Enraged Swiss watchmaker writes open letter to Swiss National Bank

Edouard Meylan, CEO of swiss watch company, H. Moser & Cie has written an open letter to the Swiss National Bank after it scrapped a three-year old cap on the franc. The Swiss National Bank caught markets off-guard on Thursday when it announced that it was abandoning the minimum rate of 1.20 francs, with Swiss currency immediately gaining 30% against the euro, before stabilising around 15% higher than Wednesday’s rate. The sudden policy U-turn saw the sent the currency soaring against the euro and the US dollar, with shares tumbling by around 4%. The decision has affected companies who export their products, particularly H. Moser & Cie, with Meylan claiming that 95% of its watches are sold to people outside of Switzerland. In a letter to the Swiss National Bank, Meylan said: “over 95% of our watches are sold to people outside of Switzerland, and the first retailers called the same day to cancel orders. In fact, one thought crossed my mind: why not just move two kilometres into Germany and continue business as usual in the EU? “I trust you have a strong plan that will help all of us make it through with you over the long term. Because otherwise, along with many other wonderful Swiss creations, H. Moser watches may just have become very, very, very rare.” Below is the full letter from Meylan: Dear Mr. President, I wanted to personally and publicly thank you, regarding your dramatic move releasing the minimum Swiss Franc exchange rate of 1.20 to the Euro. When I woke up that morning I had a strange feeling. As I checked the news, I wondered, “What am I going to do today?” aside from our usual business in January. There was no new conflict, no big news about emerging markets slowing down, and thank goodness, no new terror attack. I am an entrepreneur, and I own a small watch manufacture called H. Moser & Cie, based in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Very Rare is our tagline at H. Moser & Cie. Very Rare, because we produce 1,000 watches, we are entrepreneurs in an independent, family-owned business that employs 55 people, and because we are a manufacture in the true sense of the word, developing and producing our own ingenious watches. As an entrepreneur in a small Swiss company, I like a challenge; whether it’s the pressure from the big luxury groups in supply or distribution. Or, a fight to do more with small budgets against the avalanche of big advertising and marketing. Well, today, Mr. President, your dramatic move helped step it up a notch: over 95% of our watches are sold to people outside of Switzerland, and the first retailers called the same day to cancel orders. So this morning at 10:38 when my CFO sent me an email titled “Breaking News”, I thought “aha, finally something to do”. Something that forces me to find smart solutions to continue our growth and improving profitability and to ensure continuity for H. Moser & Cie. and the jobs for 55 people working for me. In fact, one thought crossed my mind: why not just move 2 kilometres into Germany and continue business as usual in the EU? I’ll even beat that other restriction on permits for workers from the EU that came up in February 2014 – around 20% of my employees are German. Let me make my appeal clear to you, on behalf of the many small and mid-size businesses that employ so many Swiss people: I trust you have a strong plan that will help all of us make it through with you over the long term. Because otherwise, along with many other wonderful Swiss creations, H. Moser watches may just have become very, very, very rare. Sincerely, Edouard Meylan CEO of H. Moser & Cie.