Swatch

For other uses, see Swatch (disambiguation).

Swatch

Type	Wrist watches
Owner	Swatch Group
Country	Switzerland
Introduced	March 1983
Website	www.swatch.com

Once Again

Swatch is a brand name for a line of luxury 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 with a small team of enthusiastic watch engineers led by Elmar Mock and Jacques Müller, 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 which made 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 and Citizen in the 1960s and 1970s, and to re-popularize analog watches 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, 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, Switzerland. Initially the price ranged from CHF 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 and others. Artist watches gave a new cachet to what had previously been a trendy youth article.

Product structure

Diversified offerings

Swatch Original Fun Scuba

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

Product lines

Swatch Irony "Charcoal Suit"

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 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.

Swatch Bijoux Jewelry

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

Flik Flak Spain World Cup Edition

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, Blancpain, Jaquet Droz, Glashütte Original, Léon Hatot, Omega, Tiffany & Co., Rado, Longines, Union Glashütte, Tissot, Calvin Klein, Certina, Mido, Pierre Balmain, Hamilton, Flik Flak and Endura.

Sport sponsoring & timekeeping

SWATCH FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour

Main article: Swatch FIVB World Tour

The Swatch and FIVB (the International Volleyball Federation) signed the partnership deal in Lausanne, 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, 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 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 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 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 is a non-profit, rider-driven organisation representing the progression of snowboarding. The SWATCH TTR World Snowboard Tour 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 Champion. hi

Red Bull X-Fighters

Swatch is the official timekeeper and co-sponsor of the Red Bull X-Fighters. 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, obtained 3rd place.

UCI BMX Supercross World Tour

For the first time in 2008 BMX Racing (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.

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. Swatch sponsors a number of top snowboarders, ski freeriders, FMX & BMX riders, 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 (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 (Australia)
• Lance Coury (USA)

Surf

• Bobby Martinez (USA)
• Sam Lamiroy (UK)
• Rikki lancaster (Australia)

BMX

• Khalen Young (Australia)
• Robert de Wilde (The Netherlands)

Beach Volleyball

• Igor Kolodinsky & Dmitri Barsouk (Russia)
• Pablo Herrera & Raul Mesa (Spain)
• Julius Brink & Christoph Dieckmann (Germany)
• Clemens Doppler & Peter Gartmayer (Austria)
• Martin Laciga & Jan Schnider (Switzerland)
• Ana Paula Connelly & Shelda Bede (Brazil)
• Simone Kuhn & Lea Schwer (Switzerland)
• Wang Jie & Tian Jia (China)

See also

• Swatch Group
• Swatch Internet Time

References

• Mudambi, Ram, "Branding Time: Swatch and Global Brand Management" - Temple University, Fox School of Business, Temple University IGMS Case Series No. 05-001, January 2005
• The Swatch Group Ltd., "History of the Swatch Group"
• "Omega Constellation Collectors: The Outsiders Who Saved Omega and the Swiss Watch Industry"

External links

• Official website
• Swatch Group homepage