Production methods for watches began to change in the nineteenth century.
In the 1830s, machinery to make gears was introduced to the Swiss watch
industry. Soon the Swiss developed machine tools to make parts precise
enough to be used interchangeably. At first, these tools were used by homeworkers
to improve precision and productivity. Eventually, the watchmakers
began to group machine tools and workers together in a search for further efficiency
gains. Between 1870 and 1910, the organization of the Swiss watch
industry shifted as factory production began to replace homework.