FROM SWITZERLAND, FOR THE WORLD
Exact time in Switzerland
Exact time provides a clear and reliable view of Swiss time and explains the Europe/Zurich time zone, UTC(CH) and seasonal clock changes.
Precise. Simple. Swiss.
THE SWISS REFERENCE
Official time in Switzerland
In Switzerland, the Federal Institute of Metrology METAS is responsible for realizing and disseminating official Swiss time.
Swiss standard time is Central European Time, CET, which is UTC+1. During summer time Switzerland uses CEST, which is UTC+2.
UTC(CH)
Switzerland contributes to world time
METAS operates several atomic clocks and realizes the Swiss time scale UTC(CH). Swiss measurements also contribute to Coordinated Universal Time UTC.
UTC is the international reference from which the world’s time zones are defined.
STANDARD TIME & SUMMER TIME
Switzerland’s yearly rhythm
Like most European countries, Switzerland changes to summer time on the last Sunday in March and returns to standard time on the last Sunday in October.
The expression “winter time” is often used, but standard time is the correct term.
EXACT TIME
A simple and accessible time reference
Exact time presents Swiss time and the key references needed to understand it: official time, the Europe/Zurich zone, the change between CET and CEST, Coordinated Universal Time and metrological references.
Precision
Present time rigorously and transparently.
Simplicity
Information that is immediately readable without unnecessary complexity.
Openness
A Swiss time reference accessible anywhere in the world.
INDEPENDENCE
A private and independent service
exact time is a private independent service. It is neither an official service of the Swiss Confederation nor of METAS and does not replace official metrology institutions.
When institutional or metrological information is presented, the official sources are identified.
SWISS PRECISION IN TIME
One second in thirty million years
Time measurement is one of the fields in which science today reaches its highest levels of precision. In Switzerland, that precision is developed notably at METAS, the Federal Institute of Metrology.
1 second
in 30 million years
Developed by METAS with the University of Neuchâtel, FoCS-2 is one of the world’s most precise caesium atomic clocks. Its level of accuracy corresponds to roughly one second of deviation in thirty million years.
From Switzerland to world time
METAS realises UTC(CH), the Swiss time scale, from its ensemble of atomic clocks. These clocks are continuously compared and linked to the major international time references.
FoCS-2 contributes to International Atomic Time, which forms the basis of Coordinated Universal Time — UTC. Switzerland therefore does more than follow world time: it contributes to its measurement.
Accuracy level stated by METAS for the FoCS-2 primary frequency standard.
Order of magnitude of the uncertainty of the TWSTFT link used by METAS for international comparisons.
The local time scale realised by METAS from its ensemble of atomic clocks.
Precision that serves everyday life
This extreme precision is not an abstract achievement. Exact time and frequency measurement plays a role in satellite navigation, telecommunications, networks, scientific research and many technical infrastructures.
Behind the seconds passing on your screen lies one of the most precise measurements human beings know how to make.
The role of Exact time
Exact time belongs to this Swiss culture of precision. Our role is not to replace METAS, which remains the official metrological authority, but to make time understandable, immediately accessible and pleasant to use.
OFFICIAL SOURCES
Go to the source
exact time
A Swiss reference for exact time. crystal clear !