Swatch Founded in 1983
![](images/bc7bdc96-802f-465b-914f-85e6f6285e45.jpg?asset_id=54e36008-a406-4302-9b6f-86b157077cc2&img_etag=f8b1181567ca6872da83772db9790d8e&size=477)
Swatch was originally intended to re-capture entry level market share lost by Swiss manufacturers during the quartz crisis and the subsequent growth of Japanese companies such as Seiko and Citizen in the 1960s and 1970s. It caused a decline of the Swiss watchmaking industry, which chose to remain focused on traditional mechanical watches, while the majority of world watch production shifted to Asian companies that embraced the new technology. SWATCH wanted to re-popularize analog watches at a time when digital watches had achieved wide popularity.
The launch of the Swatch brand in 1983 was marked by bold new styling, design and marketing.
The name "Swatch" is a contraction of "Second Watch" – coined because the new watch was introduced with a new concept of watches as casual, fun, and relatively disposable accessories. Because it didn’t cost a fortune, a customer’s second watch was soon followed by a third, a fourth... and the rest is history.
![](images/bbc2f3bb-52ca-438b-b2f0-07308b595dab.jpg?asset_id=9a591906-1f3f-4f29-aa88-ce4cb04566db&img_etag=e5a9fbfb2e882f0e75ae94975965f1cb&size=550)
It was all thanks to Franz Sprecher who transformed the brand into a trendy line of watches with a full brand identity and marketing concept—instead of developing just another watch collection, which could have soon been matched by its competition.
WHY IT DID WELL?
- An aggressive marketing campaign
- A very reasonable price for a Swiss-made watch (CHF 50.00)
- 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.
Experimenting with different materials
Swatch has continued to push the limits of technology, introducing an astonishing range of materials from plastic, stainless steel and aluminium to synthetic fabrics, rubber and silicon
![](images/0b0b8564-3e23-4f71-a268-104c500e68da.jpg?asset_id=18cee78c-e50c-4f2b-9d5b-acf037644836&img_etag=1d2d664c2aaa1d9ab702aeb1518a9b62&size=1024)
POP SWATCH
I always want more
CORE COLLECTION
SPECIALS
Swatch club
swatch and art
![](images/57658d22-4caf-4651-9c10-e118e360f0e6.jpg?asset_id=90bbf9be-b0b6-4e8b-b420-aedfdea295c7&img_etag=65dce32fdbbe60eee677f301f63f4800&size=520)
swatch and social media
Supremely inventive, exciting, and always provocative, Swatch today is at the heart of a world that thrives on creativity and constant change. And the man who has come to be identified as «Mr. Swatch» remains the driving force behind the brand. Never one to rest on his laurels, Nicolas G. Hayek has recently startled the market with yet another unpredictable move. Embracing the dark side of the James Bond myth, N.G. Hayek has launched the Swatch 007 Villain Collection – 22 new Swatch watches celebrating the villains Bond fans love to hate.
![](images/d06a9835-a06c-4665-8bec-97a238d516b1.jpg?asset_id=7f1bc8a6-1653-4dfa-b4b9-91ddc700eb09&img_etag=fb83604dc4db34b578f8ac0867b8fd28&size=636)