a quarter of a million dollars.

He was throwing the “t” word around. No, not the “T” word, although its presence hovered heavy in the room.

He was defending tariffs, which of course has everything to do with the “T” word he was trying desperately to avoid saying aloud.

It had started with a simple question from me, a fellow watch enthusiast: “How do you think tariffs will effect the sale of Swiss watches in the United States?”

It’s a very relevant question if you’re into that kind of thing.

As it turned out, “Liberation Day” came during Watches and Wonders 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland, a large annual gathering of watch brands, retailers, watch journalists, and enthusiasts at which major brands launch the latest novelties they hope will capture the hearts and minds of buyers around the world and separate them from the cash in their wallets.

But amid the celebration, watch brand representatives and CEOs were suddenly fielding questions about the impact of tariffs that they were ill-prepared to answer. It was a five-alarm fire for major brands as they weighed difficult decisions about upcoming marketing and sales to the United States, which is by far the largest consumer of Swiss watches in the world.

In the weeks that followed, Swiss manufacturers slowly rolled out their battle plans amid the fog of “clarifications” and delays as countries exchanged shots in a trade war that seemed to stem from a man obsessed with his own gilded imagination more than hard data or widely-recognized economic facts.

A few brands held their prices at current levels and took the full hit on their margins, some split in varying proportions the increased costs with consumers, and others announced that buyers would bear the full brunt.

Whether or not “T’s” own brand of overpriced and gaudy, made-mostly-in-China timepieces will receive an exemption from tariffs remains up in the air.

“Well,” he responded hesitantly, “difficult to say. Seems brands are all over the place on how to handle it. I think it’ll be okay, but nobody can tell for sure.”

Then the conversation took a turn. He started with “Not to get too political, but,” which, of course, meant things were about to get very political.

The smell of some serious MAGA-splaining was in the air.

“For a long time now, countries have been taking advantage of us. I believe that this is a negotiating tactic, but still it’s high time we do something about it. Everyone knew he was going to shake things up, so now he’s doing what the people asked for,” he said, skipping the glaring fact that about half the country didn’t ask for that, and much of the other half didn’t understand the full impact of a trade war and all the various and sundry “shock and awe” of the last three months.

Strong words, but he didn’t say them with much passion or conviction. It was as if he was carefully reciting a script in hushed tones, waiting to see my reaction.

He seemed, dare I say, apologetic, perhaps worried about opening up a can of worms that might start to slither across that pristine display case glass and slime it up until the topic at hand was totally obscured.

I remained deadpan and silent as he performed his delicate dance. He continued, “Maybe companies will finally get the message that they need to start building things in the United States.”

He had now talked himself into a corner. I smiled and cocked my head to one side like a dog trying to understand human gobbledygook. With a lift of my brow, I looked down at the case full of . . . Swiss . . . watches, and then back at him.

Realizing his predicament, he stated the obvious, “Of course, that wouldn’t really be possible with Swiss watches.”

I could have added, “Nor just about anything else,” but didn’t.

At that, the absurdity of a “Made in the USA” Swiss watch was laid bare, and the “not too political” conversation ended with no one any closer to understanding where we were, how we got there, or where we were going.