Stay tuned to
Swatch
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 1999 are below:
- Austrian and German .beat access specials. Here is a
belated report about two .beat access specials from Austria that were
released in the last millennium (not! they were
released in 1999, the new millennium starts in 2001... but you knew
this already :-) The first .beat access special Sölden'99
(Corkscrew, SXB100) was given away during the Swatch The Club
event in Sölden in November 99. The strap has an additional
"Swatch The Club" logo. Here is a picture
of the watch. Not very exciting. The second austria .beat
access special Soulcity'99 (Corkscrew, SXB100D) was
distributed for the Soulcity event during new years eve in
Vienna. A new strap and an additional papersleeve. Here
is a picture. A third .beat access special Garmisch Boarder-X
2000 (Corkscrew, SXB100F) will be released for the
BoarderX event in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (4-6 FEB 2000). Here
is a picture.
- Lufthansa Millennium special. The German air line Lufthansa has distributed a
special swatch to the employees who had to work during the changeover to
the new millennium on 31-DEC-1999 to 1-JAN-2000. The watch comes
with a blue leather strap and in a special paper sleeve. On the
strap, a silver pin with the Lufthansa symbol and "2000" is
affixed. Here is a picture
of the watch and the packaging. The watch looks similar to the
gent Armour Clad (GM712, 1999) but it is a different watch
because the Lufthansa special has the ref. no. GM714. The seconds
hand of the Lufthansa Millennium is yellow instead of white and
the color of the day/date disc is different! Here
is a picture of the watch.
- Bibendum Michelin special. For the 100th anniversary
of the Michelin company, a special swatch has been created in
1998 (1000 pcs have been made). Here is a
picture. It is a Solar swatch Fuoco (SRN101C, 1996) with a new
strap. Thanks to Alain Choisy for the picture and
information.
- First USA bank access specials. The First USA bank has
issued two access specials. Both access specials were issued only
to employees of First USA Bank to be used within the Cafés of the Bank.
The Access feature was linked to their credit card account and swiped to
pay for their lunch. The first access special is the Juventus Ora et
Signora access with a special velcro strap. Here
is a picture. The second access special is the Juventus Ora et
Signora access with a special plastic strap. Here
is a picture. A poster was
also used to promote the two access specials.
- Two new access specials. Two new access specials have
been released recently. The first one (SKK103AB,
a Clearance access with a new strap) was distributed for the
giant men's alpine world cup in Alta Badia (Italy) on 19-DEC-1999.
Limitation is 1200 pcs, 600 pcs were sold and 600 were distributed as
gifts. The second one is called Fit
For Fun(SKK103FI, again a Clearance access with a
new strap). Fit For Fun is
a German sports magazine. No idea about limitation. Thanks
to Alessandro Guidi(?) for the picture and to Andrea Martinetto for
the information.
- Hewlett-Packard and Swatch. Read all about it here.
Thanks to Kelvin Ng for the information.
- Maui .beat special. During the swatch the club event
in Hawaii last week, a special .beat was released and given to
participants. Here is a picture of the
watch and goodies.
- Netherlands Haagse Bluf special. A new special
packaging called Haagse Bluf containing the nice Agatic
Agatac swatch has just been released at the swatch store in Den
Haag, Netherlands. The store has been opened recently. The
packaging is numbered and limited to 500 pcs. The Agatic
Agatac swatch has been refitted with a special loop around the
strap. The watch is packaged in a nice box
which contains pencils,
several
cards, and a calendar. A nice packaging!
- Japanese Keiki Surf Classic special. During the Keiki
Surf
Classic event in Japan on 30-OCT, swatch has distributed 200
specially stickered swatches. Check out this
page for details.
- Portuguese Boomerang swatch. A special Boomerang
Swatch (the old musicall Tokyo [SLZ100, 1996] with a new
strap, yawn!) will be released on 15-OCT by the portuguese mobile phone
company Optimus. Here is a picture of
the watch. The swatch will be sold in a "boomerang"
package including a mobile phone by Nokia. 20,000 units of this
package will be released at the price of $160 US. It will not be
sold at swatch stores. It will only be available at Optimus stores. Also
Optimus has a special phone number where all Optimus clients can dial
free to get the internet time. Thanks to Adriano
Oliveira for the information and picture and to Ricardo Rocha for the
picture.
- Taiwan Swatch.book. Another book about swatches has
been released in Taiwan. Apparantly, it is the first of a series
of six(!) books about swatch which will be released in the future.
Here is the cover and here
is the inside of the book. My website may be featured in part four
of the series.Update: Part two of the Taiwan Swatch.book has
just been released. 120 important swatch specials are featured in
this book. Here is a picture of the
cover. The retail price of the book is NT250 (approx $9 US).
Thanks to Sophia Chang for the information and pictures.
- Italy Wave Tour special. During the stop of the wave
tour in Florence, Italy, a swatch the club event took place on the
weekend of September, 18-19th. A special limited and numbered (600
pcs) packaging (a transparent plastic "wave") of the Cutback
.beat access swatch was distributed during the event. It is
different from the German Cutback.beat access special. Here is a picture of the packaging and here is a picture of the content of the
box. Thanks to Roberto Tintori for the
pictures.
