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 2005 are below:
- Summer Sport collection 2006. The
summer sport collection 2006 will consist of the following
watches: gent plastic / skin,
ladies / square, elegant
skin, fun scuba, beach
volley (gent and skin chrono), irony
chrono, skin chrono / diaphane
chrono.
- Taiwan Valentine 2006
special. Swatch Taiwan will release a new special
called Honey Bear for the 2006
valentines?day. The wooden
box contains two Irony
Swatches and two little bears. It rumored that the
bears are designed by the Honk Kong Qee bear designer. The
box is limited and numbered to 1314 pcs. The meaning of the number
1314 is ?I will love you in my all life time? for the Chinese
pronounciations. The set will be very heavy and it will be more
expensive than the previous Taiwanese Valentine's specials. The
exact release date is not yet clear. Thanks to
Sophia Chang for the information and pictures.
- Swatch at Mall of
America. Swatch opened a new store
in the USA at the Mall of
America near Minneapolis, Minnesota. The mall is one of the
largest in the USA with over 520 stores. On 17-NOV, Swatch
celebrated the opening of the new store. Swatch the Club Pioneer member
Tom Rolnicki was asked to cut the ribbon to open
the store. Tom lives in Minneapolis, has collected Swatches for many
years, and has authored a book about Swatch collecting. Professional
hockey player Pierre-Marc Bouchard was also at
the opening to meet customers and sign autographs.
Thanks to Brian Pier for the report and pictures.
- Paris Lustrous Bliss Event. Philippe
Danjean sent me this short report about the Lustrous Bliss launch event in Paris last
month: "On 14-DEC evening, Swatch The Club members as well as Le
Figaro readers (newspaper in France) were invited
for a Champagne reception at Swatch Megastore on Champs Elysees at
7:30. Members were welcomed by Swatch France staff and were
invited to see the 3 new Lustrous
Bliss. Last but no least, members received a nice Lustrous
Bliss Note book and a Book Mark of the red Lustrous Bliss."
- Xmas club event / special. From
1 to 4-DEC, the international Swatch The Club event took place in
Istanbul, Turkey. About 120 collectors participated at the
event. They received the Xmas special 2005
in a slightly different packaging,
it is grey instead of white and it features the club
logo on the box. The participants also received a very nice
welcome package including a special
blue vest, Alladin's wonder lamp and
much more. Here
is a detailed report with many pictures
from the event. You can also check out more pictures from the
event at Michael's nice website!
Here and here
are the pictures by Toty Booms.
- London Play Time special. A
Swatch Play Time game set consisting
of playing cards, a retro cube, an IQ match maker and a Sudoku puzzle is
being distributed in a promotion in partnership with Virgin Mobile
phone. If you are selected by Virgin and sent an email, you have
to take a copy of the email to the shop to claim your "Play Time"
gift. It is only 1 gift per household, this is available until
stocks run out. Alternatively, you could get this at the London
Covent Garden Store when buying any swatch watch at two saturdays in
december. Thanks to Michael for the
information and to Peter Rollings for the update.
- New Love Explosion Bijoux Ring.
A nice new Love Explosion Bijoux ring is
now available in Switzerland and world wide next year. The ring
has a lot of cubes on the top. Thanks to Michael
for the information.
- Swatch sponsors snow mobile
race. From 8 to 10-DEC, a snow mobile race event called
Snow
Mobile 2005 will take place in the center of Saalbach
Hinterglemm, Austria. Swatch is ?Official Timing Partner? of this
event. Update: A
nice special Access Swatch (In Process, SHB104, with a
new strap) was released for this event, limitation is 550 pcs. Thanks to a club member from Austria for the information.
- Taiwan Charity Xmas Event. Read
all about the 2005 Christmas Event for Charity in Taiwan on Sophia
Chang's nice website!
- Xmas club events. The international
Swatch
The Club Xmas event will take place in Istanbul, Turkey from 1 to
4-DEC. The UK Swatch The Club Xmas event will take place on 11-DEC
in Dorking.
Update: Here
are pictures from the UK Xmas event (no special packaging of the Xmas
special), thanks to Michael for the good work! Thanks
to Henk Seligmann for the information.
- Swatch at Miljonair Fair.
Here are the
pictures by Toty Booms from the Amsterdam Miljonair Fair (and from the
Amsterdam Instant Store). Swatch held a small party for the Dutch
members at the Miljonair Fair where they could get a "right to buy" the
X-mas special Sparkling Night.
- Flash Mob events. Swatch
is
organizing a number of Flash
Mob
events which will be filmed and broadcasted on Eurosport
& Eurosport 2 as well as be streamed on the Swatch
website. The events will take place on 9-DEC at 01.06 p.m in
Barcelona:
Center
of Plaça Catalunya, Munich:
Marienplatz 26, Ecke Rosenstrasse (report
by Michael), Milan:
Piazza
Duomo, in front of the entrance of Palazzo Reale, Paris:
Place
St Michel (report
by Philippe Danjean!), Zurich:
Pestalozziwiese - Bahnhofstrasse quite vis-à-vis of Swatch
Store. So go ahead and participate! Bring a football and/or
your football fan shirt to this Flash Mob, and you will be on TV all
over Europe!
