This page does not contain any fancy pictures but I hope to provide some substantial information for collectors. If you want to see some pictures of interesting swatches then go to my virtual swatch museum. Although I am probably a bit biased, it is highly recommended , especially the section about special packagings.

Older Swatch info

news from 2004 are below:

• Vendôme / Spiga Xmas special.  The Vendôme / Spiga xmas special 2004 (released in december) is a skin called Drop Game (SFK217GPU).  The special is limited to 300 pcs, unnumbered (140 Spiga / 160 Vendôme).  Thanks to Alain Choisy for the information and picture.
• Swatch official timekeeper of New Year's Eve / New York special.  According to the Media Life web site, the 2005 New Year's celebration in Times Square in New York will include the "introduction of Swatch as the official timekeeper of New Year’s Eve."  A special swatch called Sign Of The Times (comes in a paper sleeve) commemorating this event is now available at the Swatch Store at Times Square in New York.  Update:  A limited edition special packaging (numbered xxx/100) of the New York Times Square swatch, in a nice acrylic display, was sold on 31-DEC-2004.  A full page ad in the New York Times announced this special on 30-DEC.  The special is now sold out.
  
• Swatch pulls back from alpine Ski World Cup.  Read all the details here. 
  
• St. Moritz Club Event.  From 10 to 12-DEC, the traditional Swatch The Club Xmas event took place in sunny St. Moritz, Switzerland.  To commemorate the event, a special version of the Holly Joy Xmas special was issued in a limited edition of 120 pcs:  The packaging (GZ189-1) has a different imprint on the wooden box, not numbered.  The watch itself is the regular numbered Holly Joy swatch, the numbers are quite low (eg. mine is 00199/14999).  Here is a detailed report with many pictures from the event!  You can also see some pictures from the event at the photo page of Dino Wierz and here at Christine Tanner's nice page.
  
• Xmas special 2004.  The Xmas special 2004 will be called Holly Joy (GZ189).  Here is another picture of the watch and here is a picture of the packaging.  Limitation will be 14999 pcs.  Here is a picture of the actual watch in the packaging.  In Germany, Holly Joy was sold through a lucky draw in the swatch stores on 4-DEC.  Each store got about 20 specials.  Here are pictures from the event in Cologne and here are pictures from the event in Frankfurt.  Thanks to Rodolphe Foucart, Sophia Chang, and Matthias Stawinski for the pictures.
  
• (S)watch collecting.  Here is a nice article about watch collecting, also about Swatch.  Read until the end!
  
• Taiwan charity special for Xmas.  Swatch Taiwan has released a special packaging called Taiwan 2004 charity xmas special. It a randomly chosen watch, packaged in a sock.  The sock is package in a card (front / back).  Limitation is 2400 pcs, not numbered.  Proceeds of the sale go to charity. Some of the socks (ie. a few of the specials) also contain a card with the purchase right for the upcoming xmas special Holly Joy.  You can find more information at Sophia Chang's nice webpage.
  
• Swatch Hawaiian Classic beach volleyball event.  The Swatch Hawaiian Classic beach volleyball event will take place at Queen's Surf Beach in Waikiki, Hawaii from 20 to 21-NOV.  No special swatch will be issued but the host of the tournament, three-time Olympic gold medalist Karch Kiraly, will be at the swatch store for an autograph session from 5 to 7 pm on 19-NOV.  More details here.  Here is a picture of the T-shirt from the tournament.  Thanks to Yoshimi for the picture and information.
  
• Swatch The Club at Athens 2004 Olympic Games.  The Olympic Games 2004 took place in Athens, Greece from 13 to 29-AUG.  Swatch The Club had organized several trips ('waves') to the Olympic Games lasting about 5 days each.   UK Pioneer member Stephen Carroll took the last wave from 25 to 30-AUG.  He was so nice to send me a report and his pictures from Athens.  Update:  Here are Nikolai Kuttler's pictures from the olympic games.
  
• Spiga 2nd Anniversary Special.  On 29-OCT, for the second anniversary of the Via della Spiga Swatch store in Milan, Swatch Club Italy invited the Italian Club members and also Pioneer and Goldmembers to have a Apéro at the store and to buy a Spiga special limited to 100 pieces. Between 5 and 8 pm at the Spiga Swatch store Champagne and Amuse bouche where served and the Special was sold.  It is a POP Swatch (SPMK136APU) with a metallic flower strap coming with a little plastic cake with candles.  On the bottom of the cake you find the number xx/100. The price for this nice special was 70.00 Euros.  Here are Christine Tanner's pictures from the anniversary event.  Thanks to Christine Tanner for the report and to Emanuele Bertodo for the pictures and information.
  
• Spiga Fall / Winter 04/05 collection.  Here are pictures from the new Spiga Fall / Winter 04/05 collection.  There will also be a Spiga Xmas special (a skin SGZ04PU, available from mid november).   Thanks to Dino Wierz for the pictures and to Christine Tanner for the info.
  
• Berlin Beachvolleyball special.  During 23 to 27-JUN, the 2004 Swatch FIVB BeachVolley World Tour went to Berlin, Germany.  Swatch the Club Germany held an event from friday to sunday and released a very very nice special packaging (50 pcs, not numbered) of the Skin Chrono Sandy Days (SUYK109).  You can find a nice report (in German) with many pictures on Matthias Stawinski's nice swatch webpage.  If you have an extra of this special packaging, please let me know, I have lots of stuff for trade...  Update:   You can find some pictures from the Berlin event (summer is over for a long time!) at Markus Muth webpage. Thanks to Dino Wierz  for the information and picture.
  
