SWI swissinfo

Three blue barracks - known as "Conference Row" - coect North Korea (visible across the street) and the South. It's here that the armistice agreement between the countries was signed in 1953, though the conflict between them technically still persists(swissinfo.ch) For more than six decades, Swiss soldiers have been based on the border between North Korea and South Korea, known as the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ). Despite its name, it is in fact the most militarised zone in the world. On one side are two million North Korean soldiers and 14,000 artillery guns pointed at Seoul. The other side is guarded by 600,000 South Korean soldiers.T...

luca1 Luca Luca Orduña, 27, put all his eggs in one basket. At the age of 22, he went to Japan for the first time and set himself up in business. Fascinated by the varied cuisine and the natural environment, this adventurous entrepreneur still isn’t thinking about retuing to Switzerland. As the manager of a company that distributes Swiss clocks...

Do consumers still love Swiss luxury watches, like this one from Omega? (Keystone) The past year has been nightmarish for the Swiss watch industry, and this trend continued over the summer. Swiss watch export data – a closely watched barometer of trends across the sector – showed a 14.2% fall year-on-year to July, provoked by the combined impact of weak global economic growth, a collapse in Hong Kong, terrorism in Europe and competition from smartwatches. But some have spotted the early signs of a tuaround, in part prompted by Britain’s vote to leave the European Union in June. While Switzerland’s Swatch Group’s operating profits fell 54% to CHF353 million ($367 million) in the first hal...

Many shops sell second-hand watches in the US, like the Toueau shop in Manhattan Destocking new watches and selling them through alteative chaels is a taboo subject in the Swiss watchmaking industry. It’s a growing phenomenon spurred on by the business slowdown in some regions of the world and the fact that retailers are drowning in unsold goods. In watchmaking circles, they call him Momo the Cleaner. Maurice Goldberger, founder and manager of Canadian company Chiron Inc. specialises in the sale of unsold goods manufactured by the most prestigious brands. His business is booming. In 2015, he bought up around the world more than €500 million (CHF541 million) worth of new luxury items...