Swatch

People think of different things when they hear about Swatch. 

To the uninitiated, Swatch stands for just another 'Swiss Watch'. For the watch connoisseur, Swatch represents a basic brand which does not stand for exclusivity. But for the people who love to own and posses watches, Swatch represents a brand that serves the perfect blend of style, quality and timeless perfection. Today Swatch holds a distinguished stature in the Swiss Watch industry, not simply because it stands differently among the ocean of Swiss luxury watches, but more importantly the momentous role it has played in the history of Swiss Watch Industry. 

Automatic chronograph by Swatch

The Swiss Watch Industry in 1970s

In the 1970s the Swiss watch industry was undergoing a serious crisis. The market hitherto dominated by classy analogues owned by small family owned firms was facing stiff competition from the newly arrived digital watches and low priced Japanese quartz watches. In 1974 the global market share of Swiss watches was 30 percent. The arrival of Japanese watches was met with initial stoicism. But these low priced watches started to gradually nibble into the global watch industry pie. By 1983, the worldwide share of Swiss watches had fallen to 9 percent. 

The Timely Samaritan
To understand the situation, extensive market research and consumer behavior studies were carried out. The results that emerged from the studies indicated that a turnaround was possible if an inexpensive, good-quality quartz analog watch could be developed, since the market was saturated with digital watches. Gradually, a marketing plan was devised and implemented resulting in the introduction of the Swatch in 1984. Headed by Nicholas Hayek, Swatch introduced a series of new, trendy and inexpensive designs which was the perfect competitor to the Japanese watches and thus established the Swiss watches in all the watch segments as it represented fashion backed by Swiss quality.

Colorful collection of Swatch watches

What does Swatch brand stand for ?
First thing, contrary to popular belief swatch does not stand for 'Swiss Watch'. Swatch stands for 'Second Watch'. When the brand was launched it was positioned as a watch to be owned along side a person's primary watch. Swatch was presented in a range of fashionable colors and designs. The watch was to be used like an accessory an owner changed as frequently as a person's wardrobe. This unique positioning encouraged customers to buy multiple watches and triggered the craze of collecting the entire watch collection. 

Swatch is a Co-Sponsor and Official Timekeeper of the Red Bull X-Fighters FMX World Tour ( international freestyle motorcross ). 

How is Swatch different ?
The Swiss watch industry has become increasingly segmented with brands like Omega and Tiffany & Co. in the luxury segment, Longines and Rado in the high segment, Tissot and Calvin Klien in the middle range segment and Swatch in the basic range. Swatch however manufactures not only watches, but their movements and motors and other basic components. The company produces components - through a range of subsidiaries, including ETA (designer and manufacturer of quartz watches), for much of the Swiss watchmaking industry, as well as for the member brands of The Swatch Group. In total, Swatch has nearly 450 reporting business units, principally in Switzerland, but implanted throughout the world. Its 50 production centers are located in Switzerland, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Thailand, Malaysia, China, and the Virgin Islands.

Internet Time
In 1998 Swatch corporation introduced  and marketed the concept of decimal time called as Swatch Internet Time or Beat Time. It was intended to simplify the concept,  mostly by eliminating time zones altogether. Instead of hours and minutes, the mean solar day is divided up into 1000 parts called ".beats". Each .beat lasts 1 minute and 26.4 seconds. Times are notated as a 3-digit number out of 1000 after midnight. So, @357 would indicate a time 357 beats after midnight representing 357/1000 of a day, just over 6 hours and 33 minutes. There are no time zones in Internet Time; instead, the new time scale of Biel Mean Time (BMT) is used, based on Swatch's headquarters in Biel, Switzerland and equivalent to Central European Time, West Africa Time, and UTC+1. Unlike civil time in most European countries, Internet Time does not observe daylight saving time.

The Swatch Group
The Swatch group was formed from two financially troubled companies SSIH and ASUAG. SSIH ( Société Suisse pour l'Industrie Horlogère ) was formed in 1930 with the merger of Omega and Tissot in 1930. The company became insolvent due to the recession in the 1970s and competition from Japanese companies. ASUAG ( Allgemeine Schweizerische Uhrenindustrie AG ) was formed in 1931 and was the world's largest producer of and the parts such as Balance wheels and Balance Springs (Spiral). The Swatch Company currently owns the several watch brands including - Breguet, Omega, Longines, Rado, Tissot, Calvin Klein Watches, Hamilton and of course Swatch.