- Two new refitted swatches. Two older swatches were
recently distributed with a new strap for some events. The first
one (Reproject, GB171) was distributed for the 6 days Orientierungslauf
(orienteering) from July, 24 to 31, 1999 in Switzerland. Hereis a picture of the swatch. The second
one (Bestione, GJ112) was distributed by the Schweizer
Eisenbahnerverband SEV (federation of swiss railroad
workers). Here is a picture. Thanks
to Christine Tanner for the pictures.
- Swatch wrist phone. The idea of a
"swatch watch phone" has been rumoured for quite some time now.
Prototypes have been shown on last CeBit fair in Hannover, I
think. Here is a new picture of the
"phone on your wrist". Do you think that this will be a
success? I don't think so... Thanks to
Brian Pier for the picture.
- US "Back To School" special packaging. Swatch took one
of the best Swatches (Jelly
Piano) and put it in a plastic folder with a Swatch pen and
two Swatch notepads and calls it Back To School special.
Jelly Piano was chosen due to its popularity. The package is
labeled "Jelly Piano Special Pkg." and has a code of GZ159C, 7000 pieces
were made. The price in the USA is $50. Here
is a photo of the most unnecessary Swatch special of the year. Thanks
to Brian Pier for the information and picture.
- Taiwanese IF access special. The Taiwanese FarEasTone
technology company is going to release a Clearance access with
a special loop. The loop will have word "IF" printed. About 20000 pieces
will be released! If I understand correctly, the access swatch
will be available alone or in a special box for around $70 US. Here is a picture of a newspaper ad and here
is a picture of the special. Update: There are at
least five(!) versions of this special: The special is available
with access Clearance (blue-grey loop around the strap)
and with gent Transparent (GK209) with four different loops
(blue-grey, pink, green, and orange). Thanks to
Michael Kuo and Sophia Chang for the information and picture and to
Jacky Beauverd for the update.
- Hong Kong Chauve-Souris special. A new
special packaging of the Chauve-Souris gent swatch from the
current collection is available in Hong Kong now. It is packaged
with a funny money box. Here is a picture
of the nice looking special. No idea about limitation or if it is
available outside of Hong Kong.
- Two DFS Olympic specials. Swatch does it again:
Flooding the market with special olympic watches. This time, it
seems as if the watches are only available in the duty free stores of
the chain DFS. DFS are in Australia, HK, Singapore, Taiwan, Tokyo
Narita Airport, Hawaii, and LA airport. Both specials are older
watches refitted with a new strap and in a paper slip case. The first special is the 1993 gent Cancun (GN126C),
the second special is the 1993 gent Sol (GK151D).
The watches do not look that badly... So, the special
swatches are available outside of Australia but they will not be soo
easy to get. Thanks to Michael Kuo and Sophia
Chang for the information.
- Taiwan Swatch book. A book about swatches (they want to
call it swatch bible [but this name is already reserved :-])
has just been released in Taiwan. It has all models from 96-99. Retail
price is only NT$280! (about $10 US). Hereis
a picture of the cover of the "bible" and here
is a sample page from the book. I have to admit that the "bible"
doesn't look too bad. Part II of the bible has just been released.
Here is a
picture of the cover and here
is a picture from the inside. Update: On 25 Aug,
part III of the bible was released. It covers the swatch years '93
to '95 and '99 / '00. Here is a
picture of the cover of part III. Thanks to
Michael Kuo for the information and to Sophia Chang for the pictures.
- Italian soccer special. The italian soccer club MILAN
A.C. will soon release its own swatch scuba access special. The watch
will be called 100 X 100 MILAN. It will be available from
the end of August. Here is a picture of the
access swatch and here is a picture of
the loop around the strap. Update: 25 pieces of 100
X 100 MILAN have been signed by old champions who played
with the team (Baresi, Rivera, Prati, Lodetti) or famous (at least in
Italy) supporters. They have been auctioned, 5 per day (everything
is sold now!). The 25 pieces are now sent the to high bidders with
a certificate and an official T-shirt of Milan team. Here
is a picture of the signed watch plus T-shirt etc. Thanks
to Andrea Martinetto for the information, to Roberto Tintori for the
pictures, and to Roberto Quadrini for the update.
- Club event in Sintra, Portugal. From August 10 to 13,
an event organized by swatch the club intl. took place in and around
Sintra, Portugal. Originally, the event was also open to
Portuguese people but this was cancelled and so the event was only for
club members who sent their application to the club intl. No
special watch or packaging was released for this event. The
special Sintra access swatch Monte da Lua was officially
launched and the second club watch Sun & Moon was also
given to the participants of the event. On August 11, the solar
eclipse was watched (Portugal was a strange place for watching the
eclipse because it was only partial there...). More details and
pictures from the event can be found on the excellent pages by Ricardo
Rocha and the (in)famous Alby
Grosso.
- Colors access special. I bet that you have not
seen the following special so far (although you probably have heard of
it). For the opening of the restaurant Colors in Zurich,
Switzerland on 14-MAY-98, a special access swatch
(a Clearance access with a special strap) was distributed as
invitation ("Einladung") to the guests. The watch was presented in
a very nice black velvet box with imprint COLORS.
Thanks to Christine & Sam Tanner for the
information and picture.