- Golden Swatch. In
France, a very expensive (~5000 EUR) version of the Dates In Circles gent (GK417,
2000) is available now, designed by greek designer Lina
Fanourakis. It features a 22 karat gold
strap. Thanks to Rodolphe Foucard for the
picture.
- Turkish Surprise packaging. The
Swatch stores in Turkey are currently selling two different surprise
special packagings. You can buy these special packagings for
around 30 EUR each if you buy a swatch from the current
collection. The packagings are sealed so you cannot check in
advance which watch you will get. The boxes contain watches such
as Nisis (GE123), Kranaos (GK392), or Baggy (YLS4013). Here
is the shop display for this promotion.
- Vendôme / Spiga Xmas special. A
very nice Xmas special has been released at the Vendôme Store in Paris
and the Spiga Store in Milano. It is called Angel's Air (GE140APU). It is limited to
600 pcs and it comes in a nice special packaging.
If you are interested in getting this special, you can contact Philippe
Danjean. Thanks to Philippe Danjean for the
information and pictures.
- New Irony
The Chrono. Swatch
has just launched a new product called Irony
The Chrono. It is a chrono in 'Breitling'
style: larger diameter (47mm instead of 40mm) and thinner than the
current Irony chrono. Four models are available initially: The Moonscope (YOS400G), Unknown Destination (YOS403),
Wealthy Star (YOS401G), Sea Pride (YOS402G).
Price is 120 EUR (leather strap) and 130 EUR (metal strap). This
picture illustrates the difference between Irony The Chrono and a
normal Irony Chrono. Thanks to David
Rippmann for the information and to Squiggly
for the picture.
- Portuguese Charity special. A
charity special for the Gil Children
Foundation was released in july in Portugal. It is a Touch
swatch called Casa Do Gil (STGK107)
and
it
comes in a very nice special packaging
with an orange wristband.
Retail price is 60 EUR (6 EUR goes to Gil Foundation). Update:
A special packaging in a
plastic doll's house (ref.no. STGK107S) was just released in Portugal,
it is numbered to 999 pcs. Retail
price is 140 EURO. Here
is a picture of the opened packaging. Thanks to Marco Soares and Pedro Coelho for
the information and pictures.
- Swatch perfume. In
Switzerland, Swatch sells a "Swatch 'Woman'
eau de toilette, 50ml". Each store has received about 25
bottles, price is 60 Swiss Francs (about $45 US). Thanks
to Henk Seligmann for the information and to Marco Soares for the
picture.
- Xmas special 2005. The
Xmas special 2005 is called Sparkling Night (LZ106). Here
is another picture of the special. The watch comes in a round
glass bowl, see this picture of the
packaging. This is the first xmas special with a lady swatch. It
is limited to 16999 pieces, numbered. Thanks to
Jacky Beauverd for the information.
- Lustrous Bliss variations. In 2004,
Swatch has issued a diamond special called Lustrous Bliss (SFZ106, 4000
pcs). The special was quite expensive (1150 EUR in Germany) and it
is not yet sold out everywhere. Nevertheless, Swatch will release
3 variations of this special in different colors: Ruby Lustrous Bliss (SFZ112), Pink Lustrous Bliss (SFZ110),
and Blue Lustrous Bliss (SFZ111),
1000 pcs each, with ruby, or pink or blue sapphire. Retail price
will be increased to 1250 EUR! Dealers who still have the first Lustrous
Bliss (SFZ106) in stock (it wasn't a huge success after
all!) will increase the retail price for the first one from 1150 EUR to
1250 EUR as well! That's inflation! Launch events for the
new Lustrous Bliss variations will take place in Switzerland: 24-NOV
in
Geneva, 25-NOV
in Zürich, 26-NOV in Lugano. Thanks to Henk
Seligmann and Squiggly for the
information and to Rodolphe Foucard for the picture.
- Fun Boarder press packaging. A
nice special press packaging of the
new Fun Boarder Snowy Sky (SULK100) has been
released in Italy (here is the stamp
of the guarantee). No idea about limitation. Thanks
to Andrea Marco Faggioli for the information.
- Xmas collection. The
first ever Swatch Xmas collection is available now, it consists of five
watches (not limited): Star Hunt (Skin, SFK242), Frozen
Beauty (Irony Lady, YSS197), Send Me A Star (Lady, LK259),
Touch Of Heaven (Square,
SUBK123), Clock The Time (Irony Chrono,
YCS468).
