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 1996 are below:

• Swatch gnome. The Swatch gnome becomes reality!  The German swatch club is offering a real swatch gnome:  30 cm height, it will hold the Garden Turf as pictured everywhere. I talked to Swatch Germany:  For now, the gnome is only available in Germany as it was an idea of the German Swatch Collectors Club. The gnome has been shown to the International Swatch Club, they will decide whether the gnome will be available in other countries. Austria and Switzerland is possible, US unlikely. But nothing has been finalized yet. I got my gnome now. It is really cute. If you are interested in getting a gnome (without the garden turf swatch of course), please send me an email, maybe I can help. New rumour: A friend of a friend received a letter from Swatch (he had complained about the Oracolo incident [2nd edition of 1050 Oracolo's] etc.). Swatch told him that only 2000 gnomes were produced! Now that's a interesting rumour, isn't it? The rumour is now proven to be wrong! Production of the gnome will be almost unlimited (~10000).
• Rund um die Uhr. This is German and means "Around The Clock". Here's a picture of the watch. This German only (?) gent special (GZ 153) has been launched by Swatch together with German TV station RTL as a benefit swatch. The RTL logo is on the strap of the watch. The special is not limited. A maxi swatch also exists but I don't think that it is sold to the public. On Nov, 25th, RTL TV stars signed watches in several cities of Germany. Here's the (German!) info flyer from Stuttgart (front / back).
• Rund um die Uhr Auction. On Nov 27th, the German TV station RTL held a benefit auction to help UNESCO, the UN organization caring for children. Every hour, they auctioned memorabilia, eg. boxing gloves of German boxer Henry Maske, a pullover (yellow of course!) worn by Hans-Dietrich Genscher, the former German minister of foreign affairs. The highlight of the auction was a unique Swatch: An Access version of the "Rund und die Uhr" special. Only one (1!) exists. The big Swatch boss, Nicholas G. Hayek was also in the studio to promote the auction of the Swatch. As offers went higher and higher, the deadline of the auction had to be extended. One hour was not enough to collect and process all offers. The final prize beat all estimates: It went for 50000 DM (approx. $34000 US, gasp!) to someone in Italy. I didn't even know that RTL can be seen in Italy... What I do know now is that the hardcore Swatch collectors are from Italy.
• KSC Access special. Our local soccer club Karlsruher SC (KSC) released a swatch access special in May 1996, a Freeride Access with a special strap. On the strap, it is printed: "KSC soccer cup winner in 1955 1956 1996". KSC reached the final of the German soccer cup but they lost which was unexpected since the other team was from a league below... Now, there are 2 versions of the strap: One where it says on the strap that KSC is cup winner 1996 (which they aren't, the strap was made before the final, that's the way life goes...) and one where the 1996 is deleted from the strap :-) Originally, 2000 KSC Access specials were made. Well, since the KSC didn't win, they erased the 1996 imprint on the strap on many watches. That wasn't the only problem with this access special: They made the Access straps with approval of Swatch Germany. However, Hayek (the big Swatch boss) wasn't informed and he got furious about that. He told Swatch Germany to stop the sale immediately. So, only part of the KSC Freeride Access edition was sold. This means that less than 2000 of this special watches are in circulation. Because of this incident, the Swatch marketing manager for Germany was fired!
• Luzern Access To Space. I had a signed Access To Space swatch plus one of the six Luzern lottery prizes (signed letter, mini space shuttle, and Time Cut Irony Chrono [not the limited one]) for sale. It is sold now.