????瑞士西北角的汝拉山脈之中藏著一個名叫馬戈林根的小村莊。技藝精湛的工匠就在這個村子的一棟白色小屋內，創造了諸多享譽世界的奢華手表。比如配有18克拉黃金、101顆粉紅色和白色鉆石，售價高達89,100美元的玫瑰花邊鉆石表(Dentelle et Diamants et Roses)。

????但這些日子以來，Delance SA公司的裝配工卻感受不到這家手表制造商的座右銘——“大膽，挑逗，女人味十足，功能強大”——帶來的踏實感。在這個瑞士機械制表業的搖籃，像Delance 這樣的小公司還有幾十家。

????10月25日，瑞士監管機構做出了一個令人震驚的裁決。根據這項裁決，總部位于比爾湖對岸的手表巨擘斯沃琪集團(Swatch Group)可以削減出售給Delance公司和其他競爭對手的關鍵零部件數量。

????以生產彩色塑料手表著稱的斯沃琪集團是世界上最大的鐘表公司。在這個阿爾卑斯山國家，斯沃琪集團幾乎壟斷了精密機械機芯和其他部件的制造和銷售。但從明年開始，這家公司將改變已經延續了三十多年的做法，開始削減出售給競爭對手的關鍵零部件數量。最初削減25%，再逐年減少，直至2019年12月31日徹底停止供應。

????這項具有里程碑意義的裁決猶如一發炮彈，著實嚇壞了Delance這樣的小公司。有識之士甚至認為，向來以高度分散著稱、發展歷史可上溯至16世紀初期、價值數十億美元的瑞士豪華手表業可能將迎來一場殘酷的大洗牌。

????這次裁決“將讓大量小公司遭受了無盡的痛苦，”Delance公司首席執行官吉賽爾?魯弗在一封電子郵件中寫道。她還表示，她的公司將不得不動用營運資金儲備物資，竭力爭奪新的供應商，還有可能提高手表售價。一個迫在眉睫的問題是，Delance手表多為量身定做的產品，其他供應商的零部件或許無法滿足這種需要。在男性主導的瑞士制表業中，魯弗一向被視為最具影響力的女性高管，她肯定明白這個道理——在1996年離開斯沃琪集團、創建Delance公司之前，魯弗曾經幫助這家業內翹楚推出了兒童系列手表。

????4個世紀前，加爾文教徒禁止佩戴首飾的改革方案促使日內瓦的金匠發明手表，瑞士制表業由此發軔。而今天的這項裁定堪稱瑞士制表業自創立以來遭受的最大沖擊之一。

????現在，幾十家小型私人制表商正在匆忙而緊張地討論著一個問題：它們能否承受自己生產零部件所需的數千萬美元投資資金？行業分析師正在暗自評估投資者收購小型制表商，以及小制表商合并為集團的可能性。另外一些制表商則想知道，中國是否有可能成為新的供應商。

????盡管這項裁決并不影響擒縱輪（讓一只手表滴答作響的螺旋形輪轂），但它確實涵蓋平衡輪、齒輪傳動鏈和主發條等關鍵部件，而“瑞士制造”的神秘性和標簽皆有賴于此。

????斯沃琪集團女發言人比阿特麗斯?豪沃爾德表示，公司認為這項裁決是“積極的，盡管只是帶有試探性的第一步，但它的最終目標是明確告知瑞士鐘表業的所有品牌和公司，他們必須自己投資生產機械機芯，承擔相關的行業風險。”?????

????Inside a white chalet in the tiny village of Magglingen, tucked into the Jura mountains in the northwest corner of Switzerland, skilled artisans create luxury watches like the Dentelle et Diamants et Roses, an 18-carat gold confection with 101 pink and white diamonds that fetches up to $89,100.

????But the establisseurs, or assemblers, at Delance SA, one of dozens of tiny firms in this cradle of Swiss mechanical watchmaking, are not feeling Delance's motto of "audacious, erotic, feminine, and powerful" these days.

????A shocking ruling by Swiss regulators on Oct. 25 will allow Swatch Group, the behemoth watch empire headquartered across nearby Lake Biel, to cut back sales of critical parts to Delance and other competitors.

????Swatch, the world's largest watch company, known for its colorful plastic watches, owns a near-monopoly on the manufacturing and sale of precision mechanical movements and components in the Alpine nation. But starting next year it will cut essential supplies it has sold to competitors for more than three decades, first by 25%, then tapering them each year until Dec. 31, 2019, when it will pull the plug entirely.

????The landmark ruling has shell-shocked small firms like Delance -- and sparked speculation that Switzerland's multi-billion dollar luxury watch industry, a highly fragmented world whose roots date to the 1500s, may be due for a shakeout.

????The ruling "will put a lot of small companies in great pain," Giselle Rufer, the chief executive of Delance, wrote in an email. She added that she would have to tie up working capital by stockpiling supplies, scrambling for new suppliers and potentially raising her prices for watches like the Dentelle. One looming problem: The tailored cases of Delance watches might not fit parts from other suppliers. Rufer, regarded as the most influential woman in the male-dominated world of Swiss watchmaking, should know: She launched Swatch's children's line before leaving the giant to found Delance in 1996.

????The ruling is one of the biggest shifts to hit Swiss watchmaking since its founding four centuries ago in Geneva, when Calvinist reforms prohibiting the wearing of jewelry spurred goldsmiths to invent watches.

????Now dozens of smaller, privately owned makers are buzzing about whether they can afford tens of millions of dollars needed to invest in their own manufacturing of parts. Industry analysts are whispering about potential acquisitions of smaller watchmakers by investors and the consolidation of makers into larger groups. And some makers are wondering whether China may become a new supplier.

????While the ruling does not affect escapements -- the elaborate, spiral-shaped wheels that make a watch tick -- it does cover other parts critical to the "Swiss-Made" mystique and label, including balance wheels, gear trains, and mainsprings.

????Beatrice Howald, a spokeswoman for Biel-based Swatch, said that the company views the ruling as "a positive, albeit tentative, first step toward finally making it clear to all the brands and groups in the Swiss watch industry that they have to invest in their own mechanical movements and assume the associated industrial risk themselves."?????