• Paparazzi product launch.  Swatch has launched a new product called Paparazzi on 20-OCT.   The new product will initially be released only in the USA. Some Swatch the Club members attended the product launch event with Swatch CEO Nick Hayek and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates in New York City, including a private concert for 200 people by Sting, he played five of his greatest hits.  More information:  official press release, user guide, some additional info by USA Today.  The following models are available for $150 US each, they are part of the .beat product line:  News.cab (SUHB100), News.cab (SUHT100), News.surfer (SUHB101), News.surfer (SUHN100).  No special packaging of the watches was issued at the launch event but some collectors managed to get an autograph from Bill Gates.  Update:  Here is a nice report from the launch event with many pictures by Brian Pier.  Thanks to Brian Pier for the information.
• Swatch The Club Xmas Events.  To celebrate the launch of the Xmas special 2004, the traditional international Swatch The Club Xmas event will take place in St. Moritz, Switzerland from 10 to 12-DEC, the Swatch The Club UK Xmas party will take place on 19-DEC in central London.  For the UK Xmas party, there will be a theatrical theme in which members can participate as little or as much as they wish. The day will commence at approximately 11.00 am and finish at 4.30pm. Thanks to Peter Rollings for the information.
  
• Swatch president resigns.  Michele Sofisti, president for four years of Swatch, will leave that post at the end of the year.  Read more here.
  
• Swatch charity auction.  Bonhams (London) will be holding a sale for the Princes Trust Charity on 7-OCT in London. The sale includes 36 limited edition or unusual swatch watches including 2 platinum models, all unused in original packaging.  Here is a list of swatch watches included in the auction (nothing really exciting included).  Update:  Those who participated at the auction, were able to make some real bargains, check the auction results here!  Xian LaX for 15 UKP, 2 ORB specials for 48 UKP etc.!  Thanks to Charles Tearle for the information.
  
• Scandinavia Swatch.  A new swatch special called Memory from the North is available in Scandinavia (only sold in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland).  It is limited to 5000 pcs, not numbered.  Maybe I am getting old but again this swatch looks as if it is targeted towards a very young audience...   Here is a picture of the actual swatch with the special paper sleeve.  Thanks to Rikke Klaaby for the information and picture and to Jacky Beauverd for the picture.
  
• 8 Auspicious Symbols special.  Squiggly has created another special (this time quite huge, quite expensive, and limited to only 24 pcs) called 8 Auspicious Symbols in order to help the Buddhist Center in Rotterdam.  Read all the details here (including a lot of pictures).
  
• Milano Beach Volleyball special.  During 1-SEP to 5-SEP the 2004 Swatch FIVB BeachVolley World Tour visited Milano, Italy.  To commemorate the event, a nice special packaging of the Skin Chrono Sandy Days (SUYK109) was released, limited and numbered to 120 pcs.  At the event, participating Club members received a welcome package.  You can find some pictures from the event here.
  
• Swatch Exchange at the World Museum.  The 4th swatch exchange at the Swatch World Museum (near Milano, Italy) took place on 12-SEP.  To commemorate the exchange, a special packaging of the nice new gent swatch Color The Sky (GS124) was released, it is limited and numbered to 120 pcs.  The style of the packaging is similar to the Milano Launch special from 2003, containing the gent swatch Flaky (GW138).  Thanks to Alain Choisy for the information and pictures.
• New packaging for swatch watches.  Swatch will sell their watches in a new style of plastic boxes (picture of front / back of Irony packaging).  The plastic swatch watches will be sold from now on in a similar style of plastic boxes.  Another part of swatch history is gone!  The old swatch boxes for gent plastic watches were made for 20 years almost unchanged (1984 - 2004)!  Thanks to Alain Choisy for the information and pictures.
  
• Athens 2004 Olympic Ionic Center.  Swatch has released a few pictures from the Swatch Athens 2004 Olympic Ionic Center (in Lysiou Street).  Update:  I just added a few  very nice pictures by Pierangelo Taiocchi, check it out!
• Swatch The Club at Athens 2004 Olympic Games.  Swatch The Club offered a trip to the Athens 2004 Olympic Games (in fact, several different 'waves' [trips] according to the home country of the club member).  Participating Club members received a welcome package and a very nice special packaging of the NOC Athens 2004 I Was There swatch (SUDK106AR).  The special is not numbered, but probably only around 65 pieces were made.  Also available in Athens at the Swatch store are two different special packagings containing three olympic swatch watches.  Thanks to Squiggly and Henk Seligman for the information and pictures.
• Portuguese Olympic special.  The Portuguese swatch shop Jellyfish Net has released a special packaging to commemorate the Olympic Games in Athens 2004.  The special is limited to 83 pcs (the number of Portuguese athletes in Athens) containing any of the gents from Olympic Games 2004, a portuguese magazine with a detailed description of the Portuguese athletes and 2 special olympic pins.
  
• Athens 2004 Olympic Volunteer swatch.  The volunteers at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games received a very nice .beat swatch:  A Floating Dot .beat with a special strap (YQS1000D).  Here is the official info about the watch.
• Early Swatch Maxi prototype.  An interesting maxi prototype (only 3 pcs made) has just been discovered:  It is a maxi prototype of the pager swatch Speaker's Corner (MPAM204).  Here is a picture of the face of the maxi.  Thanks to Alain Choisy for the information and pictures.
  