- FIS Irony special. An irony special was made for the
75th anniversary of the International Ski Federation (FIS) this past
winter (98/99) in Vail, Colorado, USA. It was made and distributed
to the skiers, officials, members of the FIS. It is a 1995 Irony Beach Rider
(YDS102) with a yellow "Happy Joe" Band. There is a small bronze square
on the strap saying "FIS" and a picture of 2 skis. Here
is a picture of the watch and here is a
closeup. Thanks to you know who for the information and
picture.
- Unique swatchy artworks by Matthias Winkler. Not too
much activity in the world of swatch right now (summer!), so I show you
some unique artworks that the swiss artist Matthias
Winkler (designer of the gent watch Zeit2) has
made. He writes: "Each image is an original, that means there is
only one such unique work in the world! The frame is made of
handmade wood." Each picture costs between 750 and 960 Swiss
Francs. The pictures are called (try babelfish
for a translation of the German titles :-): Zeit
der Liebe ("Nr.1"), Bewegte
Zeiten("Nr.2"), Im Moment
("Nr. 5"), Blick zurück ("Nr. 6"), Tanzstunde ("Nr. 15"), Zeit
des Aufbruchs ("Nr. 16")
- Portuguese Zeit2 special. On July, 7th,
another painting session with the swiss artist Mattias Winkler (he
designed the gent watch Zeit2 from the current
collection) took place in Portugal. Reason for the event was the
opening of a swatch store in the Vasco Da Gama shopping
center. Swatch made another special paper sleeve for the watch as
shown on this picture. On the 9th of
July, again in Portugal, Mattias Winkler was present at the openning of
a new Swatch Store at BragaParque, in Braga, in the north of
Portugal. He also signed a few more paper sleeves, very similar to
the Vasco da Gama ones. Thanks to Tiago Gama for
the update.
- Japanese Nagano access special. Around the
time of the Nagano Olympics'98 in Japan, a special access Nagano
(ref.no. SKK106F, a refitted Magic Snow) has been
released. The watch was offered to athletes and VIPs of the Swiss
Olympic Committee. So this is quite old already but it has not
surfaced very often so far. Here is a
picture of the watch. Thanks to Christine
Tanner for the picture.
- German Cutback .beat access special. The Swatch
Wave Tour starts from August 3 to 7 in Munich, Germany.
Swatch will release a .beat access swatch called Cutback in a
special packaging limited to 20,000 numbered pieces "only". Here is a picture of the watch (the photo also
shows a promotional postcard which is not included with the watch!).
- Singapore Millennium specials. The Singapore
Millennium special swatch is specially designed for a fund-raising event
for The Singapore Millenium Trust fund and comes in two models featuring
Singapore landmarks such as Changi Airport's control tower and the
Merlion. It has been launched on July 16, along with 20 limited edition
sets autographed by President Ong Teng Cheong, costing S$10,000 each
(SG$1 = US$0.588). Both watches will retail at S$75 each. Also available
are watches autographed by local celebrities (TV personnel) for
S$120. The first special is Mania: Sea Traffic (GO 101)
from S/S 94, refitted with an orange strap featuring symbols of
Singapore, rendered in free flowing style. The ring has "Singapore
Milennia Mania" printed on it. The other watch is called TechnoMania.
Once again, this is a refitted Soleil (GL105) from S/S 93, with
blue straps. The strap features the same symbolsbut
in
a digitised/stylised form. The ring is similar. Both watches are
packaged in a special
paper
box. Thanks to Desmond Teo and Bernard Tey
for the information.
- Japanese Messenger special. A new special
will be released on the 27th of July in Japan. Swatch is a sponsor
of a new movie called Messenger. You can choose to buy
either Irony scuba 200 or .beat and there will be a very nice packaging
included as shown on these
pictures. The special
packaging includes the watch, the green box, one of the metal
items (a ring with a silver "swatch" imprinted plate), but not the white
T-shirt. To get the T-shirt, you have to buy even more watches,
and then you enter a lucky draw for the T-shirt :-( Thanks
to Vincent Lin for the information.
- Japan Loft Summer '99 special. The LOFT department in
Japan has released two special packagings. They are Blackliner
(GB161) and Flitter Glow (SDK903) both with new velcro
strap. Both come with a soft case as you can see on the
pictures: Blackliner
and Flitter
Glow. Thanks to Vincent Lin for the
information.
- SOS Kinderdorf charity swatch. In the beginning
of July, a new swatch for charity will be released. The standard
gent swatch in a special packaging is made to honor the 50th anniversary
of the "SOS Kinderdorf" (SOS Children's
Villages), a charity organization to help children in need.
From every swatch sold, (only) $2US will be donated to "SOS
Kinderdorf". The watch will not be limited and is part of the F/W
99/00 collection. Update: This swatch will be sold during
the charity concerts of the Bucharest Young Symphonic Orchestra in
Switzerland (3 - 13 June 99; Zuerich, Genf, Basel, Luzern, Bern,
Neuchatel, Solothurn, St. Gallen, Schaffhausen, Vaduz) in a special
papersleeve (limited to 1500 pcs). Here
is a picture of the watch and the special packaging. The watch is
really nice! The special (unlimited) packaging that is available
worldwide looks as follows: box
(similar to Glorious Runner etc.) and inside.Thanks to Thomas Bürki and Christine Tanner for the
information and picture.