- Fiesta Che Guevara in Berlin. On
11-NOV at 8pm, a Fiesta celebrating Che
Guevara will took place at the Swatch
Instant
Store in Berlin, Münzstrasse 18. Michael has many nice
pictures from the fiesta... The legendary Swatch To Che (GJ115) is available
now exclusively at the Swatch Instant Store in Berlin. This swatch
was a huge success when it was launched originally in 1995 and it sold
out immediately. It was reissued before in 1997 in Cuba.
- Spiga anniversary event. On
28/29-OCT, the 3rd anniversary of the Spiga store was celebrated in
Milano, Italy. A nice special packaging (front
closed / front opened / back)
of the Irony Behind
(YGS443PU), limited to 120 pcs was issued. Collectors also
received some gadgets such as a bag, a
T-shirt, and a key cord (with inscription "collezionista" (=collector)
or "accompagnatore" (= accompanying person)... Here
are pictures by Dino Wierz from the Swatch The Club event. Thanks to Andrea Marco Faggioli and Henk Seligmann for the
information and to Dino Wierz for the pictures.
- Swatch participates at
Bookparade. The team
of the Swatch Store in Frankfurt (Germany) has designed a huge (2
meters) book sculpture called Zeitdruck
(time pressure). This sculpture
is part of the Bookparade
exhibition which is currently on display all over Frankfurt, just
in time for the Frankfurt
Book Fair (19 to 23-OCT). After the
exhibition will be closed (probably end of november), the book sculpture
will be auctioned for charity. Update:
On 23-OCT (sunday), the Swatch Store Frankfurt will be opened
to the public. If you buy a swatch, you get a free
sketch book (a miniature version of the book
sculpture) as a gift. The sketch book is limited to 69 pcs,
handnumbered on the last page.
Michael has some more nice pictures
from the mini-event.
- Swatch Bijoux Store. On
13-OCT, the first ever Swatch Bijoux Store has opened in Munich, Germany
in Neuhauser Strasse 45. MTV-VJ Anastasia
will also be there. A Swatch Bijoux-Special was sold, it is
limited and numbered to 111 pcs. Michael has some nice pictures
from the store and the special.
- More Fall / Winter 2005/06
swatches. In the near future, Swatch will add some more
watches to fall / winter collection 2005/06. The watches consist
of the following subcollections: Winter Sport (part
1 / part 2 / part
3), Next! (part
1 / part 2 / part
3), Chrono, Olympic Collection (for Torino 2006, part
1 / part 2), Xmas
collection (part 1 / part
2). Thanks to J.Malheiro for the pictures.
- Swatch Urban Expression. Swatch
is sponsoring the free Swatch
Urban Expression event, taking place in London on
11-SEP. The event will feature live music, live DJs, live Graffiti
etc. So Swatch is going back to the roots of the 80s when they
sponsored the Breakdance
event
at the Roxy and other similar events. Swatch is also using
their new logo for this event,
similar to the Instant Store
logo. Update: A
special access swatch (Ora Et
Signora with a new strap, SKZ106E) was released for this event, limited
to 150 pcs. The strap was designed by UK Graffiti artist Busk.
- Golden Shaq will be reissued. Yes,
no, yes... It seems that the neverending story will end
soon: The Diaphane Chrono Shaq 34 Gold (SVCK4008G,
originally limited to 10000 pcs) will be available again soon! But
as it was not possible to extend the contract with Shaquille O'Neal
(this was already previously reported), Swatch has come up with a clever
idea: They removed the '34' from the dial and they will sell the
otherwise identical watch as a new model soon, it is called Full
Blooded (SVCK4032G). Thanks to Squiggly for the information.
- Las Vegas special. A
nice new special Las
Vegas swatch is available now at the two swatch stores
in Las Vegas (Caesar's Forum and Fashion Show). The watch is only
available in Las Vegas (similar to the New York
Times Square special).
- Fun Boarder Launch Event. From
26 to 28-SEP, the Fun
Boarder launch event
in took place in Buergenstock (near Luzern, Switzerland). The Fun
Boarder swatch is a new product line and it combines and access
swatch (snowpass) with altimeter function, available from
november. The first Fun Boarder collection consists of four
watches. To commemorate the event, a special
packaging of a Fun Boarder model was released, approx. 300
pcs. Collectors also received some extra
stuff related to the event. Here
are a few press pictures from the event. Mr.
Hayek
sr. was also present at the event. Here
is a report by Michael about the event and here
is a report in german by Matthias Stawinski. Christine Tanner has
a lot of pictures
from the event! Here
is an online report from United Arab Emirates and here
is a nice german newspaper report from Biel, Switzerland! Thanks
to Christine Tanner and Nikolai Kuttler for the information.
- Rare early prototypes. For
your amusement, here are pictures of three ultrarare authentic early
Swatch prototypes: Four
Flags, Calendrier, Crawling Baby (by Keith
Haring, not released). These watches are very very hard to find
and of course very expensive! Thanks to a good
friend for the pictures.
