Segment Reporting (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011	Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Sep. 30, 2010	Jun. 30, 2010	Mar. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009
Net Sales to External Customers									$ 2,309,328	$ 1,968,178	$ 1,728,853
Net Sales to Other Segments									0	0	0
Total Net Sales	648,360	601,114	561,088	498,766	592,765	490,213	468,549	416,651	2,309,328	1,968,178	1,728,853
Total Segment Profit									398,503	351,442	294,475
Depreciation									31,689	29,686	29,634
Assets	2,203,474				2,283,063				2,203,474	2,283,063	1,718,787
Purchase of property, plant and equipment									(98,500)	(73,943)	(60,041)
Goodwill	447,743				434,699				447,743	434,699	440,950
U.S. Operations Segment
Net Sales to External Customers									665,245	618,809	539,944
Net Sales to Other Segments									80,013	60,847	48,495
Total Net Sales									745,258	679,656	588,439
Segment Profit									121,398	121,013	105,703
Depreciation									5,757	5,828	6,203
Assets	1,037,176				912,758				1,037,176	912,758	805,466
Purchase of property, plant and equipment									(6,926)	(9,204)	(5,143)
Goodwill	307,485				306,138				307,485	306,138	319,303
Swiss Operations Segment
Net Sales to External Customers									143,520	113,488	107,472
Net Sales to Other Segments									411,788	343,003	288,797
Total Net Sales									555,308	456,491	396,269
Segment Profit									113,997	96,568	81,476
Depreciation									7,581	6,405	6,712
Assets	812,416				772,498				812,416	772,498	586,583
Purchase of property, plant and equipment									(8,178)	(11,870)	(4,983)
Goodwill	22,986				20,579				22,986	20,579	18,649
Western European Operations Segment
Net Sales to External Customers									692,348	600,933	574,109
Net Sales to Other Segments									107,585	91,322	76,141
Total Net Sales									799,933	692,255	650,250
Segment Profit									99,969	85,120	72,201
Depreciation									5,065	4,649	5,333
Assets	953,728				903,964				953,728	903,964	928,141
Purchase of property, plant and equipment									(4,962)	(3,509)	(2,004)
Goodwill	101,899				93,236				101,899	93,236	89,494
Chinese Operations Segment
Net Sales to External Customers									388,592	298,637	232,643
Net Sales to Other Segments									126,550	105,906	70,971
Total Net Sales									515,142	404,543	303,614
Segment Profit									120,857	92,969	69,617
Depreciation									4,920	5,138	4,493
Assets	366,450				353,285				366,450	353,285	214,083
Purchase of property, plant and equipment									(15,601)	(13,605)	(3,360)
Goodwill	710				678				710	678	649
Other Operations Segment
Net Sales to External Customers									419,623	336,311	274,685
Net Sales to Other Segments									6,348	4,338	3,974
Total Net Sales									425,971	340,649	278,659
Segment Profit									50,045	35,166	25,538
Depreciation									2,161	1,854	2,245
Assets	331,613				199,100				331,613	199,100	164,638
Purchase of property, plant and equipment									(4,088)	(2,024)	(1,268)
Goodwill	14,663				14,068				14,663	14,068	12,855
Eliminations and Corporate Segment
Net Sales to External Customers									0	0	0
Net Sales to Other Segments									(732,284)	(605,416)	(488,378)
Total Net Sales									(732,284)	(605,416)	(488,378)
Segment Profit									(107,763)	(79,394)	(60,060)
Depreciation									6,205	5,812	4,648
Assets	(1,297,909)				(858,542)				(1,297,909)	(858,542)	(980,124)
Purchase of property, plant and equipment									(58,745)	(33,731)	(43,283)
Goodwill	$ 0				$ 0				$ 0	$ 0	$ 0