In a factory surrounded by snow-covered peaks, technicians in lab coats use tweezers to assemble tiny metal parts into self-winding watches.

Once they've been checked through microscopes for precision and packed in satin-lined boxes, the timepieces are shipped off to boutiques along Los Angeles' Rodeo Drive or swanky outlets in London's Knightsbridge, where they'll sell for thousands of dollars.

This is Japan, not Switzerland.