- Portuguese Fall / Winter 2005/06
collection special. A special packaging of the brand new
gent Extra Long (GB228) has been
released in Portugal. The watch is packaged in a nice
tube. This time, the tube
is a little longer as in the last years. Limitation is unknown
(not numbered). Thanks to Pedro Coelho for the
information and pictures.
- New Vendôme models. You
can see the recent models from the Vendôme Store in Paris here.
- Swatch brand will be alive in the
future. Swatch CEO Nick Hayek
rules
out
abandoning own-brand watches despite a
5-6 pct drop in first half sales and the unit only breaking
even. Here
is a nice long report (in German) about this topic. Update:
Here
is another interesting report about Swatch and the Hayek family.
- Taiwan Access special. On
20-SEP, a special access swatch (SKK1002)
has been released in Taiwan by the Taipei Smart Card corporation company.
You can use this access swatch to
store money on the built-in chip and you can pay the tax fee, metro fee,
or the park fee etc. The swatch can be ordered at the Family convenience
store. The watch is limited to 10000 pcs. 1000 pcs of these
10000 are available at the swatch stores with a free paper sleeve
showing public railway stations (on the right of this picture).
Thanks to Sophia Chang for the pictures and
information.
- Unique Swatch auction. On
22-SEP, a charity watch auction called OnlyWatch
05 will take place at the Monaco Yacht Show.
Swatch has created a unique skin swatch called Charme de Crystal (numbered 1/1!) to be
auctioned as Lot
31. Estimate price is 75 CHF, I bet that this will go much
higher :-) Update: The
unique swatch was sold for 12000
EUR.
- Swatch bourse at the world
museum. The 6th Swatch Bourse took place at the World Museum (near Milano,
Italy) on 18-SEP. A very nice special
packaging (with a 6! limited to 97 pcs, numbered) containing the
new swatch At School (GE167)
has been released to commemorate the event. A VIP
version of the special packaging was also released, it is blue,
not orange, and the packaging is numbered in roman numbers (.../XXI, 21
pcs). Thanks to Andrea Marco Faggioli for the
information and picture, to Marco Soares for the information, and to
Zep and Alain Choisy for the pictures.
- Swatch Exhibition in Berlin. A Swatch Exhibition called
World
Of Swatch has started on monday, 6-JUN, at the famous
department store KaDeWe
in Berlin, Germany. The exhibition (in the nice entrance
hall of the KaDeWe) features all important swatch specials such as
the Puff watches, Keith
Haring, ... Also the shopping windows of the KaDeWe feature
the different themes of the
exhibition. The exhibition will run until 2-JUL, so check it out while
you are at the G&P
/
International Swatch The Club Event in Berlin at the end of june,
in parallel to the FIVB Beach
Volleyball World Championship :-) No special / special
packaging will be released for the event except for: On
14-JUN,
the swiss artist Matthias
Winkler created a unique
maxi swatch, together with Berlin MTV-VJ Anastasia
in only 30 minutes, starting with a rare blank
maxi. This maxi
was auctioned for charity until 2-JUL, minimum bid is 250 EUR. The
watch was sold for 1200 EUR to a collector in Hamburg. Here
is a newspaper report from Die Welt.
Congrats Daniel :-) Update:
Michael
has also many nice pictures from the exhibition (hi Valter! :-)
- Irony Automatics reissued. There
has been a resurgence in the popularity of automatic watches. So
Swatch has decided to reissue Body and Soul (YAS100), Heraceles
(YAS402), and Noir
de Noir (YAS403) in the fall in the USA and probably
elsewhere as well, definitively in Switzerland as well. Update: In contrast to previous rumours, the
Diaphane Chrono Shaq 34 Gold (SVCK4008G) will
not be available again!
It was not possible to extend the contract with Shaquille O'Neal.
Thanks to David Rippmann for the information.
- New Swatch Museum to be opened.
In less than six months, a new
Swatch Museum will be opened, probably in Torino, Italy, around
the time of the Olympic Games 2006.
The exhibition will feature the collection of private collector Ezio
Perino. His collection consists of approximately 13.300(!) swatch
watches and other swatch related material.
- Swatch Instant Store in Zürich.
On 11-AUG, a Swatch Instant
Store has opened its doors in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret
Voltaire in Spiegelgasse 1 (Niderdorf). This Instant
Store was also painted by Pixelpunk.
Here is a mini report by Andrea Marco Faggioli: "The store
will be open until 26-AUG. They sell new and old watches [no 83! :-] but
no special packagings. They are also displaying fake Swatch watches
produced in China (pic1 / pic2)."
Thanks to Andrea Marco Faggioli for the pictures.
- .beat revival. Swatch
wil re-issue four .beat swatches in a modernized design. Click here to see the new models. Update:
Another special .beat is Brazil bezel (YQS1000CD),
retail price is 85 CHF. This is not a Montreux special as
previously written here... 2nd Update: Two more special .beat watches are
available now: Tribal Black (YQS1003D, Virtual Wave) and Tribal Red (YQS1001D, Webstream). Thanks
to Andrea Marco Faggioli for the picture and to Alain Choisy / Andrea Marco Faggioli / Michael for the updates.
