Swiss Army Watches

You may have noticed that there are two "real" Swiss Army Watches. Both Victorinox and Wenger manufacture Swiss watches, with similar emblems. Both have crosses, but Victorinox surrounds theirs with the familiar shield from their knives, and Wenger uses a square with curved sides for a border. The reality is that Wenger is owned by Victorinox, so both are real. Victorinox watches sit higher on the price line than Wenger, but both deserve your attention.

1891 Karl Elsener first supplies the Swiss Army with soldiers' knives.

1909 First use of the Victorinox cross and shield on Elsener's knives, to discourage counterfeiting.

1945 American soldiers buy large numbers of the "Swiss Officer's Knife" from PX's, and dub them the "Swiss Army Knife," for short.

1989 Swiss army watches are introduced in America.

One of the two big makers of Swiss Army Watches is Victorinox...and Victorinox happens to be the company facing the lion's share of knockoff products. Beware: A lot of counterfeit Victorinox Swiss Army Watches are out there.

Recently Victorinox filed a lawsuit to seize pirated copies of their "Classic
VICTORINOX took legal action to seize copies of the "Classic" pocket knife. That was bad enough, but now copies of their watches are also showing up. This is especially true in some poorer countries (Central America has the largest problem). So how do you tell the difference? Some of the counterfeits are so good that it's unrealistic to expect that you can tell the difference. Therefore the best way to make sure you get the real deal is to only deal with reputable jewelers. Run-down stores you've never heard of , street vendors, and websites without a proven reputation should be avoided.