Swatch
Encyclopedia
Swatch is a brand name for a line of wrist watches from the Swatch Group, a Swiss conglomerate with vertical control of the production of Swiss watches and related products. In 1984, Swatch was conceived and it was introduced to the market in Switzerland in March 1985.

Origin

This concept was realised in the early 1980s, under the leadership of the then ETA SA's CEO, Ernst Thomke
Ernst Thomke
Dr. Ernst Thomke was born on 21 April 1939 in Biel/Bienne Canton of Berne, on the Franco-German linguistic border. His father was a practicing physician. First a trained mechanic, he acquired the Swiss federal maturity degree and pursued academic studies, while in employment...

 with a small team of enthusiastic watch engineers led by Elmar Mock and Jacques Müller
Jacques Muller
Jacques Muller is a member of the Senate of France, representing the Haut-Rhin department. He is a member of the Greens. He is also the mayor of Wattwiller.-References:*...

, who had had the idea to use the case back as a movement main plate (platine), as it had been done to realise the thinnest watch in the world, the Delirium
Concord watch
Concord Watch is part of the Movado group that owns Movado, Ebel, ESQ, Coach, Hugo Boss, Juicy Couture Watches, Lacoste, and Tommy Hilfiger watches.-History:...

 which wade it to market in 1979. It was also designed for easy assembling.

Conceived at the beginning as a standard timekeeper in plastic, Franz Sprecher, a marketing consultant hired by Thomke to give the project an outsider's consideration, soon led the project into what it has become: a fun "Brand" with a full brand identity and marketing concept, instead of developing just another watch collection, which could have soon been matched by the competition.

Swatch was originally intended to re-capture entry level market share lost by Swiss manufacturers during the aggressive growth of Japanese companies such as Seiko
Seiko
, more commonly known simply as Seiko , is a Japanese watch company.-History and ongoing developments:The company was founded in 1881, when Kintarō Hattori opened a watch and jewelry shop called in the Ginza area of Tokyo, Japan. Eleven years later, in 1892, he began to produce clocks under the...

 and Citizen
Citizen Watch Co.
is the core company of a Japanese global corporate group based in Tokyo, Japan. The company was originally founded as Shokosha Watch Research Institute in 1918 and is currently known as the manufacturer of CINCOM precision lathe machine tools as well as CITIZEN watches. The trade name originated...

 in the 1960s and 1970s, and to re-popularize analog watch
Analog watch
Analogue watch is an example of a retronym. It was coined to distinguish analogue watches, which had simply been called "watches", from newer digital watches; see watch and clock....

es at a time when digital watches had achieved wide popularity. The launch of the new Swatch brand in 1983, was marked by bold new styling, design and marketing.

Lebanese entrepreneur, Nicolas G. Hayek, who, with a group of Swiss investors, took over a majority shareholding during 1985 in the then, between ASUAG and SSIH, newly consolidated group under the name Societe Suisse de Microelectronique et d'Horlogerie, or SMH
SMH
-Hospitals:* Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Sarasota County, Florida* Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego, California* St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto in Ontario, Canada* St...

, became Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO in 1986 (who later significantly changed its name to Swatch Group), further masterminded its development to reach its now major worldwide Swiss watch brand status within the lower end of watch prices.

This combination of marketing and manufacturing expertise restored Switzerland as a major player in the world wristwatch market. Synthetic materials were used for the watchcases as well as a new ultra-sonic welding process and the assembly technology. The number of components was reduced from 91 or more to 51, with no loss of accuracy.

Derivation of the name Swatch

The name "Swatch" is a contraction of "Second Watch" - coined by Nicolas Hayek because the new watch was introduced with a new concept of watches as casual, fun, and relatively disposable accessories.

The first collection

The first collection of twelve Swatch models was introduced on March 1, 1983 in Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...

, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

. Initially the price ranged from CHF
Swiss franc
The franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein; it is also legal tender in the Italian exclave Campione d'Italia. Although not formally legal tender in the German exclave Büsingen , it is in wide daily use there...

 39.90 to CHF 49.90 but was standardized to CHF 50.00 in autumn of the same year. Sales targets were set to one million timepieces for 1983 and 2.5 million the year after. With an aggressive marketing campaign and a very reasonable price for a Swiss-made watch, it gained instant popularity in its home market. Compared to conventional watches, a Swatch was 80% cheaper to produce by fully automating assembly and reducing the number of parts from the usual 91 or more to only 51 components.