• Italy Beach Volleyball special.  On 4-SEP, a special event will take place in Milan for the Italian stop of the Women's FIVB Beach Volley championship. A special packaging of the Skin Chrono Sandy Days (SUYK109) limited to 120 pieces will be released.   Thanks to Andrea Marco Faggioli  for the information.
  
• Hawaii Beach Event.  Starting 17-AUG, two of the world's best sand artists (Team Sandtastic) will build a 20 feet Olympic NOC watch on the beach of Honululu, Hawaii.  Also, included in this giant replica of the Swatch NOC will be a sand statue of Duke Kahanamoku (father of surfing) with surfboard in hand.  25 tons of sand will be carried to the beach!  The swatch event will be on 21-AUG!  Olympic gold medalist Matt Biondi will come to the swatch store in Honululu and he will sign some NOC watches too!  Thanks to Yoshimi for the information.
  
• Swatch at Arschbomben World Championship.  From 13 to 15-AUG, the first Arschbomben World Championship will take place in Bayreuth, Germany.  Swatch is a sponsor, and the German national team will wear a fun scuba swatch.
  
• Another interview with Nick Hayek junior.  The Swiss Weltwoche magazine features another interview with Nick Hayek junior (again in German only).  This time, it concentrates a little more on Swatch watches.  Two interesting little infos:  1. Swatch plans some new kind of stores, the first ones will be opened in London and Berlin.  2.  still no date about the mobile phone swatch watch (it will probably never be sold) but swatch plans to sell a watch in the USA which is able to receive news.  Didn't we have this years ago with the pager watches?!?
  
• Klagenfurt Beach Volleyball special.  During 28-JUL to 1-AUG, the 2004 Swatch FIVB BeachVolley World Tour ended in Klagenfurt, Austria.  To commemorate the event, a special Sun Stripes Klagenfurt, a swatch access High In The Sky (SHN104) carrying a new strap, is being sold in Austria.   For the collectors participating at the event, a similar special identical to the one from Berlin (only with 'Klagenfurt' inscription) was released.  Thanks to Henk Seligman  for the information.
  
• Fun Scuba Tram.  A tram in Fun Scuba design can be seen in Cologne, Germany.  You can find more pictures on Matthias Stawinski's nice swatch homepage!
  
• RIP Alfred Hofkunst.  On 17-JUL, the well known swatch artist Alfred Hofkunst (vegetable POP specials) died at the age of  61 in Cudrefin, Switzerland.
  
• Interview with Nick Hayek junior.  More about Swatch in the newspaper:  The German manager magazin carries an interview with Nick Hayek junior (again in German only).  The interview is more focused on the market segment of luxury watches, not so much about Swatch.
  
• St. Tropez special.  On 19-JUL, a swatch event took place in St. Tropez, France commemorating the release of the new St. Tropez swatch gent (GE135).  The watch comes in a special packaging (not limited, not numbered).  It will be available in France, maybe in other countries as well.  Update:  Here is a very nice report by Philippe Danjean about the launch event in St. Tropez, check it out!  Thanks to Arnaud Perche  for the information and pictures.
• Singapore Swatch Olympic Emotion Event.  On 17 to 18-JUL, the Swatch Olympic Emotion Event took place in Singapore:  Swatch together with a local TV station and other sponsors organized an outdoor event around the Olympics in a square outside Ngee Ann City (top local shopping mall). Public could pay S$5 or buy something from Swatch/sponsors to take part in 7 sport events (long jump, archery, soccer, olympic trivia, basketball, sprinting, shooting) where top 3 male/female athletes will win Run Time and cash prizes. At the venue, buying a swatch got you a free mousepad or t-shirt.  Here is what you got when buying the Singapore NOC swatch.  Thanks to Al Auyong  for the information and pictures.
  
• Taiwan Bunnysutra Valentine's special / event.  To commemorate the Chinese Valentine's day in Taiwan, a special Swatch The Club event was held at the Shin-Min Flagship store in Elite on 17-JUL.  A special packaging consisting of  two(!) Bunny Sutra Touch swatches (STGK101), one pair of bunny dolls (one male, one female), and 2 paper sleeves, limited and numbered to 770 pcs was released.  Sophia Chang has written a nice report with many pictures from the event!
  
• 1982 USA sample swatches.  Squiggly has a nice picture of a few 1982 USA sample swatches on his website.  Only eight sets of six dummy swatches were produced, note the six hole straps and the world SAMPLE on the back of the case.
  