- Vasco Rossi .beat special. A .beat special called Rock
to a new .beat was distributed in Italy for the concert of Vasco
Rossi. Here
is a picture.
- Mattias Winkler Zeit2 art special. A
limited edition (300 pcs) prerelease (ref.no. GK298C) of the gent swatch
Zeit2 (it is part of the upcoming collection)
has been distributed during several "painting sessions" with the swiss
artist Matthias Winkler.
The watch comes in a regular bigger plastic box and in a white
papersleeve numbered xxx/300 (well, a number 301/300
also exists!!). Each papersleeve is individually designed by
Matthias, really beautiful. Here is a
picture of the special. One painting
session took place in Zandvoort (Netherlands) on 31 may during a
Dutch collectors meeting. The sleeves from the dutch
session are not numbered. Another painting
sessiontook place on 23 June during the Gold
member event in Biel (more than seven hours!). The remaining
specials (about one hundred) may be distributed during another swatch
event later this year. Thanks again Patrick, you know why!!!
- Halloween 99 special. After the success of last years Halloween special, the '99
Halloween special looks also good! This year, the theme of the
watch are ghosts. Ghosts instead of the hands, ghosts on the
strap. The watchGeisterstund is
packaged in a tombstone. Thanks
to Jacky Beauverd for the picture.
- Gold- / Pioneermember event / Jungfraujoch event. During
the
last
week, the annual Gold- and Pioneermember event took place in Biel and
other places in Switzerland. See and read all about it on a special
page. Page updated on 6-JUL-99!
- Austrian Club summer event / special. On the weekend
of July 2 to 4, an excellent club event organized by Swatch The Club
Austria took place in Tyrol in Kirchberg near the famous town of
Kitzbühel. About 20 people (from Germany, Italy, Switzerland (hi
Charlie :-), and of course Austria) took part at the event. We
went river rafting and downhill mountainbiking (this was exciting :-)
and we had lots of fun. Gudrun had nice swatchy gifts for
everyone, thanks again. And we received a very special access
swatch (less than 40 pieces have been made!): A Clearance
access with a nice imprint "summer 1999" on the strapand on the
plastic box. Also, the plastic box contains green "grass" and
comes in a nice yellow Swatch The Club paper envelope. Here
is a picture. I hope to have some pictures of the event soon.
- Basel '99 skin special. A skin special has
been released for the jewelery fair in Basel (Switzerland). It is
the Monoblue skin with a new loop around the strap
(ref.no.SFN100C). Limitation is unknown. Here
is a picture of the watch. No special packaging.
- Big Summer Opening access special. A special
access swatch Big Summer Opening has been released in Saas Fee
(Switzerland) during the weekend of 25 to 27-JUN 99. Only 100
pieces have been made. Here is a
picture. Thanks to Jacky Beauverd for the
picture.
- Portuguese Sintra access swatch. In late
summer, swatch will release an access swatch called Sintra in
Portugal (and probably other countries as well). Here
is a picture of the swatch. Similar idea to other city access
swatches (eg. Rome, Salzburg etc.). And similar design to the Berlin
access :-( The watch will feature images of the very nice Sintra
palace which we visited during last
year's trip with Swatch The Club to Expo 98. Thanks
to Jorge Malheiro for the info and to Ricardo for the picture.
- Jazzfestival Montreux .beat special. This
year, the Jazzfestival in
Montreux (Switzerland) takes place from July 2nd to 17th.
During the event, Swatch will sell a swatch .beat special limited to 750
pieces. It is the .beat Net-time with a new strap and in a
special packaging with mouse-pad and T-shirt (price is 175 Swiss
Francs). Here
is a picture of the packaging and here
is a picture of the watch. On July, 9th, Swatch The Club organizes
a cocktail party for club members. During the party, the .beat special
will be sold to those who have reserved a place on the party.
Contact Swatch The Club for further information. Update: Besides
the .beat special, they will also sell an older MusiCall (Blue
Vibration, SLR 117) refitted with a new strap. This musicall
special (picture)
will not be limited. Thanks to Thomas
Bürki for the information.
- Empire State Building special. A new special Empire
State
Building
is available in the USA only. A nice new watch (picture)
in a nice papersleeve.
I
don't think that it is limited or hard to get.
- Deutsche Bank special. It seems as if the Deutsche Bank has distributed
a special swatch (a Smile scuba (SDK127, 1996) with a new strap
and scuba ring [we haven't had this before I think]) to many (all?)
employees of the company (similar idea to the DaimlerChrysler
special). The swatch was distributed to all the staff because of
the recent merger with Bankers Trust Company. The swatch comes in a
special papersleeve. Here
is a picture of the swatch, and here
is a closeup of the new scuba ring. A detailed
report with more nice pictures is on Cliff's
nice website. I know that this swatch has been distributed
in Germany as well. As with the DaimlerChrysler special, not all
the swatches are the same. The scuba loomi Fluoscope (SDJ900)
has
also been distributed. More
pictures of this special on Peter Rollings site. Update:
A German Deutsche Bank employee told me: "There are about 7 to
10(!) different versions available; loomi/non loomi, plastic strap with
citynames (as shown on Cliff's pics) or leather, etc. All of the
Deutsche Bank swatches have a scuba ring with city names, a special
paper sleeve, and the name "Deutsche Bank" on the loop. I have a Deutsche
Bank special with a Black Gondola scuba (ref.no. is
SDM100C, say so on the sticker). Thanks to Peter
Rollings and Achim Baumhör for the update.
