I, too, am a Bernina fan. In fact I still have and use my own Elna SU bought back in 1975 which was at the time a Swiss owned company from Geneva. Also in 1975 my mother bought a Bernina 830 Record, a Swiss made machine. I inherited this machine, and whilst my mother had used this nowhere near as much as I have used it, and I tend to use this machine as my go to machine for daily sewing. Both the Elna and the Bernina 830 record are heavy metal bodied machines. Both produce really beautiful stitches every time, are quiet and a joy to use.
Then on a whim I fancied an embroidery machine, and as luck would have it a shop was closing down and a machine the Bernina Artista 200 machine with embroidery unit was an unsold part exchange model. The mechanic from this shop moved premises and continues to sell machines but no longer sells fabric and haberdashery. So a question of being in the right place at the right time. This machine is I believe another Swiss made machine, it has a plastic casing but is equally as heavy as my other machines, and again the stitch quality is superb.
I also happen to have two Bernina Overlockers, one has the coverstitch facility. Again both machines have a plastic casing but are heavy and do not dance around when in use. Whilst these were not made in Switzerland they were made strictly under Swiss supervision, and the difference in using these as opposed to other brands is very noticeable both in the sound they make and the stitch quality.
Over the years since I bought my Elna so back in 1975) come Christmas and birthday I asked if I could have feet and attachments for my machine (I did the buying of these) and then again when I bought the Bernina Artista I have been receiving feet and attachments as presents (again I do the buying) and as a result I have a lovely selection of feet and accessories for my machines - yes even the overlockers. I tend to buy my accessories for the Bernina's directly from Bernina themselves, i.e. Bogod - the warehouse is down in Cardiff and the team down there are really helpful and quick.
Perhaps the cost of servicing these machines is on the high side but it is really worth the money. I do keep the machines covered when not in use and am always cleaning and oiling them and it is so important to keep on changing the needle and again I only use Bernina or Schmetz needles - nothing else (Schmetz actually make the needles for Bernina). I also only used a branded thread Guterman on the sewing machines, and as far as overlocking threads are concerned I now use Amann thread, the Belgian one I liked the company no longer exists which is a shame.