• Montreux Jazz Festival 2004 special / club event.  A special swatch Trumpet King (STAB102, a Touch Alarm) will be released for the Montreux Jazz Festival 2004 (2 to 17-JUL  in Montreux, Switzerland).  The swatch is designed by US artist Burton Morris.  The watch comes in a special paper sleeve.  In Switzerland, the watch is sold with a special loop around the strap, ref.no. STAB102D). Similar to last year, a special version of the watch (STAB102C) with imprint "for artists only" on the strap is available (distributed personally by Claude Nobs, boss of the Montreux Jazz Festival).  Also, a special 5 piece collector's box set (back) of the official Montreux Jazz Festival Swatch watches, launched every year since 1999 (up to 2003), limited and numbered to 400 pcs, is available for the special price of CHF 400.  On 3-JUL, a Swatch The Club event took place at the Montreux Jazz Festival, including a ticket to the concert of Alicia Keys.  Here is a report by Christine Tanner about the event: "Around 100 International Club Members met at the terrace of the Majestic Hotel on the beautiful lake of Geneva in Montreux. Everybody received the welcome packaging containing the Touch Alarm Swatch Trumpet King (STAB102D) for the Montreux Jazz Festival 2004, the official poster designed by the well know American artist Burton Morris, a yellow Swatch the Club T-shirt with the logo of the 38th Jazz festival, a Montreux Jazz festival cap and a ticket for the concert of Alicia Keys. On the terrace during the afternoon lots of nice appetizers where served and as a highlight 20 Special Swatch watches of the Trumpet King "for artists only" STAB102C where given to members in a lucky draw. Finally we walked to the Conference Center where Burton Morris was waiting for us to sign our watches and posters. After this we all enjoyed the concert with Alicia Keys. On Sunday there was a nice exhibition with Burton Morris art works at the Palace Hotel in Montreux. He signed the official Montreux Jazz festival poster as well as the official add for the 2004 Oscars Academy Awards."  Here are Christine's pictures from the event. Thanks to Alain Choisy, Christine Tanner, and Jacky Beauverd for the information and pictures.
• UK olympic summer event.  On 26-JUN, a Swatch The Club Summer Party - The Olympic Dream took place in London.  For more details, please see the invitation to the event.  Club members could enjoy the Swatch Experience (previously held eg. in Milano).  Participating club members received an access swatch Clearance Two (SKK124) with a special strap.  Here is another photo of the strap.  Thanks to Peter Rollings  for the information and pictures.
• Portuguese F/W 2004/05 collection launch special.  For the launch of the fall/winter 2004/05 swatch collection, a special packaging of the gent Froggy Weather (GN217) has been issued in Portugal.  No further info so far.  Thanks to Ricardo Rocha for the information and picture.
• Vendôme Cow Exhibition special.  From 17-JUN to 3-SEP, a cow exhibition takes place at Place Vendôme in Paris.  For the vernissage on 16-JUN, the swatch Vendôme store released an exhibition special swatch Lulumuuh (LK227P) in a strictly limited edition of 58 pieces with a nice cow strap and the Spiga cufflink part.  Here is a small report with pictures by Philippe Danjean about the vernissage event.
• Beijing 2008 Olympics special.   Xinhuanet:  The Swiss-based Swatch Group, the world's biggest watch maker, displayed its first set of souvenir watch for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on 16-DEC-2003 in Beijing.  Priced at 1,680 yuan (202 US dollars), the set includes two swatches: one gent Dragon Celebrations(GZ178) and one square Dancing Beijing(SUFZ102), a red/blue watchcase and watchband featuring Chinese culture. Total supply will be limited to 4,999 sets, only sold in China.  Here is a picture of the set. Thanks to Squiggly for the hint.
• FIVB World Tour - Portugal.  During 2 to 6-JUN, the 2004 Swatch FIVB BeachVolley World Tour went to Portugal with the Espinho Open.  Swatch the Club Portugal held an event on saturday and released a nice and limited and numbered (64 pcs) special packaging of  the Skin Chrono Sandy Days (SUYK109).  Collectors also received a T-shirt and other goodies.  Thanks to Pedro Coelho for the information and pictures.
• Portugal Euro 2004 soccer special.  For the european soccer championship Euro 2004  in Portugal (12-JUN to 4-JUL), a special swatch called Vive o 2004! (Live the 2004! ref.no. GZ186) has been released a few weeks ago.  The watch (available in Portugal only) has a paper sleeve with the route for all the cities that will have football matches. Now, a limited (2004 pcs) and numbered special packaging (a golden soccer ball) has been released.  Thanks to Ines Soares, Vitor Vargas Ramos and Pedro Coelho for the information and pictures.
• Fun Scuba swatches / launch event special.  Swatch has launched a new product line called Fun Scuba of scuba diving watches at the end of may at a Swatch The Club event on the spanish island Ibiza.  Here and here are pictures of the watches.  Here is a picture of the special packaging issued for the launch event.  This special packaging (a demonstration kit, not for sale) will also be shown at swatch stores to demonstrate the watch to customers.  Here is a newspaper article in German about the fun scuba launch on Ibiza. Thanks to Alain Choisy, Dirk Blencke, Christine Tanner, Squiggly, and David Rippmann for the information and pictures.
• Swatch Experience in Milano.  A special event called Swatch Experience took place in Milan, Italy, on 12-JUN. During the event it was possible to test Swatch timekeeping in the same way it will be done during the next Athens Olympics. Collectors also had a chance to buy the new Olympic Special Packaging Special Moments (a column containing three special olympic watches); lots of gadgets (T-shirt, cap, neckband) were distributed.  The Swatch Experience will travel to many other cities in the next weeks.   Thanks to Andrea Marco Faggioli for the information and to Pierangelo Taiocchi for the pictures.
