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Information about Swatch

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 1982, Swatch was conceived and it was introduced on the market in Switzerland in March 1983.
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A Swatch Watch

Origin

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 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 and design. The quartz watch was redesigned for manufacturing efficiency and fewer parts. This combination of marketing and manufacturing expertise restored Switzerland as a major player in the world wristwatch market. Synthetic materials were used for the watch cases as well as a new ultra-sonic welding process and the assembly technology. The number of components was reduced from some 100 to 51, with no loss of accuracy.

A Concept

In light of the economic state of the Swiss watch industry at the time of the introduction of the Swatch, its directors understood that it was not enough to offer a good watch. The watches needed to be attractive, cheeky and good fun, daring in design and aggressively priced, with high quality and innovative flair. The Swatch watches were high-tech and came in a variety of fashion and art designs.

Derivation of the Name Swatch

The name "Swatch" is often misconstrued as a contraction of the words "Swiss Watch", but Nicolas Hayek, the Chairman 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.[1]

The First Collection

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 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 in the United States and elsewhere 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.

A Fashion Statement

Also in the mid-1980's, 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.

Luxury Brands

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. These brands include: Breguet, Blancpain, Jaquet Droz, Glashütte Original, Union Glashütte, Léon Hatot, Omega, Rado, Longines, Tissot, Calvin Klein, Certina, Mido, Pierre Bal-main, Hamilton, Flik Flak and Endura.

Diversified Offerings

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), 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 Papparazzi series).

They have now become fashionable objects, generating specialized models (the "Flik-Flak" for children, semi-automatic movements, and even diamond-decorated Swatches). The company also produces watches with seasonal themes.

Official Sport Sponsor & Timekeeper

Olympic Games

Swatch was official timekeeper to the 1996 Summer Olympics, 2000 Summer Olympics and 2004 Summer Olympics.

SWATCH FIVB Beach Volleyball 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 Ticket To Ride (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.

Swatch ProTeam

Since the mid-1980s, successful athletes have been competing for honors as members of the ProTeam and ambassadors of Swatch. As a long time partner of various fun & Action Sports Swatch supports top snowboarders, ski freeriders, FMX rider, 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)

Ski Freeride

- Thomas Diet (France) - Sverre Lillequist (Sweden) - Phil Meier (Switzerland) - Cody Townsend (USA) - Kaj Zackrisson (Sweden)

Freestyle Motocross

- Mat Rebeaud (Switzerland)

Surf

- Bobby Martinez (USA) - Sam Lamiroy (UK)

Beach Volleyball

- Clemens Doppler & Peter Gartmayer (Austria) - Ana Paula Connelly & Leila Gomes de Barros (Brasil) - Wang Jie & Tian Jia (China) - Julius Brink & Christoph Dieckmann (Germany) - Pablo Herrera & Raul Mesa (Spain) - Simone Kuhn & LEa Schwer (switzerland) - Martin Laciga & Markus Egger (Switzerland)

References

1. ^ [1]

See also

External links

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The Swatch Group Ltd.
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Seiko Holdings Corporation
セイコーホールディングス株式会社

Public TYO: 8050
Founded Chūō, Tokyo, Japan (1881)
(Incorporated in 1917)
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Analog watch is an example of a retronym. It was coined to distinguish analog watches, which had simply been called "watches," from newer digital watches; see watch and clock.
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This article may contain original research or unverified claims.
Please help Wikipedia by adding references. See the for details.
This article has been tagged since September 2007.

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Nicolas George Hayek (born February 19, 1928 in Beirut, Lebanon) is the co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Swatch Group, with principal Headquarters in Biel/Bienne.
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March 1 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events


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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1950s  1960s  1970s  - 1980s -  1990s  2000s  2010s
1980 1981 1982 - 1983 - 1984 1985 1986

Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII
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Zürich (German: (help info ) [ˈtsyːʁɪç], Zürich German: Züri
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Motto
Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno (Latin) (traditional)[1]
"One for all, all for one"
Anthem
"Swiss Psalm"
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Swiss franc
franc suisse (French)
Schweizer Franken (German)
franco svizzero
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Autumn (also known as Fall in North American English) is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter. In the northern hemisphere, the start of autumn is generally considered to be around September and in the southern hemisphere, its
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A year (from Old English gēr) is the time between two recurrences of an event related to the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. By extension, this can be applied to any planet: for example, a "Martian year" is the time in which Mars completes its own orbit.
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Circadian Locomotor Output Cycles Kaput, or Clock is a gene which encodes proteins regulating circadian rhythm. The CLOCK protein seems to affect both the persistence and length of the circadian cycle. CLOCK forms part of a basic-helix-loop-helix transcription factor.
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Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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Keith Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was a pre-eminent artist and social activist whose work responded to the New York street culture of the 1980s.

He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania but grew up in Kutztown and was interested in art from an early age.
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Breguet is a manufacturer of fine watches, founded by Abraham Louis Breguet in Paris in 1775. Currently part of The Swatch Group, its timepieces are now (since 1976) produced in the Vallée de Joux in Switzerland.
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Blancpain is a Swiss watch manufacturer, founded in 1735 by Jehan-Jaques Blancpain. Blancpain is currently owned by the Swatch Group. Nick Hayek, the son of Swatch Group's founder and chairman, Nicolas Hayek, is running Blancpain.
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Glashütte is a German watchmaker founded in 1845. They are one of the few watchmakers who use their own movement, and have 10 proprietary movement innovations. Glashütte Original is currently owned by The Swatch Group.
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Omega SA

Member of the Swatch Group
Founded 1848 by Louis Brandt
Headquarters Bienne, Switzerland

Key people Nicolas G. Hayek, Chairman
Stephen Urquhart, President
Industry Watch manufacturing
Website http://www.omegawatches.
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Rado is a Swiss manufacturer of high-end 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.
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Compagnie des Montres Longines

Member of the Swatch group
Founded 1832
Headquarters Saint-Imier, Switzerland

Key people Walter von Känel, President
Industry Watch manufacturing
Products Wristwatches, timing devices/systems, spectacle frames
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Tissot SA

Member of the Swatch group
Founded 1853 by Charles-Félicien Tissot & Charles-Emile Tissot
Headquarters Le Locle, Switzerland

Key people François Thiébaud, President
Industry Watch manufacturing
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Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is a well-known American fashion designer. In 1968, he launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc.

In addition to clothing, Calvin Klein also gave his name to a range of perfumes, including CK One and CK Be
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Certina is a Swiss watch manufacturer founded in 1888 by Adolf and Alfred Kurth. It was originally called Grana before adopting the name Certina in 1938. Notable innovations include DS (for Double Security) technology giving resistance against shocks and water pressure.
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Mido may refer to:
  • Mido (footballer), an Egyptian footballer.
  • Mido Hamada, an German-Egyptian actor.
  • Mido, a traditional Swiss watch brand owned by The Swatch Group Ltd.

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The Hamilton Watch Company was an American manufacturer of high quality pocketwatches and wristwatches. The Hamilton brand still exists in name as a Swiss assembler of low to mid level quartz and automatic wristwatches.
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Endura may refer to:
  • a rite of the Cathars
  • Endura-D, an engine built by Ford Motor Company

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Diamond is an allotrope of carbon. It is the hardest known natural material and the third-hardest known material after aggregated diamond nanorods and ultrahard fullerite. Its hardness and high dispersion of light make it useful for industrial applications and jewelry.
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The 1996 Summer Olympics, formally known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and informally known as the Centennial Olympics, were held in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
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The 2000 Summer Olympics or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were the Summer Olympic Games held in 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
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