- Fossil to Exit SPOT Market. Yes,
I know, Fossil is the opposite of swatch but they have one thing in
common: They produce SPOT watches. The Swatch SPOT watch is
called Paparazzi.
According to this
article, Fossil will stop to produce SPOT watches, and "Microsoft
has recently pulled the SPOT initiative back into R&D". So the
future does not look to bright for the Paparazzi swatches as
well. Also very interesting: Paparazzi
is only at 3rd position in the list
ofSPOT Swatch has made a
nice effort, but for some reason they didn?t use the creativity or
quality I would expect from them...".
- Kindercity access. Kindercity is the
biggest edutainment center in Switzerland for families and kids.
Two access swatches Kindercity
Blau (SKK124H) and Kindercity
Rot (SKK124I; Clearance Two with a special
strap) have been released, they are used as entrance passes for
Kindercity. No special packaging. If you are interested in
purchasing these watches, you can contact Alain
Choisy. Thanks to Alain
Choisy for the information and pictures.
- Signed Vegetable Swatches. If
you are interested in purchasing the famous Vegetable
set signed by late designer Alfred Hofkunst and Nicholas G. Hayek
, you can bid at the 2005
charity auction of the Stiftung
Roth-Haus in Muri, Switzerland on 27-AUG. Bidding starts at
1000 CHF per vegetable swatch. The full catalogue of the auction
can be browsed here.
- Sweet Teddy reissued. The
brown
bear has returned to the Swiss Alps, more than a century after it was
last seen in the country (full story here).
Swatch
has reissued the Sweet Teddy gent swatch, in a
standard plastic box, not in the special packaging with bees and special
box. More details about this here
(in German). Thanks to Philippe
Danjean for the hint and
to Andrea Marco Faggioli for the information.
- Locarno Film Festival special.
For the 58th International Film Festival Locarno
(3 to 13-AUG), a special packaging
containing the gent swatch Phoning
Home (GB225) has been released. The packaging is
limited and numbered to 500 pcs. The poster
of the festival has been designed by Swatch artist Valerio Adami.
Swatch is sponsoring partner of the Orson Welles retrospective at the
festival. Thanks to Alain
Choisy for the information and to Christine
Tanner for the picture
- Klagenfurt Beach Volleyball
special. During 3 to 7-AUG, the 2005 Swatch
FIVB
BeachVolley World Tour went to Klagenfurt,
Austria. Swatch the Club had a club event on the weekend. A
special packaging containing the Swatch
Skin Chrono Perfect Play (SUYK114) in a
blue metallic frame with magnetic plexi cover was released to
commemorate the event. Limitation is 70 pcs, not numbered.
Club members also received a nice welcome
package. If you have an extra special for trade or sale,
please email, I have
lots of stuff for trade! A nice VIP access
special (Vertical Flavour
with special strap, ref.no. SHM102E, limitation around 1700 pcs) was
used as an entrance ticket for the games. You can find a nice report
about the club event with lots of activities on Michael's webpage.
Thanks to Michael for the
information and pictures.
- Swiss Soccer Access specials. The
new Stade De Suisse (previously
the Wankdorf-Stadium where
Germany won its first soccer world cup championship in 1954!) in Bern
was opened on 30-JUL. Two new Access
swatches have been launched, they can be used as an entrance pass
for soccer games at the stadium. Swatch is one of the co-sponsors
of the stadium. For the opening events, the two access swatches
were sold in a special packaging and used as entrance ticket. Here is a picture of the closed
packaging for 30-JUL, containing the Swatch Access SKK2000,
and here is a picture of the
opened packaging for 30-JUL (the box shows the stadium in 3D). Here is a picture of the closed
packaging for 31-JUL, containing the Swatch Access SKK2001,
and here is a picture of the
opened packaging for 31-JUL (the box shows the stadium in 3D).
Each watch is limited to 32000 pcs, they are only available as an
entrance pass for 30/31-JUL, they are not available in the stores.
Entrance tickets to the opening event cost 100 CHF, including one access
swatch. A Swatch
The
Club event open to all swiss club members took place on 30 and
31-JUL. On each day, about 60 club members participated. The
club members also received the special but in a different paper
sleeve (green writing, no date, Swatch The Club logo, same sleeve
for both days). The welcome
package also contained a T-shirt
(two different dates) and a keyring. David
Rippmann, Christine
Tanner, and Matthias
Stawinski have nice pictures / reports from the opening event on
30-JUL, Michael,
Christine
Tanner, and Matthias
Stawinski have nice reports with pictures from the opening event
on 31-JUL. Here
is a Swiss newspaper report about the 30-JUL event. Thanks
to Ralph Ammann for the update and to Alain Choisy for the pictures.