• 2nd Vendôme/Spiga chrono suitcase.  To celebrate the 4th anniversary of the special Vendôme swatch store in Paris, a (second [first one was the nice leather suitcase in 2000]) suitcase (ref.no. SVCKS01) containing seven diaphane irony chronos has been released, it is limited and numbered to 200 pcs (total for Spiga and Vendôme, probably 100 each).  Retail price for the suitcase is 1000 Euro.  Thanks to Laurent  for the pictures.
• Athens NOC swatch specials.  For the Athens 2004 Olympic games, a record breaking number of 38 NOC specials (X-Large Theoratos (SUDK106) with a special strap) will be released.  The NOC (National Olympic Comittee) swatch specials are only available in the respective countries.  Limitation number of each special is unknown but probably quite low in some cases.  You can find a detailed list, also with pictures at www.mine-d-or.ch (scroll down) or squiggly.  A very interesting special will also be the Athens I Was There swatch (SUDK106AR).
• Carrying the Olympic Torch.  US pioneer members Roy Porello and Brian Pier will be carrying the Olympic Torch for Swatch during the official Olympic Torch Relay through the United States as it makes its way to Athens for the start of the 2004 Olympic Games.  16-JUN: Roy Porello in Los Angeles, 18-JUN: Brian Pier in Atlanta.  Swatch will host a gathering of club members and friends of Swatch to cheer Roy on in Los Angeles and we will celebrate Brian’s Atlanta torch run in New York City at the Times Square Swatch Store which is where the United States portion of the torch relay will end on 19-JUN.  Thanks to Brian Pier for the information and congratulations!
• Athens 2004 olympic special packaging.  Swatch will release a nice special packaging called Special Moments (GZS37) containing three swatches:  Olympia 776 B.C. (GZ 188, gent), Athens 1896 (SVDZ 4000, Diaphane automatic), and Athens 2004 (SUYZ 103, skin chrono).  The packaging is limited to 2004 pieces, and it looks like a column.  Price is 500 Swiss Francs (approx. 330 EUR or $400 US).  The special will be sold at the swatch store opening in Geneva, Switzerland on 12-JUN and in a few selected swatch stores in Switzerland on 19-JUN.  It will also be sold in all usual other countries.  Thanks to Alain Choisy, Christine Tanner and Jacky Beauverd for the information and pictures.
• Shareholder Assembly special.  On 27-MAY, the annual shareholder assembly of Swatch group took place.  Each participant (about 820) received a special swatch as a present:  A gent Mass Class (GK337E) with a special strap.  Here is a picture of the watch.  Thanks to Christine Tanner  for the information and pictures.
• Tintin Maxi swatch.  The nice and super successful Tintin swatch Les Aventures de Tintin (GM165) is also available as a maxi swatch now.  Thanks to Jacky Beauverd for the information.
• Helmut Newton special.  A very special swatch (Helmut Newton swatch; GZ183) is being auctioned for charity (SoHo Partnership) on the swatch website from 7 to 20-MAY.  The design of the swatch is based on a photography of the late photographer Helmut Newton.  The watch was commissioned by the philanthropist Henry Buhl who won the right to produce 100 swatch watches when he purchased the lot no. 24 for $40000 US at the Swatch Wristory auction in NYC on 3-DEC-2001.  So, only 100 Helmut Newton swatch specials exist, and only one watch will be auctioned online!  Read more about this unique swatch on the official swatch website.  Update:  Each Gold and Pioneer Swatch the Club member in the USA received an exclusive invitation to the home of Mr. Henry Buhl where Swatch will host an event with over 100 VIPs on 20-MAY in Soho, Manhattan. During the event, the auction for Mr. Buhl's Helmut Newton Swatch will end so the members will watch and can participate in the final bidding.  Update no.2:  Here is a press release by swatch issued after the auction.  It states that the watch was sold at 'over $10,000 US', maybe to the bidder with the nickname hand.
• Unique Lifeball 2004 swatch.  Again, a unique swatch has been designed for the Lifeball 2004.  Lifeball is an AIDS charity event taking place each year in Vienna, Austria, this year on 15-MAY.  This year's unique swatch special (actually, two skin swatches!) has been designed by Gianfranco Ferré from Milano.  It is packaged in a nice leather box.   The special was auctioned on the swatch website from 5 to 25-MAY.  Apparently, the high bid was 3400 Swiss Francs.  You can find some additional info about the swatch on the swatch website and on Gianfranco Ferré's website (News ==> Press releases).  Thanks to Philippe Danjean for the information.
• Swatch Exchange at the World Museum.  On 16-MAY (sunday),  a swatch exchange took place at the swatch World Museum in Cesano Maderno, near Milano (Italy).  You can read all the details here.  To commemorate the event, a special packaging of the nice Bunny Sutra Touch swatch (STGK101), limited and numbered to 100 pcs, was issued.  They also sold another special packaging (only 30 EUR!): Cin Cin (limited and numbered to 77 pcs, half pink, half blue).  The glass contains a working solar swatch which is sealed in a jelly transparent material.  Thanks to Roberto Quadrini for the information and picture.
