Segment Reporting (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011	Mar. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2010	Jun. 30, 2010	Mar. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Net Sales to External Customers									$ 2,341,528	$ 2,309,328	$ 1,968,178
Net Sales to Other Segments									0	0	0
Total Net Sales	657,292	648,360	578,553	570,283	535,400	601,114	561,088	498,766	2,341,528	2,309,328	1,968,178
Total Segment Profit									444,499	398,503	351,442
Depreciation									33,421	31,689	29,686
Assets	2,117,400	2,203,474							2,117,400	2,203,474	2,283,063
Purchase of property, plant and equipment									(95,588)	(98,500)	(73,943)
Goodwill	452,351	447,743							452,351	447,743	434,699
U.S. Operations Segment
Net Sales to External Customers									699,361	665,245	618,809
Net Sales to Other Segments									78,759	80,013	60,847
Total Net Sales									778,120	745,258	679,656
Segment Profit									138,894	121,398	121,013
Depreciation									5,799	5,757	5,828
Assets	1,128,902	1,037,176							1,128,902	1,037,176	912,758
Purchase of property, plant and equipment									(10,988)	(6,926)	(9,204)
Goodwill	307,933	307,485							307,933	307,485	306,138
Swiss Operations Segment
Net Sales to External Customers									124,362	143,520	113,488
Net Sales to Other Segments									406,485	411,788	343,003
Total Net Sales									530,847	555,308	456,491
Segment Profit									133,691	113,997	96,568
Depreciation									7,194	7,581	6,405
Assets	921,253	794,319							921,253	794,319	754,419
Purchase of property, plant and equipment									(5,529)	(8,178)	(11,870)
Goodwill	23,684	22,986							23,684	22,986	20,579
Western European Operations Segment
Net Sales to External Customers									644,361	692,348	600,933
Net Sales to Other Segments									101,952	107,585	91,322
Total Net Sales									746,313	799,933	692,255
Segment Profit									95,523	99,969	85,120
Depreciation									4,947	5,065	4,649
Assets	985,011	971,825							985,011	971,825	922,043
Purchase of property, plant and equipment									(5,504)	(4,962)	(3,509)
Goodwill	105,522	101,899							105,522	101,899	93,236
Chinese Operations Segment
Net Sales to External Customers									432,255	388,592	298,637
Net Sales to Other Segments									123,669	126,550	105,906
Total Net Sales									555,924	515,142	404,543
Segment Profit									125,217	120,857	92,969
Depreciation									5,567	4,920	5,138
Assets	630,671	366,450							630,671	366,450	353,285
Purchase of property, plant and equipment									(9,872)	(15,601)	(13,605)
Goodwill	717	710							717	710	678
Other Operations Segment
Net Sales to External Customers									441,189	419,623	336,311
Net Sales to Other Segments									6,538	6,348	4,338
Total Net Sales									447,727	425,971	340,649
Segment Profit									48,857	50,045	35,166
Depreciation									2,653	2,161	1,854
Assets	238,095	331,613							238,095	331,613	199,100
Purchase of property, plant and equipment									(5,542)	(4,088)	(2,024)
Goodwill	14,495	14,663							14,495	14,663	14,068
Eliminations and Corporate Segment
Net Sales to External Customers									0	0	0
Net Sales to Other Segments									(717,403)	(732,284)	(605,416)
Total Net Sales									(717,403)	(732,284)	(605,416)
Segment Profit									(97,683)	(107,763)	(79,394)
Depreciation									7,261	6,205	5,812
Assets	(1,786,532)	(1,297,909)							(1,786,532)	(1,297,909)	(858,542)
Purchase of property, plant and equipment									(58,153)	(58,745)	(33,731)
Goodwill	$ 0	$ 0							$ 0	$ 0	$ 0