- Singapore Adamastor special. The rumoured
Singapore Adamastor special is finally available. It is just an
outer paper sleeve for the Adamastor. The outer sleeve (picture)
has
some info on the baby Dugong that Swatch Group Singapore has adopted at
the Underwater World Singapore. Not exciting. Thanks
to Desmond Teo for the information.
- La Caixa SKIN specials. Update: I
don't know if I'm the first one to notice this: The skin swatch of
the La Caixa special has the same design as the skin Monoblue
(SFN100 [N=navyblue]) but it is a new model (in
black). Here is a picture
comparing the two swatches, you can see the difference in the colour and
you can see that the Monoblue skin has "(c) 1996" while that La Caixa
skin has "(c) 1998"! Funny, isn't it? Original news
was: Two new skin specials are available in Spain now. Each
one is limited to 1000 pcs. Both specials feature the same black
skin watch. One has a jelly strap, one has a black strap.
Both straps feature a color logo related to the spanish painter
Miro. The logo is also on the packaging. Here
is a picture of the black La Caixa skin. Not too
impressive! Here is a picture of the
box of the special. The watch does not have a special
ref.no. The specials are distributed by the spanish bank "La
Caixa" in Barcelona. These watches are not for sale. They
will be given away to customers of the bank. Thanks to
Thomas Buerki for the information and to Sonia Borrell for the update
and to Berjac from the Netherlands for the pictures.
- Singapore Millenium special. Desmond Teo sends
me the following info: "2 special models of a Millennium Swatch Watch
(commemorating the unveiling of the Singapore's Official Millennium
Countdown Clock on June 15th; it will be revealed via a live telecast on
the eve of the millennium to over 30 major cities around the world) are
available very soon. Each comes with a strap exclusively designed
designed for Singapore that includes representations of significant
symbols, monuments and sites in the city. The Millennium Swatch is the
first Swatch designed specifically for Singapore, and will be available
only in Singapore."
- Arrabal Vallée de Joux special. The play
entitled The Car Cemetery by the spanish artist Fernando Arrabal
will be performed in Le Sentier (Switzerland) June 10 through 26, 1999.
Also, an exhibition Miroir d'Arrabal featuring some of Arrabal's
private collection of paintings will be shown in Le Sentier until July
4th. To cover their costs, the organizers have ordered 1,000 Swatch
Gents Arrabal Vallée de Joux watches, each presented in each own
pack, numbered and manufactured specially for the occasion. The special
is the swatch Reposition (GB170) with a new strap. Here
is a picture of the special. Looks nice! Thanks
to Jacky Beauverd for the picture.
- Umbria Jazz Festival access special. A new
access special has been released. This time, the access swatch can
be used as an entrance ticket for the Umbria
Jazz Festival in Italy. Again, the special is a Clearance
access with an extra look around the strap. Here
is a picture of the swatch. The watch is sold in the swatch stores
in the region Umbria in Italy.
- Another swiss tourist swatch. After the nice Tell
Me swatch, another special will be released for tourists in
Switzerland only. This time, the evergreen swatch Barry
(do you see the relation to the alps? :-) will be rereleased in a
special blue box with a cover. On the inside of the cover is a
picture of a St. Bernards dog. Here is
a picture of the swatch. Thanks to Thomas Bürki
for the information and Jacky Beauverd for the picture.
- Cirque Du Soleil special. New Update:
It is very very likely that the watch will be cancelled due to
disagreements between swatch and the circus. The rumoured event on
June, 28th has definitively been cancelled! No new
date has been set so far. Alby Grosso reports on his website:
"A
very nice special will be released in June for the canadian circus
called "Cirque du Soleil". The watch will be launched during their
European tour at the show in Napoli (Italy). The watch will be
given to the spectators of the show. Mr.Hayek Jr. will be there
for the launch of the special. I've heard that it's very nice." Thanks to Brian Pier for the update.
- Two older special swatches. Recently, two swatches
surfaced that were apparently distributed one or two years ago. I
have never seen or heard about them before. One is a refitted Clearance
access which now features a musical logo on the strap. Here
is a picture of the watch. Apparently, it was distributed in late
'97 to employees of the swatch factory. Very few pieces must have
been made. The other special is a refitted Ocean Breeze chrono
(SCK 107) which was distributed by the switzerland postal service. Here
is a picture of the chrono special.
- Vienna marathon '99 access special. A new swatch
access special was given to VIPs and journalists during the recent
marathon in Vienna on May, 30th. Only 200 pieces have been
made. Here is a picture of the
watch. Thanks to Otto Schreiber and Valter Podgornik
for the information and picture.
- Panamerican games swatch. A new swatch special for the
Panamerican Games in Winnipeg
(Canada) has been released. It is available in Canada and USA
only. Apparently, it is an old swatch (Cool Fred, GK 150)
with a new strap. Hereis
a picture of the watch. Apparently, it comes in a special papersleeve. It is probably not limited.