- New Store concept. A
new swatch store concept (Swatch
Instant Store) has been unveiled on 9-JUL
in Berlin, Germany, Münzstrasse 18. All you could see before
the opening was a sticker
in the shopping window... Update:
Here is a newspaper
article in German from the Bieler Tagblatt about the Instant Store
concept. It seems to be about an almost mobile store which can be
used for only a few hours or a few weeks (guerilla concept)... Michael
has also some additional info. The store was painted by Swiss
artist Pixelpunk
(Olivier Rossel, his page contains many nice pictures from the
store!). Here,
here
and here
are more newspaper articles about the instant
store. 2nd Update:
Swatch has launched a very nice website
about the store, the concept behind it, and with many pictures
from the performances in Berlin involving Mexican
wrestlers(!) and international
kung
fu artists(!!). 3rd
Update: The Swatch website
now contains a very nice movie
(23MB!) with the performances in Berlin. Thanks to
Christine Tanner for the information.
- Swatch Advertising Videos. The
current swatch advertising videos (Summer Sport Product and Beach Volley
TV commercials) can be found here.
- Upcoming Swatch products. You
can see all the details of the upcoming swatch watch products on David
Rippmann's nice webpage.
One
highlight is an Xmas collection (not
limited) which will be sold for the first time before Xmas.
- Gigathlon 2005 Finisher
special. From 8 to 10-JUL, the Gigathlon 2005 took place in Switzerland.
Teams and single starters competed in five different disciplines:
Swimming, Biking, Running, Inline-Skating, and Mountain-Biking.
Every finisher received a special access swatch: Gigathlon Finisher 2005.
The loop around the strap indicates the competition of the participant
(Single woman /man, Couple, Team of Five, Sunday Team of Five), so there
are five different variants. Congratulations to the Team
of
Swatch The Club who also finished successfully!
:-)
- Spiga Swatch Event. A special
event called Swatch Summer Cocktail
took place at the Spiga Swatch store in Milano on 7-JUL. A special
packaging (limited to 80 pcs) was released. I guess that the
Diaphane Chrono is called Racing Fold
(SVCK4030PU).
Thanks to Andrea Marco Faggioli for the information and
to Zep for the picture.
- Montreux Club special. On
3-JUL, a Swatch The Club event took place at the 39th Montreux
Jazz Festival. To commemorate this event, a special version
of the 2005 Montreux special Le
chant des sirènes was released, it has a special loop
around the strap. Limitation is around 110, because that's the
number of participants at the event. The festival artist Zep (Philippe Chappuis, Switzerland) also signed
the specials. 20 specials For
Artists Only (extra loop
around the strap) were distributed in a lottery among participants at
the event. You can browse some pictures from the club event on the
webpages by Michael
and Christine
Tanner. Thanks to Jacky
Beauverd and Sam Tanner for the information
and pictures.
- Montreux Jazz Festival special.
A special gent swatch called Le
chant des sirènes (sirens song), ref.no. GN 222, was
released for the 39th Montreux
Jazz Festival (1 to 16-JUL). The watch comes with a special
sleeve. It is designed by Zep (Philippe Chappuis, Switzerland), the
creator of the (in)famous kid Titeuf. If you
are interested in purchasing this watch at swiss retail, you can contact
Alain Choisy. Update:
A special version For
Artists Only (extra loop
around the strap) also exists. Thanks to Jacky
Beauverd for the information and to Alain Choisy and Christine
Tanner for the pictures.
- Taiwan Valentine 2005 special.
The "2005 chinese valentine's day special" is available since
2-JUL. It consists of the POP swatch Circles and Spheres (PMK154),
2 coffee cup, message card (front
/ back), and a tin
can. Here is a picture of
the set. The Swatch logo is on the downside
of the coffee cups. Limitation is probably around 1000 pcs, not
numbered. Thanks to Sophia Chang for the pictures
and information.
- Gold & Pioneer Event in
Berlin. The traditional (now in its 10th year!) Gold
& Pioneer Event took place in Berlin, Germany, from 22 to
26-JUN. To commemorate this event, a superb nice golden
Nabab special swatch (YNZ100, stainless steel) was given to the
165 participating club members. It is the first golden Nabab
swatch, and it is limited to only 170 pcs, unnumbered. It comes in
a very nice acrylic display. The details
of this watch are really very unique and special: It has the words
GOLD & PIONEER 10th ANNIVERSARY
engraved on the bezel around the face, the words THANK
YOU engraved on the side(!) of the case, and the date and location
(Berlin, Germany) embossed on the leather strap with the golden
clasp. A perfect watch with many interesting details for a perfect
event! Collectors also received a certificate
about the watch signed by Nick Hayek sr. Here
is a detailed report with many pictures
from the event! You can also browse some pictures on the webpages
by Christine
Tanner, David
Rippmann, Michael,
Rob Gough,
and Roberto
(OnlySwatch).