Popularity

Swatches enjoyed their peak popularity during the mid-1980s. Such '80s fads included wearing two Swatches and using a Swatch as a ponytail band. Some models, like Pop Swatch, allowed wearers to attach Swatches directly to clothing. During this same time, Swatch introduced the idea of partnering with noted artists, including Keith Haring
Keith Haring
Keith Haring was an artist and social activist whose work responded to the New York City street culture of the 1980s.-Early life:...

 and others. Artist watches gave a new cachet to what had previously been a trendy youth article.

Diversified offerings

From the original cult plastic watches, Swatch has diversified its offerings considerably, and the company now sells more than a dozen different types of watches, including metal-bodied watches (the Irony series), diving watches (the Scuba series), thin and flat bodied watches (the Skin family) and even an Internet-connected watch that can download stock quotes, news headlines, weather reports, and other data (the Paparazzi series).

They have now become fashionable objects, generating specialized models (the "Flik-Flak" for children) quartz chronographes, automatic and automatic chronographes movements, and even some diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...

-decorated Swatches. The company also produces watches with seasonal themes.

Product lines

There are five families under the swatch brand.

Swatch Originals: The Originals are plastic cased watches. They are available in various sizes, shapes and designs. The originals have sub-families as well.

Swatch Irony: The Irony family contains all the metal cased watches produced by swatch. They too come in different sizes and shapes.

Swatch Skin: The Skin family contains two sub families: Original Skin and Skin Chronograph. The original skin was introduced on October 6, 1997 as a thinner version of the original swatch watch. It is ultra thin, standing at 3.9 mm, hence the name Swatch Skin. The swatch skin later went on to enter the Guinness World Book of Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...

 as the world's thinnest plastic watch. The Swatch Chronograph is just the swatch skin with a chronograph function. It has two additional buttons on the side of the watch.

Swatch Beat: The Beat family launched in 1998 and incorporated beat watches across the three existing family but adding twists. Swatch Beat is the digital line and integrate Internet Time
Internet time
Internet time was a common catchphrase that originated during the late-1990s Internet boom. In this period, people who worked with the Internet had come to believe that "everything moved faster on the 'net", because the Internet made the dissemination of information far easier and cheaper...

.

Swatch Bijoux: The Bijoux line is the jewelry line that Swatch released in the new millennium. It partnered with Swarovski to encrust their Bijoux line and watches.

A fashion statement

In the mid-1980s, mainstream Swatch fashion statements came about in the rising hip-hop scene with the introduction of various colored and interchangeable watch faces and wrist bands (made of vinyl). Colors included bright, day-glow and pastels. The key standard accessory was the Swatch Guard, a thin, rubber-band like strip that would stretch over the watch face. A good number of "Swatchies" sported two Swatch Guards of different colors, twisted or braided together across the Swatch face. A second type of Swatch Guard was a 1/8"-thick hard plastic ring which encircled the face and snapped onto the sides.

Swatch Group is the world's largest watch company, and the Group has accelerated its acquisition of Swiss luxury brands in recent years. The Swatch Group owns the following brands: Breguet
Breguet (watch)
Breguet is a manufacturer of luxury watches, founded by Abraham-Louis Breguet in Paris in 1775. Currently part of The Swatch Group, its timepieces are now produced in the Vallée de Joux in Switzerland...

, Blancpain
Blancpain
Blancpain is a luxury Swiss watch manufacturer, founded in 1735 by Jehan-Jaques Blancpain. Blancpain went into bankruptcy and stopped production for a long period but was saved by Jean-Claude Biver, an executive with Omega. Blancpain is owned by the Swatch Group. Since 2002, Marc Hayek, the...

, Jaquet Droz, Glashütte Original
Glashütte Original
Glashütte Original is a German watchmaking company founded in 1994 by the privatization of VEB Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe . GUB was an East German conglomerate formed in 1951 from the watch companies based in Glashütte. This included A. Lange & Söhne, founded in 1845...

, Léon Hatot, Omega, Tiffany & Co., Rado
Rado (watch)
Rado is a Swiss luxury manufacturer of watches, with headquarters in Lengnau, Switzerland. It is noted for its use of scratch-proof materials, a field in which it is considered a pioneer...

, Longines
Longines
Longines is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland. The company was originally founded by Auguste Agassiz in 1832 and it currently holds the oldest registered logo for a watch company . Longines is currently owned by the Swatch Group.Longines is known for its 'Aviators' watches...