Thanks to Thomas Bürki and Christine Tanner for the information.
- Berchtesgaden VIP access. During the FIS snowboard
world cup championships in January '99 in Berchtesgaden,
Germany, a special access swatch has been made and was distributed to
VIPs and journalists. Again, it is a variant of the Magic Show
access with a special extra loop around the strap. Here
is a picture of the watch and here
is a picture of the nice loop. The special has no new ref.no.
(still SKK106) but the price sticker
shows that this watch has not been distributed in the stores because it
carries no price in German Mark!
- Berner Versicherung special. The Berner
Versicherung (Bern [a city in Switzerland] insurance) has
released a special swatch. It is the Top Secret swatch
(without net) with a new strap. On the strap and on the packaging
is the logo of the Berner Versicherung: A racing bear! Here
is a picture of the watch and here
is a picture of the packaging. Looks quite nice. Only 30
pieces have been made! Thanks to Christine Tanner for
the info and pictures.
- Laax Korkscrew digital access special. On the
weekend of 10/11 April, a swatch the club event took place at the BOARDERCROSS®WORLD TOUR FINALS
1999 in Laax, Switzerland. I was
lucky enough to take part at the event. It was great and
definitely worth the trip. Thanks again to all organizers.
Click here if you want to read a detailed
report about the event (with many nice photos).
Another nice report about the event can be found on Peter
Rollings
new site. The digital .beat access swatch special Korkscrew
(ref.no. SXB 100C) was launched on that event. It is limited
and numbered to 1000 pieces. About 150 to 200 swatches (only!) were
distributed to club
members, 200 swatches were given to the boarderX
athletes, and the rest was given to VIPs, media, and journalists.
Here is a picture of the watch (it is
numbered on the back) and here is a
picture of the number on the plastic box. We also received a nice
BoarderX backpack which I haven't
seen before. It is black and features an orange X. On
Saturday, the big swatch boss Nick
Hayek sr. came to Laax, gave
autographs and talked to club members. That was really great
because he had time for everyone. He signed a card
made especially for the Laax event, my orange
swatch down feather vest (check this out! Cool, isn't it?
:-) and other stuff. No other special swatches were sold during
the event. The digital .beat access swatch will not be available
in the stores before September. Thanks to Peter
Rollings for some pictures.
- Taiwanese mother's day gift. Together with the
purchase of the mother's day swatch Dear
Mum and if in posession of a VIP invitation card, customers
in Taiwan received a small photo book suitable for Polaroid
photos. Four colours in total: light green, yellow, blue and
pink. Here is a picture of the
outside (two books) and here is a
picture of the inside. Thanks to Sophia Chang for
the information and pictures.
- Swatch Club watches Collectors box. Swatch tries again
to make some cash from innocent collectors :-/ Soon, Swatch will
release an ultimate collectors box, numbered and limited to
1000 pieces containing the first seven club swatches Golden Jelly,
Lots of Dots, Scribble, Crystal Surprise, Point of View, Looka, Garden
Turf. Here
is a picture of the box. I don't like it... Thanks
to Thomas Bürki and Andrea for the info.
- Swarovski manufactures for swatch. The well-known
manufacturer Swarowski has made
the imitation stones for a few swatches in the recent collections.
Check out this picture from the recent
magazine of the "Swarovski" crystal collector's society (yes, we are not
alone :-) Thanks to Michael Kuo for the information and
picture.
- Rotterdam City Pass Access swatch. The Ontwikkelingsbedrijf
Rotterdam, in charge of tourism policy in the City of Rotterdam
(famous for the largest port in the world) is now preparing a City Pass
access swatch for use in this city, in the tradition of City Passes for
Rome, Salzburg and so on. This special access is being designed in
April 1999 and will feature a skyline of the city. It is bound to look
beautiful! Price is announced to be 100 Gulden, the standard Swatch
price in the Netherlands. That is a bit less than $50. The access
function will provide access to sights, a "chipknip" money function and
various discounts. Plans are 15,000 pieces will be produced and the
introduction is scheduled for around September this year. The kick off
will be a big happening, probably during the "Wereldhavendagen", the
World Harbour Days. Check out Hans' website
for more information about other Dutch specials. Thanks
to Hans van Buuren for the story.
- Sweet Teddy Maxi. A maxi version of the Sweet
Teddy swatch is available for sale in the Netherlands only. It is
limited to 100 pieces only! If you are interested in getting this
cute maxi swatch, you can fax the Rotterdam swatch store at
0031-10-2409941. Here is a picture
of the maxi and here is another one
of the full maxi. Thanks to Peter
Kranendonk for the information and pictures.
- Portuguese .beat special. Here is a nice report from Rui
Mendes: On 8th March 99, the .beat digital swatches were
launched in Portugal during a Swatch party. Here is a picture of the
invitation (outside
and inside).
