Swatch

The Swatch AG, based in Biel / Bienne is a 100 percent subsidiary of the Swiss watch company Swatch Group SA; at the same time is Swatch ( a portmanteau of, Second 'and' Watch ' ), the brand name of the same clock.

The Swatch Clock

The company is known for its playful, colorful plastic watches that appear in half-yearly changing collections. Swatch is in addition to the cheap watches also produces refined, trendy and sporty models with metal casings and bracelets ( line Irony ), leather bracelets and / or additional functions ( eg chronograph ). There is a collector's market for these watches. At irregular intervals there are special limited editions, also in higher quality construction, eg with a platinum case, mechanical movement or with diamond bezel.

A clock saves an industry

As a father of Nicolas G. Hayek Swatch applies. And there were the two young engineers Elmar Mock and Jacques Müller, who outlined her former director Ernst Thomke when Grenchner movement manufacturers ETA, with a strong support of the marketing consultant Franz speakers who plans to Ur - Swatch in May 1980 to the weakening Swiss watch industry against to strengthen the far Eastern competition. The Swatch was launched on March 1, 1983 in Zurich. From the technological point of view, the history of the Swatch began but in 1978, with the development of the slimmest clock in the world with the name of delirium. Because only developed for this clock fully integrated production technology enabled the production of Swatch.

The Swatch brand has changed the watch industry sustainable and contributed significantly to saving the Swiss watch industry. Many copycat products were temporarily successful in the wake of Swatch, for example, the Mondaine presented on 24 February 1983 one week before the Swatch, the M- Watch, which was 12 francs cheaper than the Swatch ETA / SMH with CHF 38, and quieter ticking.

In 1984, under the wing of the marketing talent Nicolas Hayek, the simple plastic watch came the triumphal march around the world. The introduction of the new brand had besides the same time carried out restructuring of the Swiss watch companies a big role in ensuring that the Swiss watch industry again could achieve world leadership in the early 1980s. 1987 Peter Petersen joined as CFO for the Swatch brand, which he took over as CEO shortly thereafter and ran until 1998. Peter Petersen helped the Swatch brand in the nineties to its current level of awareness.

Events

In 1992, the hundred millionth Swatch clock was produced. On this occasion, the Swiss group invited the French musician Jean Michel Jarre in September of the same year to Zermatt, where he performed a laser show in front of the Matterhorn.

14 years later, in 2006, Swatch celebrated the production of the 333 millionth Swatch. On the occasion of the celebration with the name Splashtival, which took place on June 1 in Lugano, Switzerland, Swatch launched the new product line Jelly in Jelly. In addition, the Blue Man Group in New York, created live on stage the template for a later limited edition produced Jelly in Jelly Artist Special. The Splashtival, which took place on a large stage in Piazza della Reforma, was moderated by Michelle Hunziker and culminated in a laser show and fireworks on Lake Lugano.

Products

To classic plastic Swatch, which are available in various sizes, from the bracelet to the wall clock, and with different functions (eg Access), have become among others, since 1994 successful Irony with metal or aluminum housing the retrograde or the extremely flat and delicate skin joins.

Trend Sports

For several years, Swatch strongly committed to sports such as beach volleyball, snowboarding, especially for the Ticket to Ride World Snowboard Tour or for the freeskiing and launched to match these sports regularly watches.

1995/1996, developed as an electronic ski pass for skiers principle of access has been integrated into the Swatch (see picture below). This allows a built-in microchip to store a variety of information ( eg access controls to ski lifts, stadiums, etc., cashless payment, and interactive " gadgets "). The integrated sensor ring (antenna) sends this information to a reader terminal: eg door opener or debit devices. After "knowing " the information, the terminal then sets the corresponding function in transition (eg, opening the lift hub or payment transactions ).

Phones, pagers, glasses

Excursions to establish a brand transfer to other products failed usually quite fast. So there was Swatch - glasses, pager ( Scall ), telephones and answering machines that sooner or later all disappeared from the market.

Swatch Square in 2000

Swatch glasses was available in different shapes and colors - Rio million from the year 1991/92

Club and collecting

Although the hype of the early 90s is abated, is still a considerable number of collectors worldwide, of which a part in Swatch Club organizes itself.

Desire test collectible from a financial perspective is the 1989 by Mimmo Paladino created in a total edition of 140 pieces Swatch Art Special oigol ORO (GZ 113 ), which was (numbered 001-100 / 100) distributed to 99 name known personalities in a first series. On the Auction of Contemporary Art on December 7, 1991 in Gallery Rudolf Mangisch in Zurich scored a copy of the second series, which was intended for the artists and Swatch (No. XXXII / XL), the maximum price of CHF 56'000.

Swatch GZ116 Clock Hollywood Dream: X- Mas Special from 1990, edition of 9999

Course of the production figures

The following list gives a good overview of the development of the production numbers by Swatch:

The ambitious goal: to be sold 1.111 billion Swatch watches by the year 2033.

Swatch Telecom

A special position took a Swatch Telecom. The products of this division were able to maintain relatively long. The Twin Phone - since 1988/89 on the market - made ​​possible that a telephone could two people talking at the same time. 1992 was also available with answering machine ( TwinTam ).

With the penetration of cordless phones the Swatch Cordless I and II Goods Telephone and answering machine first appeared only available separately, there was in the second generation already embedded devices. ( The third generation was no longer supplied. )

From 1991/92 there was the pager in the clock - Swatch The Beep. Initially, only a numeric receiver, and later as an alphanumeric version for the transmission of numbers and text messages. The more limited function of the service Scall was quickly overtaken, that the final version of the slightly smaller Midi- pager was not introduced by the booming mobile market mid 90s. Also, the non-integrated into a clock pager Swatch was short on the market.

Swatch pager

Swatch Midi pager, fully functional model

Flik Flak

Flik Flak is the Children's Swatch brand. The first watches were launched in 1987. With the colorful design, the two advertising figures " Flik " ( minute hand ) and his little sister " Flak " ( hour hand ), which facilitate the didactic sent watches reading, the brand quickly became a very successful product line. The initially held in a very simple cartoon style advertising figures are now increasingly given way to more modern versions. The robustness suitable for children is underscored by the washability to 40 ° C.

Swatch -Mobil

Nicolas Hayek thought up the concept for a small, lightweight, two-seater city car, which should be equipped with environmentally friendly electric or hybrid drive. As a partner for the project, he tried to win the Volkswagen AG and founded the Swatch car company SMH Volkswagen AG / SMH Automobile. After differences and the partial takeover in March 1994 by the Daimler AG company in MCC ( Micro Compact Car) GmbH was converted and incorporated into the then Mercedes Car Group (MCG ). The project is a two-seater city cars was indeed implemented as a Smart Fortwo by Mercedes Group under the car brand Smart, but not in the form of electric and hybrid drive, as it had originally planned Nicolas G. Hayek. Significant developer of the Swatch - Mobile MCC left and founded in 1996 the Cree AG. They developed the two-seater, three-wheeled light electric vehicle Sam Cree, which is produced in a developed form since 2009 in Poland.