The Forbes Magazine, in its September 2000 issue, features watches and watchmanufacturing, with Christian Bedat of Bedat & Co. on the cover page!

What is it about Swiss watches, questions the magazine and takes a look at how their soaring success can be explained. The cover story points out that brands of mechanical watches, despite (thanks to?) their obsolete technology, are sought after luxury items. In today's high tech world Swiss brands, be they century-old names or newcomers, sell mechanical timepieces in a watch frenzy unpredictable ten years ago. Forbes features Geneva's Christian Bedat, of Bedat & Co., whose 1997-founded company is on its way to sell $20 million worth of watches this year. However Bedat is not the sole watch manufacturer quoted in the magazine, which also covers successful brands such as Rolex, Chopard, Patek Philippe, Tag Heuer.
Obsolescence, scarcity, but also the desire to “display” are, according to Forbes, one of the many factors explaining the watch craze seizing the consumer all over the world. And underlying all this stand the great luxury conglomerates, giant predators buying brands at a steady pace.