More
than 1000 people were there, and they was some animation. They
made some games, where 10 Provider .beat watches were
offered. An auction took place there, with an Adamastor
tube (#498/600) going up to $500US!. Also, a new limited
and numbered (500 pcs) special packing for the Provider .beat
was launched. It looks like a computer's accessory box, and
comes with a book in Portuguese about the internet ("Internet
Future")! It is numbered in the box, in the book and in the watch
warranty. Here are some photos: The
Box, Opened
Box, Inside
of
the Box, the
Watch
and the Book, the
Label, the
Box
Number and the
Warranty
Number.
- Two errors on It's coming swatch. Did
you notice that the Millenium calendar swatch It's coming does
not have one (June 19-22-21-22) but two errors? The other
error is that May 31 is missing :-) Thanks to
Panos Kokkinopoulos for the hint.
- French Be Mine Easter chocolate special. Finally
(if
not
too late :-), swatch has started something similar to my webpage:
A section News
from your country. Most of the sections for the
different countries are still empty ("At this time there are no updated
news...please check back soon! "). The German section contains
only official advertisement blurb, nothing really interesting. The
only interesting section is the French section: If my french is
still good enough and if I understand correctly, Swatch will release a Be
Mine special in France on 3rd of April to celebrate easter.
The watch is sold in a special sleeve similar to a chocolate box.
Alby has a picture of the French
Be Mine special on his site.
- Sierra Nevada event / special. On the weekend
of 13-14 March 99, a swatch the club event
took place during the ski world cup finals in the Sierra Nevada in
Spain. A special access swatch was released during this
event. 1200 pieces have been made (not numbered), about 900 were
given to club members, VIPs, press etc. The watch will not be
available anywhere else. Here is
a photo of the special swatch (looks like a Clearance access
with a new strap). Furthermore, the quite rare special packaging
of Jungle by Poussin was distributed (swatch finally got the
authorization by Poussin!). Mr Hayek signed about 50 of these
special packagings. The 1999 club swatch Space
Dream was launched, a nice Maxi
swatch of Space Dream also exists. The club swatch comes in
a blue box with a poster of all moon phases of 1999. And the
rumoured autograph session with the Spanish artist Agatha Ruiz de la
Prada (Swatch "Agatic Agatac") did not take place!! Alby
Grosso also has a good report
with many photos about the event on his site. Here is another
report by Peter Rollings about the event: "On arrival each guest
received a welcome pack, this was a Swatch backpack.
The
color is red and blue with the pocket on the front in white with the
logo of Sierra Nevada, in side was a t/shirt - Ski finals pin - program
of the finals - Swatch umbrella - Border X hat. On Friday we
were given the chance to purchase one of the Jungle Scuba Loomi's in the
POUSSIN
package. Then after some lunch, Mr HAYEK sr.arrived to sign
the package for us all. Saturday we got the "Sierra Nevada 99"
Access Swatch (SKK-103X). Again, only
one each (1200pieces). Sunday after breakfast, 20 people had the chance
to be the first to purchase the new club watch "Space Dreams". Also we
had grandstand tickets for each day of the Skiing together with a pass
into the VIP area for drinks and snacks. Thanks to
Ricardo and Rui Mendes for the information and photos.
- Swatch covers the Centre George Pompidou in Paris / new
art specials. I hope that you know the Centre George
Pompidou, a large museum of modern art in Paris. The Centre
George Pompidou will be reconditioned during the next two
years. To cover the ugly stands around the building, swatch has
produced the largest billboard (34.7m by 112.85m) in the world.
You can see a picture
of
the billboard on the swatch homepage. The billboard features
pictures of many people, all have one thing in common: They are
wearing a swatch. The photos on the billboard are taken by Michael
Comte, he also made the photos of the supermodels for the skin
ads. During the renovation (the next two years), several(!) swatch
art specials will be launched. Update: The first
art special relating to the renovation of the museum has been released.
It was designed by Renzo Piano, an Italian architect. It is a standard
gent's model in bright colors, it is called Jelly Piano, ref.no.
is GZ159. Update no.2: I was in Paris over the weekend.
The billboard is really huge! Unfortunately, they have placed a
big tent directly in front of the billboard so you can't see the
billboard completely. Also, the watch Jelly Piano
described before is available all over Paris. It is really nice
and comes in a white paper sleeve. It does not seem to be limited.
Here are pictures of the watch
and the papersleeve (front,
back,
inside).
Thanks to Thomas Buerki for the information and to
Brian Pier for the update..
- Singapore CAAS special. This is a special that was released
by CAAS (Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore) to its employees (less
than 1000) for making the Singapore Changi Airport the top airport in
the world for the last 10 years. The special was released in 1st Jan
1998. It is a 1992 model Cuzco with a new band. The band is gold in
color with pic of air planes and the control tower of Changi Airport. It
also comes with a paper sleeve and a certificate. The model code is
GK154C. Update: I finally found some pictures of this
quite rare swatch: Watch,
back
of
the watch, certificate,
back
of
the certificate. Thanks to Chua Kok Sian for the
story.
- Calendarium misprint. Swatch has managed to
come up with a misprinted millenium swatch. Check
out the month of June, it features the date "22" two times.
The error is supposed to be fixed now although I have seen only
misprinted Calendariums so far. This means that there will
be two versions of Calendarium. Thanks to
Ricardo for the information.