, Union Glashütte, Tissot
Tissot
Tissot is a luxury Swiss watchmaker company founded in 1853 by Charles-Félicien Tissot and his son Charles-Émile Tissot who established the Tissot factory in the Swiss city of Le Locle, in the Neuchâtel area of the Jura Mountains....

, Calvin Klein
Calvin Klein
Calvin Richard Klein is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc. in 1968. In addition to clothing, Klein has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewelry....

, Certina
Certina
Certina Kurth Frères SA is a Swiss luxury watchmaker company founded in Grenchen, 1888, by Adolf and Alfred Kurth, and currently an affiliate company of the Swatch Group.-History:...

, Mido
Mido (watch)
Mido is a luxury Swiss watchmaker company founded in 1918.-History:Mido was founded in 1918 by George G. Schaeren in Biel, Switzerland. Mido comes from the Spanish phrase Yo mido meaning I measure....

, Pierre Balmain
Balmain (fashion house)
Balmain is a fashion house that was founded by Pierre Balmain.In the period following World War II, Pierre Balmain was "a king of French fashion" and outfitted stars including Ava Gardner and Brigitte Bardot. His most famous client were Queen Sirikit of Thailand...

, Hamilton
Hamilton Watch Company
The Hamilton Watch Company was originally formed to produce high quality pocket watches and wristwatches mid-range and luxury. Hamilton would become a corporate conglomerate diversified in other operations...

, Flik Flak and Endura
Endura
Endura may refer to:* a practise of the Cathars, a ritualistic fasting in order to speed death* Endura , a dark ambient group active in the 1990s.* Endura-D, an engine built by Ford Motor Company* Endura, an EP by Ever We Fall...

.

SWATCH FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour

The Swatch and FIVB (the International Volleyball Federation) signed the partnership deal in Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...

, Switzerland on Feb. 27, 2003. Swatch became title sponsor for the Beach Volleyball World Tour.

Swatch, being quite experienced in the field of innovations, has provided FIVB with financial support as well as timing and technical innovations, with the electronic scoreboards supply and speed of service measurements among many others.

Through its international partnership with FIVB, Swatch supports the growth of public and media interest in beach volleyball
Beach volleyball
Beach volleyball, or sand volleyball, is an Olympic team sport played by two teams of two players on a sand court divided by a net.Like volleyball, the object of the game is to send the ball over the net in order to ground it on the opponent’s court, and to prevent the same effort by the opponent....

, appreciated worldwide as one of the most rapidly developing summer sports. As the company has continuously maintained links with the world of sports, the global sponsorship agreement with FIVB became another important step in that involvement.

Swatch also participates in all FIVB Beach Volleyball world tour events through establishing points of sales and organizing side and merchandising activities. As part of the partnership, the company also develop each seasons two Swatch watch dedicated to the SWATCH FIVB Beach Volley World Tour.

SWATCH Ticket To Ride (TTR) World Snowboard Tour

The SWATCH TTR World Snowboard Tour
Ticket to Ride (World Snowboard Tour)
Founded by Terje Håkonsen and industry innovators in 2002, the Ticket To Ride World Snowboard Tour is a rider-driven organization that aims to represent the progression of snowboarding...

 is an umbrella organisation for the most important freestyle snowboard contests around the globe. The world's best snowboarders compete through the ten-month Tour with the aim to be crowned the male or female SWATCH TTR World Snowboard Tour
Ticket to Ride (World Snowboard Tour)
Founded by Terje Håkonsen and industry innovators in 2002, the Ticket To Ride World Snowboard Tour is a rider-driven organization that aims to represent the progression of snowboarding...

 Champion, tallied by the SWATCH TTR World Ranking System. Apart from prize money totalling over 2,000,000 USD from participating events, the SWATCH TTR World Snowboard Tour
Ticket to Ride (World Snowboard Tour)
Founded by Terje Håkonsen and industry innovators in 2002, the Ticket To Ride World Snowboard Tour is a rider-driven organization that aims to represent the progression of snowboarding...

 will present the top men and women in the SWATCH TTR World Ranking List a share of 250,000USD — the largest end-of-season prize purse in the history of snowboarding.

