Copying a post from [mention]tommy_boy[/mention] (Thanks!) here. After much confusion, the takeaway from this saga for the time being is that Swatch is no longer permitted to continue selling mechanical movements in 2020 pending another ruling from Switzerland's Competition Commission this upcoming summer. See the link above. I'm also adding another article from WatchPro below, as it contains the response from Swatch Group. Swatch is challenging the Commission's assertion of their monopoly, as estimates are that they sold just half a million movements in the past year in comparison to 1.2 million units sold by their biggest competitor Sellita.tommy_boy wrote: ↑Fri Dec 20, 2019 8:35 am This post on the Monochrome site is a pretty good read, IMO. ETA has another year to ship to Swatch competitors, then go through the same dance off with COMCO.
https://monochrome-watches.com/news-com ... d-parties/
Meanwhile, Sellita, Citizen, Seiko, Sea-Gull, et al, crank out perfectly suitable movements.
Swatch Group’s statement attacking Swiss Competition Commission’s decision in full
Edit: Also see the SJX article in TB's post below. ETA will be permitted in 2020 to sell movements to brands with 250 employees or less.