- Berlin Beachvolley Event. Directly
after the G&P Event in Berlin, the Beachvolley event open to all
international club members took place also in Berlin from 24 to
26-JUL. During that time, the FIVB Beach-Volleyball World
Championships were held at the Schlossplatz in Berlin, directly in
front of the soon to be demolished Palast der Republik. To
commemorate this event, a very nice special
packaging (a cup) of the
Swatch Skin Chrono Perfect Play (SUYK114-1) was
distributed, limitation is 180 pcs, unnumbered. Here
is a detailed report with many pictures
from the event! You can also browse some pictures on the
webpage by Michael.
- Gstaad Beachvolleyball special.
During 15 to 19-JUN, the 2005 Swatch
FIVB
BeachVolley World Tour went to Gstaad, Switzerland.
Swatch the Club had a club event on the weekend. A special
packaging (plastic box with imprint) of the Beach Volley access Sea
Sun and Beach (SKK128) was released. Thanks
to Jacky Beauverd for the
information and picture.
- GE Olympic specials. General Electric is now a "Worldwide
Partner of the Olympic Games" and as released two
Swatch watches with a pin in the
band. 350 pcs were issued each. Thanks to
Jose Miguel Dos Santos for the information and pictures.
- Hong Kong spring / summer
special. A nice giveaway is available in Hong
Kong. When buying the Floral
Flash (GE152) or Fleur
Noir (SUDB114) swatch from the new collection, you receive a
nice matching shopping bag. Thanks to Peter Rollings for the information and picture.
- Italy FIVB special. On
11-JUN, a Swatch The Club event linked to the Italian dates of the Beach
Volley World Tour took place in Milan. A special
packaging was released, it is limited and numbered
to 120 pcs. It contains the Beach Volley access Sea
Sun and Beach (SKK128). Thanks to
Andrea Marco Faggioli for the information and pictures.
- No special Zürich Teddy Summer
special. For the Zürich Teddy Summer 2005,
swatch is currently selling the goold old portuguese Ursinhos (GZ185) special in the normal
paper box (closed / opened)
at the Swatch store in Zürich (Bahnhofstrasse). So it is not a new
special swatch and not a new special packaging as previously
rumoured. Thanks to Torsten Rube for the
information and to Henk Seligmann and David Rippmann for the update.
- No more X-Large / Square. Swatch
will no longer produce X-Large
watches and Square watches.
I
guess
that these two product lines were not very successful. Update:
Emanuele Bertodo tells me that
Swatch will continue to produce Turnover
watches. Thanks to Thomas Bürki for the
information.
- Taiwan Student special. If
you currently buy any swatch watch in Taiwan (not including the bijoux
and filk falk), you will receive a special notebook
as a gift. There are four different books available. Here is
the advertising poster for the
notebook gift. Thanks to Sophia Chang for the
pictures and information.
- Montreux Jazz Festival Club
Event. The Swatch The Club event for the 39th Montreux
Jazz Festival will take place on 3-JUL where Swatch The Club
invites collectors to an ultimate Instant
Vibes
party. No further details so far.
- "Nobody's Perfect" collection in
Paris. The
special Swatch chairs (see "Nobody's
Perfect" Event below) designed by Gaetano
Pesce are on exhibition and for sale at the Swatch Megastore in
Paris. Opening of the exhibition is on 25-MAY. Here
is the invitation card and here
is the back of the invitation card. Update:
Here is a very nice report by Philippe Danjean
with many many pictures from the three
Gaetano Pesce exhibitions currently running in Paris!
- Lifeball 2005 Charity auction.
As in the last years, Swatch is one of the main sponsors of
Lifeball 2005, Europe?s largest
and liveliest AIDS charity night. It takes place on 21-MAY in
Vienna, Austria. A unique swatch special designed by top model Alek Wek was auctioned internationally
on ebay
from 12 to 22-MAY. The watch was sold for 4517 EUR to
Portugal. More info here.
Thanks to Philippe Danjean for the information.
- Swatch bourse at the world
museum. A swatch bourse took place at the World
Museum (near Milano, Italy) on 15-MAY. A special
packaging called Design The Time, limited and numbered to 97 pcs
was released, containing the gent swatch Linear
Linen (GS126). Here
is a picture of the outer box of the special. A second
version of the special, reserved for VIPs, was also released, it
is numbered .../XXI (21 pcs). The difference is the color of the
print. Thanks to Alain Choisy for the pictures.
- Gold & Pioneer / International
Club Event 2005. This year, the traditional Gold & Pioneer Event will
take place in Berlin, Germany, from 22 to 24-JUN. Afterwards (24
to 26-JUN), an international
event open to all club members will take place (in Berlin as well
of course). During the same time, the 2005 Beach Volleyball World
Championships will take place in Berlin! Updated:
The detailed programme has been posted to club members, here
is some additional info (in German) about the locations in the
programme... More club events: July, 2005, Montreux,
Switzerland for the 39th Montreux
Jazz Festival. And some more during the FIVB tour around the
world, some details can be found here
on the swatch website.