• Swatch and Surfrider Foundation Event. Swatch will be partnering with the Surfrider Foundation who is celebrating their 20th anniversary in 2004 at an event in Los Angeles on 17-JUN in conjunction with the launch of a new Swatch product (my guess is:  Fun Scuba).  Surfrider has commissioned over 30 world-famous board shapers to produce a one-of-a-kind board for this event.  The boards will all be on display outside the Swatch South Coast Plaza Mall store at least a week before the event.  Swatch will also have a local artist produce a board that will be presented with the others at a live auction on the Sony Studios Lot June 17 among several celebrity guests.  More details to follow.  Thanks to Brian Pier for the information.
• Gold & Pioneer Event 2004 special.  This year, the traditional gold & pioneer event of Swatch The Club took place from 6 to 7-MAY in Brussels, Belgium.  To commemorate the event, a superb special has been issued:  A very nice Diaphane Automatic swatch, limited to only 150 pcs (not numbered), ref.no. SVDZ4001AG.  Again:  Only 150 pcs exist of this watch, it is a unique model!  The watch comes in a nice and very heavy acrylic packaging (not numbered) with some words why this watch was issued.  In my opinion, a very very beautiful watch, and definitely the best G&P Event special ever!  Update: Here is a detailed report (with many pictures) about the event.  Here are Christine Tanner's pictures from the event.
• Brussels Tintin Event special.  Directly after the G&P event, an international club event open to all club members took place in Brussels from 7 to 9-MAY.  For this Tintin event, another superb special was issued (these two specials will be hard to top in the future!):  A special packaging (limited to 150 pcs, not numbered) of the Tintin swatch Les Aventures de Tintin (GM165).  The watch is packaged in a big, big wooden book (size is about 38 x 42 x 3 cm; it is even heavier than the G&P event special!), together with the Tintin book L'Ile Noire.  The wooden book carries a metal plaque.  The whole package is very well thought out!  Update: Here is a detailed report (with many pictures) about the event.  Here are Christine Tanner's pictures from the event.  Here are Markus Muth's pictures from the event.
• Bunnysutra Touch swatch.  A very special Touch Game swatch is now available:  Bunnysutra (STGK101).  Read all about it on David Rippmann's nice webpage.  Update:  Something incredible has happened:  The Bunnysutra swatch is all over the news in the USA (and my page gets about 6 times more hits than usual :-) :  Swatch took a giant billboard in Times Square to show the Bunnysutra touch swatch.  It has bunnies doing what bunnies do. The New York Post called and ran an article, photos and all about the watch, asking people were they into it or were they appalled by it. The article ran a few days ago and since then over 150(!) news stations ran pieces on TV (check out the video!) around the entire USA about the watch.  This created a frenzy and people are running to the swatch stores to buy the watch and now it is almost entirely sold out!
• Basel Jellyfish Store opening. On 15-APR, a new jelly fish store was opened in Basel, Switzerland.  Former olympic champion Carl Lewis was there, signing autographs, signing watches and other stuff.  No special packaging was issued but the following watches were sold for the first time worldwide:  Olympia Diaphane Chrono Pheidippides (SVCK4026, comes in a nice box) and the X-Large NOC Switzerland (SUDK106R, comes in a paper sleeve). Pheidippides is now available in Germany as well, the box shows the landscape between Athens and Marathon. It was in 490 BC when Pheidippides run from Marathon to Athens to tell that the Greeks won against the Persians.   You can find many, many nice pictures from the opening event on Christine Tanner's nice webpage. Thanks to Alain Choisy, Christine Tanner, and Henk Seligmann for the information and pictures.
• Dutch Tintin in Tibet Special. Squiggly has realized a nice special packaging (numbered and limited to 222 pcs) of the Tintin swatch Les Aventures de Tintin (GM165).  You can find all the info on a special webpage on Squiggly's site.
• Tintin Specials.  On 10-JAN, Swatch will release two watches to commemorate the 75th birthday of Tintin, the famous cartoon character of the writer Hergé. Both models will be Standard gents, of which one will be a limited edition. Here is a picture of the first Tintin special Happy Birthday Tintin (GZ 187, limited to 9999 pcs) and here is a picture of the second Tin Tin special Les Aventures de Tintin (GM165, not limited).  Both specials look great!  Here is a picture of the original comic page used for designing Happy Birthday Tintin.  The official swatch website now has a nice section about the Tintin specials.  Thanks to Squiggly for the info and to Javier Palma and Alain Choisy for the pictures.
• Swatch 'Come Together' in Vienna.  A Swatch The Club Come Together event was held in Vienna on 22-APR.  The event was open to club members only.  Here are pictures from the event on the Swatch page.
• Spiga Mother's Day special.  A special packaging for mother's day (GE132PU, retail 52.50 EUR) is now available at the Spiga Store in Milano.  Here is another picture of the watch showing how the watch can be used.  I don't know about the limitation so far.  From the ref.code (P=Vendôme, U=Spiga), I would guess that the watch is available in Paris as well. Thanks to Pierangelo Taiocchi for the information and pictures.
• Paris Kaleidoscope exhibition.  The swatch Kaleidoscope exhibition (which was shown previously in Athens and Munich last year) will be shown starting 30-APR at the newly renovated Swatch Megastore in Paris, France.  You can find more details about the Kaleidoscope exhibition in Paris here.
• Another unofficial Taiwanese special.  A warning / info from Sophia Chang (Taiwan) about the special 2004 Taiwan Flower Expo that recently surfaced on ebay:  "There are sellers who put the 2004 Taiwan Flower Expo special in ebay a few weeks ago.  After I checked with the Swatch Taiwan branch the vice manger Mr. Chiang, I get the answer that is an unoffical item. Don't be cheated by this seller!"
