Manufacture

The word is used constantly, and almost always of oneself. Jaeger-LeCoultre describes itself on its own site as "one of the only true Manufactures with the capacity to produce all its luxury watches in their entirety, from design to production", "Bringing together 82 workshops, 108 crafts and 235 techniques – including 69 signature ones - under the same roof". That is the company's own claim about itself, cited here as evidence of how the word is used, not of what it means.

Swiss law does not appear to reach it. The Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property records only two industry ordinances for Swiss indications of source, one for watches and one for cosmetics, and the watch ordinance regulates the words "Swiss" and "Swiss made". The Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry's own guide reproducing that ordinance contains no occurrence of "manufacture", "manufacture d'horlogerie", "in-house" or "calibre maison".

Nor does Swiss horological standardisation. The list of available NIHS standards published by FH contains nothing on the term. It does list two vocabulary standards (NIHS 02-03, Vocabulaire horloger – Partie 1: Définitions technico-scientifiques, and NIHS 02-04, Partie 2: Définitions technico-commerciales), and the second is where a commercial term might sit. The list gives titles only, so neither has been read here. That is the one door left open.

What this Codex does not claim: that the word is unregistered anywhere. Swissreg, the EUIPO register and WIPO's Global Brand Database were not successfully queried for this entry. And no instrument read here sets a threshold of any kind: no minimum proportion of components made in-house, no list of trades that must be practised on site, no auditor.