I always thought Swiss watches were automatically better

Not crazy. Swiss is a geographic label, not a quality guarantee. There are amazing Swiss makers and mediocre ones. Same everywhere.

I used to think that too until I saw a hand-finished German skeleton in person. The chamfering was sharper than my Swiss piece at twice the price. Really opened my eyes.

Swiss marketing is just stronger. That's the main difference.

There are Swiss brands that outsource entire movements and just case them up. Skeletonizing those often reveals pretty rough finishing underneath.

I've owned skeeleton watches from Switzerland, Japan, and Germany. At comparable price points, the Japanese ones often have better consistency in finishing. The Swiss ones can be stunning but it varies more by brand.

Grand Seiko finishing is no joke. Their zaratsu polishing on skeleton brid ges looks incredible under a loupe.

I still lean Swiss for heritage and service network, but I won't deny that others have caught up in pure finishing.

Wasn't there a study showing that blind-tested watchmakers couldn't reliably distinguish Swiss from German finishing? I recall something like that but can't find it.

Blind tests are tricky because finishing preferences vary. Some prefer the Geneva stripes, others prefer the Glashütte ribbing. Neither is objectively 'better'.

I've handled a few Swiss skeletons where the anglage was clearly machine-done and not cleaned up. Meanwhile a mid-range Japanese piece had properly polished bevels. Price and origin don't always correlate with effort.

At the end of the day, judge each watch on its own merits. Origin is just one data point ngl.