• Swatch Japan online store / Swatch Japanese Mobile Fashion Collection. After the USA, swatch has just opened an online store in Japan.  If I understand the babelfish japanese -> english translation correctly, the first 100 buyers will receive a little gift.  Now also available (via mobile phone only?) is the Mobile Fashion Collection (an exclusive line-up of products coming from two luxury boutiques, "Swatch Vendome" in Paris and "Swatch Via Della Spiga" in Milan).  More details here.
• Via della Spiga collection in Frankfurt.  The 'exclusive' Via della Spiga collection will be on sale in Frankfurt from 22-MAR to 10-APR.  More details here. Here and here are photos of the shopping windows...
• French Spring/Summer 2004 collection special.  In the last years, one gent swatch from every collection was issued in a limited special packaging in France.  For the Spring/Summer 2004 collection, the nice gent Gribouillis has been issued in a french only special packaging (ref.no. GN216S, retail is 55 EUR), limited to 400 pcs, not numbered.  The packaging contains the watch, a blank notebook for drawing and 3 coloured pencils.  Thanks to Robi, Thomas Sonneville, Henk Seligmann for the information and pictures.
• Spiga Father's Day 2004 special.  A special Father's Day swatch is now available at the Spiga store in Milano:  A Diaphane Automatic called Cashy-Flashy (SVDK1007PU, retail is 110 EUR).  It comes with a leather purse made of the same leather as the strap of the watch.  The watch is probably also available at the Vendôme store in Paris (see ref.no.[P=Vendôme, U=Spiga]). Thanks to Emanuele Bertodo for the info and picture.
• Worldmuseum Art special.  A new special packaging is available since 14-MAR from the Swatch Worldmuseum in Cesano Maderno near Milano, Italy.  It was released to commemorate the 1st anniversary of the museum.  The special is called New Art Worldmuseum (limited and numbered to 77 pcs, plus 30 pcs E.A. (epreuve artiste)) and it was designed by the Italien artist Toni Tedesco.  The box contains a mini sculpture (visible from one side of the box) and any swatch solar (e.g. Sunscratch (SRM103)), visible from the other side of the box.  Together with the special, a signed print was also available.  Thanks to Alain Choisy for the information and pictures.
• Hawaii Swatch Event.  Swatch supports the 17th Annual Great Hawaii Rubber Duck Race on 27-MAR benefiting the United Cerebral Palsy Association.  Purchase Ducky Bath (GN214) between now and 27th at the swatch store in Hawaii (Honolulu), a rubber duck will be entered into the race in your name! A portion of the proceeds of the sales will be donated to UCPA of Hawaii!  With every purchase, customers will receive a duck to enter in the race, giving them a chance to win some great prizes, like $10,000,  trips, and much, much more!
• Swatch inspires fashion designers.  French fashion designers on aura tout vu presented their Couture Spring Summer 2004 Collection between the 20th to the 23rd of January at the Hotel Four Seasons in Paris. One of the pieces they presented on the catwalk was created with over 300 Original and Skin Swatch models!
• Dadazüri special launch event.  During the night of 5/6-MAR-2004, the second Dada special, a Turnover called Dadazüri (SUFZ100), was launched in Zürich at the printery of the Neue Züricher Zeitung during a spectacular event for the press and also 170 members of Swatch The Club.  The special is limited and numbered to 8590 pcs.  It is packaged in a transparent plastic tube containing the watch, a large poster (other side of the poster), and a booklet with information about the Dada movement.  The package also contains some more little surprises which I will not reveal right now.  The whole package is very nicely done.  At the launch event, club members also received some more goodies:  The Neue Züricher Zeitung dated 6-MAR, a Dada Event extra special edition of the NZZ (with pictures from the event, so it was printed within only 2 hours!), a brown paperbag with the Dadazüri logo, and a white T-shirt.  The Dadazüri special distributed at the event is the same that will be available soon in the stores.  Here is a detailed report about the event with many pictures!  The official swatch page contains a nice feature about the watch.  More pictures from the event can be found here at Christine Tanner's nice webpage.
• Swatch Taiwan White Valentine special. A special packaging of the X-Large Dragon's Angel (SUDB109, limited to 314 pcs, not numbered) was released on 20-FEB in Taiwan to celebrate the upcoming White Valentine's Day on 14-MAR.  The watch comes with a special leather bag with a dragon imprint on it (identical with the watch) and a chain attached to it.  Thanks to Russell Wu for the information and pictures.
• Vendôme store infos.  Thomas Sonneville has created a nice new website with infos about swatch watches available at the Vendôme store in Paris.  Definitely worth a visit (the website and the store :-)  Thanks to David Rippmann for the hint.
• Swiss Access specials.  Two new access specials from Switzerland:  For the Xtreme Verbier skiing contest in Verbier, Switzerland (on 19 to 21-MAR), Swatch has released a special access swatch Xtreme Verbier 04 (Scratch & Slide, SHM105C, with a new strap).  And another skiing area access:  Crans-Montana (SKK103OAG, in a nice paper sleeve).  Thanks to Alain Choisy for the information and pictures.
• Italian Swatch event.  A special event called Countdown Torino 2006 was held in Turino, Italy on 9-FEB at the Swatch Store in Via Roma 351. The event celebrated the Torino 2006 Winter Olympics ("-2 years until olympics"). A special packaging limited and numbered to 200 pieces was sold to the collectors participating to the event.  The packaging contains the gent swatch Transparent(GK209M) with an extra special loop around the strap.  Thanks to Andrea Marco Faggioli for the information.
