...But in 2009 the Swiss chronometer contest returned.
Organised by the great and the good of Swiss watchmaking, including the Neuchâtel cantonal government, COSC and the Besançon Observatory, the biennial Concours International de Chronométrie, or International Chronometry Competition, professed a noble aim. It wanted to continue the tradition of the chronometer contests of the 19th and 20th century, not just for movements, but for finished watches destined for the purchase by consumers.
But amongst the rules of the contest, one governing the provenance of the timepiece stands out. It reads: “All parts used to build the movement must be made within Europe.