Founded by Terje Haakonsen and industry innovators in 2002, the SWATCH TTR World Snowboard Tour
Ticket to Ride (World Snowboard Tour)
Founded by Terje Håkonsen and industry innovators in 2002, the Ticket To Ride World Snowboard Tour is a rider-driven organization that aims to represent the progression of snowboarding...

 is a non-profit, rider-driven organisation representing the progression of snowboarding. The SWATCH TTR World Snowboard Tour
Ticket to Ride (World Snowboard Tour)
Founded by Terje Håkonsen and industry innovators in 2002, the Ticket To Ride World Snowboard Tour is a rider-driven organization that aims to represent the progression of snowboarding...

 is based on global grass root and key independent freestyle snowboarding events over a ten-month period from Southern to Northern Hemisphere locations. Events are rated via a 1-through-6STAR system, with points allocated accordingly, a 6STAR event holds the highest. Any rider participating in these events, from up-and-coming to professional talent, earns ranking points and a position on the SWATCH TTR World Ranking List. The top male and female rider based on an average of their best six results of the season is crowned SWATCH TTR World Snowboard Tour
Ticket to Ride (World Snowboard Tour)
Founded by Terje Håkonsen and industry innovators in 2002, the Ticket To Ride World Snowboard Tour is a rider-driven organization that aims to represent the progression of snowboarding...

 Champion. hi

Red Bull X-Fighters

Swatch is the official timekeeper and co-sponsor of the Red Bull X-Fighters
Red Bull X-Fighters
Red Bull X-Fighters are freestyle motocross motorbike stunt competitions contested in bullrings and similar venues. Alongside the X Games, they are the most prestigious and most challenging freestyle motocross competitions....

. The 2008 title went to Swatch Pro Team member, Mat Rebeaud, who won 4 of the 6 events. Another Swatch Pro Team member, Robbie Maddison
Robbie Maddison
Robert William Maddison, commonly known as Robbie Maddison and "Maddo" in Caringbah, Australia is an Australian motorbike stunt rider from the town of Kiama, New South Wales....

, obtained 3rd place.

UCI BMX Supercross World Tour

For the first time in 2008 BMX Racing
BMX racing
BMX racing is a type of off-road bicycle racing. The format of BMX was derived from motocross racing. BMX bicycle races are sprint races on purpose-built off-road single-lap race tracks. The track usually small a starting gate for up to eight racers, a groomed, serpentine, dirt race course made of...

 (Bicycle Motocross) cycling figured as a discipline in the Olympic Games in Beijing. Swatch is the official timekeeper and data handler of the BMX Supercross World Cup and UCI BMX World Championships
UCI BMX World Championships
UCI BMX World Championships are the world championships for BMX racing held under the regulations of the Union Cycliste Internationale , the sport's international governing body....

.

Swatch O'Neill Big Mountain Pro

Swatch O'Neill Big Mountain Pro, a Freeride mobile event taking place in the European Alps, enables 26 best freeride snowboarders and skiers in the world to put their innovation and skill to the test. After 8 days of competition, the 2008 title was awarded to Jeremy Jones, member of the Swatch Pro Team.

O'Neill Highland Open by Swatch

Swatch is the partner of the O'Neill Highland Open by Swatch. Taking place on the Northernmost coast of Scotland, this competition is the principal and certainly the coldest stages for the surfers in the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS). swatch swiss! (ss-watch, ss-swiss)

Swatch Free4Style

Over 30,000 people gathered over during the three-days event in Estavayer-le-Lac in Switzerland. Swatch Free4Style is an exceptional display of FMX, Jetski, and Wakeboard, delighting the crowds, especially the performance of local star, Mat Rebeaud.

Swatch ProTeam

Since the mid-1980s, successful athletes have been competing for honors as members of the ProTeam and ambassadors of Swatch. As a longtime partner of various fun & Action Sports Swatch supports top snowboarders, ski freeriders, FMX & BMX riders, as well as surfers and beach volleyball players.

Snowboard

  • Terje Haakonsen (Norway)
  • David Benedek (Germany)
  • Xavier de le Rue (France)
  • Geraldine Fasnacht (Switzerland)
  • Christian Haller (Switzerland)
  • Jeremy Jones (USA)
  • Frederik Kalbermatten (Switzerland)
  • Jan Scherrer (Switzerland)
  • Nicolas Müller
    Nicolas Müller
    Nicolas Müller, is a Swiss snowboarder noted for his smooth riding style and his ability to read different terrains and adjusting his riding to the terrain....

