Swatch is a brand of low-level quartz watch owned by The Swatch Group Ltd. Swatch was originally intended to re-capture entry level market share lost by Swiss manufacturers during the aggressive growth of Japanese companies in the 1960 - 1970s. During this time, Swiss manufacturers lost most of their market share to Japanese companies like Seiko.
The name "Swatch" is often miscontrued as a contraction of the words "Swiss Watch", but Nicholas G. Hayek, the Chairmn of the Swatch Group, affirms that the original contraction was "Second Watch" -- the new watch was introduced with a new concept of watches as casual, fun, and relatively disposable accessories. The first collection of 12 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 1 million timepieces for 1983 and 2.5 million the year after. With an aggressive marketing campaign and a very resonable 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.
Swatches enjoyed their peak popularity in the USA during the mid-1980s, when a series of "Swatch Stores" were founded for the express purpose of selling Swatches.
During this same time, Swatch introduced the idea of partnering with noted artists, including Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, and others. Artist watches gave a new cachet to what had previously been a trendy youth article.
Although sales of Swatch watches are now considerably lower than in previous years, the Swatch Group remains the world's largest watch company, and the Group has accelerated its acquisition of Swiss luxury brands in recent years. Swatch itself has also 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), and even an Internet-connected watch that can download stock quotes, news headlines, weather reports, and other data (the Papparazzi series).
They have now become fashionable objects, generating specialised models (the "Flik-Flak" for children, semi-automatic movements, and even diamond-decorated swatches).
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Last updated: 10-24-2005 13:16:10