- Dutch Advantage tennis special. To celebrate the ABN
tennis ATP tournament in the Netherlands (15-21 Feb 99), swatch has
released a special numbered packaging of the Advantage tennis
swatch. The new packaging is similar to the one that is world wide
available except that it now also contains two real tennis balls.
The packaging is numbered and limited to 1500 pieces, although only 1000
pieces have actually been manufactured so far. Here
is a picture of the packaging and here
is a picture of the sticker with the number. Original selling
price is 120 Dutch Guilders (about $60 US). It might be worth a
try to contact Rob V. at www.squiggly.com
to get this special at a reasonable price because Rob is also located in
the Netherlands.
- Austria Irony Club special. Swatch The Club Austria
has distributed a few special Irony swatches to long-time club
members. The Blue Road Irony (YGS706) has been refitted
with an adjustable metal bracelet featuring a special Swatch The Club
engraving on the clasp. Here
is a picture of the watch.
- Singapore Be Mine special. The Singapore Be
Mine special was released on 27th January 1999 to celebrate the
grand opening of the swatch flagship store at Plaza Singapura and also
the launching of the 99 S/S collection. Only 500 pcs were made but there
is no limitation number. There was a hoohaa created on the last
day of the launch 31st Jan, because a small time local unauthorised
dealer wanted to buy up a large quantity of the special but Swatch
people there decided to limit to each customer to buy 1 each. The Police
was subsequently called in and they sold him the quantity he wanted.
Currently it is quite difficult to find as most of the stocks have been
sold out. Not to hot with the Singapore collectors but it seems overseas
swatch collectors are buying the specials. Hereare
pictures
of the special. Thanks to Desmond Teo for the story.
- New (old?) refitted swatches. Two refitted swatches
surfaced recently. One is a refitted Greenset gent swatch
from 1993. Here is a picture of the watch
and here is a closeup. Apparently,
it was distributed by the US chain Footlocker. Does anyone know
when/why this swatch was distributed? The other refitted swatch is
a refitted access Direction from 1996. Here
is a picture of the watch and here is a
closeup. It may have been distributed in Austria for an air show
in 1998. Does anyone have more info? Thanks
to Otto Schreiber for the pictures.
- Italian Val Di Sole Boarder X special. On the
weekend of Jan 30/31, one event of the Boardercross
world championship 1999 took place in Italy, in Val Di Sole (Trentino).
Because swatch is a sponsor, swatch used this occasion to host a Swatch
event. Swatch collectors received a package consisting of a Boarder X
hat, a daily pass, some Swatch pens and a copy of "Swatch Watch
News". A swatch special was also released (about 50 pieces,
ref.no. SHB103C): The upcoming access swatch Boarder-X
was refitted with a special velcro strap featuring two tags on the
band. One tag has "1st Boarder-X Worlds '99" printed on it, the
other one "Access Val di Sole". The watch comes in a black sleeve
with "Val di Sole'99-ISF Snowboard World Championships" - " 24th-31st
January 1999" imprint. Here
are pictures of the watch with the two special tags. And here
are the pictures of the sleeve. Part of this
story was nicked from the new
website of the "famous" Italian collector Alby Grosso.
- Spanish Agatic Agatac special. A special packaging of
the Agatic Agatac artist swatch has been released in
Spain. It is only available in Spain and it comes with a
semi-transparent plastic cover with a circa 50 pages photo book.
The very very nice book features the work of Agatha Ruiz de la Prada,
the designer of the swatch. She has worked for swatch in the past for
several occasions. Limitation of the special is unknown, it is not
numbered. Here is a picture of
the special. Yasuhiro Minato also has two good pictures (1
and 2)
on his new excellent site "Fun
of Swatching". Thanks to Ricardo from
Portugal for the information and picture.
- Variations of Valentines Special 99. This year, the
Valentine's watch is called Time For Love and will have a
special "hearty" packaging to communicate love perfectly. Here
is a picture of the normal packaging of the watch. It seems as if
at least two official variations exist: The first special comes
from Taiwan. The regular special Time For Love is
accompanied by a test tube with 12 heart shaped candies, limited to 5920
pieces but not numbered. In Chinese, the pronuanciation of "5920"
is equal to "I do love you". Here
is a picture of the Taiwanese special (candies tube only). The second
variation is apparently available in the US. Heart-shaped candies
again. Here
is a picture of the US special (the only special thing about this
special are the candies, the heart-shaped packaging is available
worldwide!). Thanks to Sophia Chang for the information
and picture.
- Tampere Access specials. Tampere is the third biggest
town in Finland: 180,000 inhabitants. The local transporting
enterprise celebrates a jubilee: its 50th anniversary. A special
access swatch (in three different versions) has been released by Swatch
to celebrate this jubilee. This access swatch can be used as
busticket (you may have guessed this already!). These swatches are
only available in Finland. Update: The Tampere
access swatch seems to be the Menang swatch with three different
straps: One black velcro, one blue velcro and one steel. They may
be available from a department store called Stockmanns in
Tampere. The fax number is: ++358 32133573 (hopefully correct :-). Price
is approx 275 Finnish Mark ($55 US). Here are pictures of SKK108C
(black velcro), SKK108D
(silver flex), SKK108E
(navy blue velcro). Thanks to Thomas Buerki for
the information and to Gunilla Duvner for the update.
Andreas Wiethoff