     (Switzerland)
  • Anne-Flore Marxer (Switzerland)

Ski Freeride

  • Thomas Diet (France)
  • Sverre Lillequist (Sweden)
  • Phil Meier (Switzerland)
  • Cody Townsend (USA)
  • Kaj Zackrisson (Sweden)
  • Richard Permin (France)
  • Seb Michaud (France)
  • Joonas Karhumaa (Finland)
  • Laura Bohleber (Switzerland)
  • Mirjam Jäger (Switzerland)

Freestyle Motocross (FMX)

  • Mat Rebeaud (Switzerland)
  • Busty Wolter (Germany)
  • Robbie Maddison
    Robbie Maddison
    Robert William Maddison, commonly known as Robbie Maddison and "Maddo" in Caringbah, Australia is an Australian motorbike stunt rider from the town of Kiama, New South Wales....

     (Australia)
  • Lance Coury (USA)

Beach Volleyball

  • Igor Kolodinsky
    Igor Kolodinsky
    Igor Kolodinsky is a beach volleyball player from Russia, who represents his native country at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China....

     & Dmitri Barsouk
    Dmitri Barsouk
    Dmitri Barsouk is a beach volleyball player from Russia, who represents his native country at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China....

     (Russia)
  • Pablo Herrera
    Pablo Herrera (volleyball player)
    Pablo Herrera Allepuz is a Spanish volleyball player, who won a silver medal in the men's beach volleyball tournament at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens together with Javier Bosma.-References:...

     & Raul Mesa
    Raúl Mesa
    Raúl Mesa is a male beach volleyball player from Spain, who won the gold medal at the 2005 European Championships in Moscow, Russia, partnering Pablo Herrera.-Playing partners:*Pablo Herrera*Javier Luna*Javier Bosma...

     (Spain)
  • Julius Brink
    Julius Brink
    Julius Brink is a beach volleyball player from Germany, who won the gold medal in the men's beach team competition at the 2006 European Beach Volleyball Championships in The Hague, Netherlands, partnering Christoph Dieckmann...

     & Christoph Dieckmann
    Christoph Dieckmann
    Christoph Dieckmann is a male beach volleyball player from Germany. He claimed the gold medal at the 2006 European Championships in The Hague, Netherlands, partnering Julius Brink. He competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece...

     (Germany)
  • Clemens Doppler
    Clemens Doppler
    Clemens Doppler is a beach volleyball player from Austria.He and team mate Peter Gartmayer represented Austria at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China...

     & Peter Gartmayer
    Peter Gartmayer
    Peter Gartmayer is a beach volleyball player from Austria.He and team mate Robert Nowotny represented Austria at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece...

     (Austria)
  • Martin Laciga
    Martin Laciga
    Martin Laciga is a beach volleyball player from Switzerland, who won the silver medal in the men's beach team competition at the 1999 Beach Volleyball World Championships in Marseille, France, partnering his older brother Paul Laciga...

     & Jan Schnider
    Jan Schnider
    Jan Schnider is a beach volleyball player from Switzerland, who with his team mate Martin Laciga is representing his native country at the 2008 Summer Olympics, in Beijing, China.-Playing partners:* Marcel Gscheidle...

     (Switzerland)
  • Ana Paula Connelly
    Ana Paula Connelly
    Ana Paula Rodrigues Connelly is a beach volleyball player from Brazil, who represented her native country at four Summer Olympics: in volleyball in 1992 and 1996, and in beach volleyball in 2004 and 2008. At her second Olympic appearance she was a member of the team that won the bronze medal in...

     & Shelda Bede
    Shelda Bede
    Shelda Kelly Bruno Bede is a beach volleyball player from Brazil who won silver medals in beach volleyball at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.-References:*...

     (Brazil)
  • Simone Kuhn
    Simone Kuhn
    Simone Kuhn is a female professional beach volleyball player from Switzerland, who represented her native country at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Partnering Nicole Schnyder-Benoit she claimed the gold medal at the 2004 European Championships in Timmendorfer Strand,...

     & Lea Schwer
    Lea Schwer
    Lea Schwer is a Swiss beach volleyball player.About a week before the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, the Austrian team Montagnolli - Swoboda, pulled out of the competition, because of medical reasons...

     (Switzerland)
  • Wang Jie
    Wang Jie (volleyball)
    Wang Jie is a female Chinese professional beach volleyball player.- Career :Wang has partnered with Tian Jia since the start of the 2006 season and they are currently fifth in the world rankings. She won four titles with Tian, most recently in Hong Kong in 2007. The other two came in back-to-back...

     & Tian Jia (China)
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