There must be a story behind the relationship between Mercer( England ) and Mercer ( Switzerland )
The website of Long Island Indicator Service Inc (a US repairer) is always worth a look. Try searching on it for "Mercer". Results say things like:
'Mercer indicators, marketed for the UK, are no longer available. They were made in Swizerland and were identical to the Compac indicators except for the brand name on the dial. The dial often, erroneously, read "England" which can lead to confusion.
The older-style Mercer indicators, pre-2001, were made in England. All subsequent Swiss models carry the suffix -1 on the model number. They were a big improvement over the old ones.'
and
'The new generation of Mercer dial indicators are made in Switzerland. These are some of the best inch-reading as well as metric dial indicators available. Many of them are now in stock, and others can be had in about 3 weeks. We present here the most popular models, but please don't hesitate to contact us regarding any indicator with the Mercer name.
One caveat: the old-style Mercer indicators were made in England. Those are no longer available, but you can substitute the new models with confidence. They're a dramatic improvement over the old ones.
Mercer indicators have 8 mm diameter stems and use 2.5 mm contact point threads. The 8 mm stem can be changed to 3/8" using an optional adapter sleeve. They are identical to Compac indicators, using the same stainless steel racks which give these a long useful life. While Compac has discontinued most of its inch reading models, you can find the equivalent still available with the Mercer name.'
The site also has a 'where are they made' list for current production brand-names:
- Alina (Switzerland, discontinued)
- Compac (Tesa) – Switzerland
- Girodtast (Girod) – Switzerland
- Interapid (Tesa) – Switzerland
- Kafer – Germany
- MarTest – Germany
- Mercer (Tesa) – Switzerland
- Mitutoyo – Japan
- Roctest (Tesa) – Switzerland
- SISO-tast (Girod) – Switzerland
- SPI brand – China
- Starrett – USA
- Swisstast (Tesa) – Switzerland
- Teclock – Japan
- Tesatast (Tesa) – Switzerland
The Compac, Interrapid, Mercer, Roctest, Swisstast and Tesatast brands are all made by the same company.
My interpretation is that the original British Mercer company started making DTI's that weren't particularly successful. Like Moore and Wright buying into micrometer technology, Mercer looked to some kind of arrangement with an established Swiss maker, perhaps buying tooling, expertise, parts, and patent licenses. Or even entire movements for re-badging.
This kind of commercial arrangement first seems to have swept clockmaking in the 19th century, with little relationship between the name on the clock-face, and where the parts where made. Dials, hands, movements, and springs tended to be mass produced by specialists, and then assembled by a 'local' clockmaker. Now pretty much everybody does it: manufacturing has ceased to be a national sport. Modern cars are a good example – see thread where a Vauxhall is fitted with a BMW engine. I used to drive a Rover which had a British engine inside a Japanese body with British interior styling. The battery was German and the radio was full of parts marked 'Indonesia', 'Mexico' and 'Philippines'.
I think, over a period 80 years, Mercer first made their own DTI's in England, then upgraded them using Swiss technology, then for a few years sold rebadged swiss-made DTI's, before finishing by selling the brand-name and goodwill to Tesa. Mercer-brand DTI's today are pure Swiss. Will that last? Probably not – sooner or later expect manufacturing to move from Switzerland to any country prepared to do the same job cheaper…
Dave