Book Review
The Business of Time. A Global History of The Watch Industry
Pierre-Yves Donzé
is a Professor of Business History at Osaka University and also lectures at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland
Pierre-Yves Donzé is a Professor of Business History at Osaka University and also lectures at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. He is the author of numerous publications on the watch industry and this is his latest offering.
This book is packed with history from cover to cover giving a detailed look at the evolution of the watch industry from an economist’s perspective. It starts with the big bold statement : “The Swiss watch industry does not exist“ and explains how the notion of a national industry has changed for all countries, and why.
It offers a unique insight into how the industry evolved, looking at the transition of dominance between countries in the watch industry. It neatly presents the evolution of each territory in short, easy-to-digest sections, including statistics and plenty of economic data. Not only presenting who lost out but also what factors helped this transition. I found that the global approach kept my attention and felt that the sections were compact, leaving me wanting to learn more. The book is well illustrated, featuring photographs of factories – inside and out – and historical publicity, as well as images of wrist and pocket watches. Each chapter has either graphs to ponder or an illustration to admire – not to an extent that I felt it was a coffee-table book, but enough to keep me engrossed throughout. Although the illustrations are in black and white, this did not detract from the interest of the book and in fact it served to enhance the nostalgic impact of the old publicity. This book is not about the craftsmanship, or even the watches, this book is as the title states “The Business of Time” and more importantly the history of this global industry.
CONTENTS
Introduction
1 The situation in the mid-nineteenth century
2 Responding to the American challenge, 1870-90
3 A first phase of technological and industrial diffusion, 1890-1914
4 The transformation of the watch industry, 1914-45
5 A first wave of foreign direct investment, 1945-70
6 The impact of electronics, 1970-85
7 Reorganisation of global value chains since 1985
8 Epilogue: the world watch industry in 2017
Conclusion
If you enjoy reading about the historical side of the industry, then this book will not disappoint.
Additional info:
The English version is a translation of the French book. A paper back version will be released soon.
The French version is (I am told) 95% identical to the English version however the French version is not illustrated in the same manner with only graphs pointing out economic data. It is not hardback and the artwork on the cover is completely different. See below.
For those of you that feel you have read everything ever printed about watches, this book contains a 10-page bibliography where you will find all manner of publications that may also be of interest.
French version
The French version is slightly smaller and paper back.
This book is available in English, French and soon in Japanese. The English version is published by Manchester University Press.