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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Archive · Bern, Switzerland

Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property

Holds Swiss patent and trademark records used to trace makers and mechanisms.

Overview

Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property is a archive based in Bern, Switzerland. Holds Swiss patent and trademark records used to trace makers and mechanisms.

As an archive, its value lies in documents rather than displayed objects: ledgers, registers, patents, correspondence, drawings or production records.

Production and sales ledgers can confirm when and to whom a specific numbered watch was delivered — evidence that marks on the object alone cannot give.

Photographs

Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property — lead image of the Wikipedia article “Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property”
Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property — lead image of the Wikipedia article “Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property” — See file page (Wikimedia Commons / Wikipedia), See file page. Wikimedia Commons file page

Photographs are illustrative examples of the type, not necessarily the exact object described. Verify details against the source file page.

Using it for research

  • Ask whether the archive issues extracts or certificates for individual serial numbers, and on what terms.
  • An extract confirms what the records state about the original object; it does not by itself prove that every part of a watch today is original.

Before you visit

  • Archives are usually accessible by written request or appointment only.