Swatch

Swatch is a Swiss watch company created to revitalize the Swiss presence on the watchmaking market and the "swiss made". Reduced presence in the '60s and' 70s due to the growth and aggressive tendencies of Japanese companies (Casio, Citizen, Seiko etc.). In the mid-70s, in fact, the Swiss watch industry is in the middle of the worst crisis ever experienced in its history.

The answer to the crisis was Swatch, a thin plastic watch consisting of only 51 components (instead of the usual 90 or more) able to combine superior quality at a decidedly affordable price.

The Swatch Group has become the largest and most dynamic watch company in the world, has also acquired Swiss luxury brands such as: Breguet, Blancpain, Jaquet Droz, Glashütte-Original, Union Glashütte, Léon Hatot, Omega, Rado, Longines, Tissot, Certina, Mido, Pierre Bal-main, Hamilton, Flik Flak and Endura.

The first collection of 12 Swatch models was presented in Zurich, Switzerland, on 1 March 1983. Since then Swatch has created Swiss Made watches that inspire originality, creativity and style.

The name Swatch, unlike what is believed (contraction of the words "Swiss", Swiss and "watch", clock) is instead born from the contraction of "second" (second) and "watch", to indicate a new type of watch with a casual, fun and relatively inexpensive style.

Later, new versions were created, alongside the classic plastic models. Swatch introduced Irony (the Metal Swatch), Skin Chrono (the world's thinnest chronograph), Snowpass (a watch with an integrated access function that can be used as a ski pass at numerous ski resorts around the world) and Swatch Beat (equipped with of the extraordinary Internet Time function).

Swatch has associated watches with famous artists and designers, such as Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Folon, Sam Francis, Pierre Alechinsky, Mimmo Paladino, Bruno Munari, Alessandro Mendini, Memphis, etc. using the graphics and giving a new dimension to what until then had been an economic accessory reserved for young people.

Swatch has demonstrated its extraordinary dynamism that thanks to the technical superiority, the innovative ability and the progress in the fields of science and technology that have allowed the Swiss company to be official timekeeper in different editions of the Olympics and World Cup competitions and Snowboard.