• Leipzig "Nacht der Mode" special.  For the 9th Nacht der Mode (fashion night) in Leipzig last saturday (7-FEB), a special packaging of the gent Loros (GK368) was sold at the Swatch Store in Leipzig.   The special is limited and numbered to only 30 pcs.
• Vendôme / Spiga Valentine special.  On 14-FEB, a special Valentine skin Love Melody (SFK203GPU) will be sold at the Vendôme store in Paris (350 pcs, 90 EUR) and at the Spiga store in Milano (400 pcs, 85 EUR).  The watch comes with a slightly Valentine-oriented special packaging.   Thanks to Henk Seligmann for the information and to Alain Choisy for the pictures.
• Portuguese Valentine special.  A special packaging (not limited, not numbered) of the Touch French Lover (STGK100) has been released in Portugal for Valentine's Day.  Not too exciting.  Thanks to Ricardo Rocha for the information and picture.
• Swatch Store Leipzig spring special.  In the beginning of February, the swatch store in Leipzig, Germany, will release a nice special packaging (limited and numbered to 100 pcs) of the nice new gent swatch Ducky Bath (GN214).
• No Taiwan valentine special 2004 so far.  Russell Wu just sent me the following information / warning:  "There's no "Swatch 2004 Taiwan Valentine special packaging" so far.  As you can find there's someone selling he called "2004 Taiwan Valentine special pack" on eBay, the 10 Valentine pins box is just promotion item from Swatch Taiwan.  So you can get one set once you buy ANY swatch from the store.  In other words, this Valentine pins box does not belong to Swatch 2004 Valentine watch."
• Italian Spring-Summer 2004 collection launch event special.  A special event for the upcoming Spring-Summer 2004 collection took place in Milano, Italy, on 14-JAN-2004 at a place called Superstudio.  A special packaging containing the olympic gent Nisis (GE123) has been released for the occasion, limited and numbered to 200 pcs, very nice.  The special comes in a double plexiglass box and the packaging is very big, more or less like the Genetic Code special packaging.  In the box, there is space to fit the other 4 olympic swatches.  If you have an extra special, please let me know, I have lots of stuff for trade...  Thanks to Andrea Marco Faggioli for the information and to Emanuele Bertodo from www.wwt.it for more information and the picture.
• Scottish Whisky special.  The scottish whisky distillery Macallan is selling a special swatch.  You can order the swatch here. Thanks to Luca Poggioli for the info.
• Spring Summer Collection 2004:  Pictures from the new plastic collection can be found at Squiggly and www.1uhr.de.  Some nice watches in the new collection:
• Gent: Enigmatic Love (GB218, Valentine special), Burn Inside (GB219), Skulling Time (GB220), Red Sunday (GB750), Nose The Time (GE124), Melting Spot (GE125), Make A Pie (GE126), Bikini Beach (GE128), Motherly (GE129, Mother's Day), Candy Gloss (GE130), Diadromes (GE133), Juicy Hours (GE402), Well Suited (GE403), Glossy Bite (GE404), Chlorophyll(GG200), Time Censor (GM164), Les Aventures De Tintin (GM165, Tintin anniversary swatch), Pampa's Rider (GM414), Ducky Bath (GN214), Scottish Blues (GN215), Gribouillis (GN216), Time In Blue (GN716), Pink Aloha(GP124), Surfer Babe (GR148), Fruits Connection (GS118), Hazy Daisy (GS119), Mouse Trap (GS120), Beach Curl (GW139)
• Lady: Morning Breeze (LF118), Daisy Fragrance (LK236), Sticky Sirup (LK237), Natural Signs (LM124), Urban Woman (LN142), Water Queen (LN143), Beach Sensation (LO101), So Cute (LW133)
• Olympic: Athlimiata (GB217), Kymata (GE148), Astrapi (GP126), Idanika (GS121), Akrovatis (SUDK109)
• POP: Menthe A L'Eau (PMN146), Crystal Spring (PMR108)
• Square: Around You (SUBB108), So Chic (SUBM100), Un pò di più (SUBS102)
• Touch Loomi:  Camp Fire (GF900), Let's Go Party (GK915)
• Touch Alarm:  5 Days A Week (STAB100), Ring A Tone (STAM101)
• Turnover: Zzzip (SUFK108), Lucky Stripes (SUFW100)
• X-Large: Dragons Angel (SUDB109), Daisy Daze (SUDK110), Perfect Wave (SUDK111)
• no scuba swatches and square chronos in this collection!
• Valentine special 04.  Squiggly has a picture of the valentine special for next year on his site.  It is called Enigmatic Love (GB218).  Here is a picture of the watch in the packaging.  Finally, a nice Valentine special :-)
• "10 Corso Como" specials.  In  Milano, Italy, Swatch has released two special watches for a trendy upscale fashion store called 10 Corso Como. They are called: Skin Corso Como (SFZ104) and  XLarge Corso Como (SUDZ101). They come in special paper sleeve and they are sold at the above store, located in Corso Como 10 - Milan. They're not numbered and not limited.   Update: They are now available in Germany and France as well!  Here is some more information about the watches on the official swatch website. Thanks to Andrea Marco Faggioli, Thomas Sonneville and Roberto Quadrini for the information and pictures.
• Jubilee swatch special.  A new Swatch (sort of) has been discovered in the USA:  The watch is called Swatch Jubilee (SKK114C).  You may recognize the watch itself - this was used in the mousepad special Cyber Commander that was the second club watch a few years ago. The band, however, is new. This watch is not for sale to the general public. The watch is given to Swatch employees on certain employment anniversaries.
• Greece Athens 2004 olympic special.  A nice new swatch called Nisis (GE123) [Nisis = island in greek] is available in Greece.  The special packaging is available in Greece only, the watch may later be sold elsewhere as well.  If you are interested in purchasing this watch, you can contact Stavros or Timotheos in Greece at "snikol@yahoo.com". Thanks to Stavros and Timotheos Binis for the information and pictures.