- Vendôme Mother's day special
2005. The Vendôme Mother's Day special 2005 is called Mother Wish (SFK230PU).
An overview of recent Vendôme models can be found on Thomas Sonneville's
nice site here, also
with some pictures of the watches.
- Taiwanese Giveaway for Mother's
Day. Currently, a nice giveaway is distributed at
Taiwanese swatch stores: When buying any swatch watch from the
current collection, you receive a little mirror
shaped like the mother's day special 5-PETAL JOY (GE406). Here is a picture of the
closed mirror. Thanks to Sophia Chang for the
information and pictures.
- Mother's Day special 2005. The
mother's day special 2005 is called 5-PETAL JOY (GE406). It
comes packaged with a nice hand
bag. Here is a
picture of an interesting ad for the watch that can be found at bus
stations in Germany (sorry for the crappy picture). The text reads
"give your mother something new to wear for mother's day". I
haven't seen a large advertisement campaign like this for Swatch in
Germany in the recent years...
- "Nobody's
Perfect" Event. A Swatch Event called "Nobody's
Perfect" took place in Milano, Italy on 17-APR during the annual
furniture expo. It took place at the Zerodisegno showroom in Milan (Via della Spiga).
Gaetano Pesce, an Italian
furniture designer, has created a series of chairs featuring Swatch
components embedded in the back and seat, like so many artefacts from a
time beyond time: cases, dials, straps, mechanisms... 299 unique
chairs are made, numbered and signed. Here are three
examples: chair 1, chair
2, chair 3. Super
nice! Price in the USA will be $1750 US. In addition, a
Swatch The Club Event took place and a special
packaging (numbered xxx/100) containing a pink or green jelly
swatch (from the Spiga collection, eg. Voglia (GG192PU) or Farfalla Rossa (GP117PU)) was
released. Here is a closeup of
the pink watch in the sealed packaging. Here
is a picture of the green jelly packaging (note the intresting animal
affixed to the strap!). Distribution of the chairs will be handled
exclusively by Zerodisegno through leading galleries and art boutiques;
a selection from the "Nobody's Perfect' collection is part of the
permanent collection in some of the world's most important museums,
including the Louvre in Paris, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London,
the Guggenheim in New York and Die Neue Sammlung in Munich. Thanks to Andrea Marco Faggioli for the information and
picture and to Brian Pier for the pictures.
- French Brazil special. A
limited edition special packaging called L'Année Du Brésil (year of
Brazil) containing the Swatch POP Freunde
(PMK140) has been released in France. It is issued to
commemorate the year of Brazil in France. The packaging
contains: The POP swatch in a special
box with a green silk Wish strap
with the words "SWATCH...... I wish time" is written in french. In
France "Voeux" (wish) and "Veux" (want) sound the same, so it
is a joke on the strap. A special instruction card is also
included. Limitation is unknown. Thanks to
Henk Seligmann and Philippe
Danjean (email him if interested) for the information and
pictures.
- Portuguese Spring / Summer 2005
collection special. A special
packaging of the brand new skin Pasteloop (SFK231) has been released in
Portugal. The watch is packaged in a colorful
tube. Limitation is unknown (not numbered). Retail
price is 65 EUR. Thanks to Pedro Coelho for the
information and pictures.
- Verbier Xtreme 2005 contest /
special. As in the last years, swatch sponsors the Xtreme Verbier 2005 contest
(the 10th contest already!). It takes place from 18 to
20-MAR-2005. A Swatch The Club event
will also take place during this weekend. Swatch is also running
an exciting competition on its homepage,
there you can also see a picture of the Xtreme
Verbier 2005 access special). Here is a picture of the
actual access special Xtreme
Verbier 2005 (a Sonar Dream SHM107 with a new
strap). Update: At
the
Swatch The Club event during the weekend, club members received the Xtreme Verbier 2005 swatch in a special paper sleeve. Here is another picture of the
sleeve. It is rumoured that around 75 pcs of the Club special were
made. Thanks to Alain Choisy and to Jacky
Beauverd for the pictures.
- French Spring / Summer 2005
collection special. As in the last years, a special
packaging of one of the gent swatches from the new collection is
available in France. This time, a special
packaging of Jungle
Friend (GE154), limited and numbered to 450
pcs, is sold in the swatch stores in France. Together with
the watch, a nice cup is contained
in the packaging. Three different colours of the cup are
available: blue, green, orange;
450 pcs total. The
special packaging was launched at the Swatch Megastore on Champs Elysées
in Paris on 11-MAR at 12am (noon). Official store price is 75
EURO. Thanks to Rodolphe Foucard for the pictures
and information and to Henk Seligmann, Thomas
Sonneville and to Arnaud Perche for the information.
- Swatch Exhibition in Paris. The
Paris department store Samaritaine featured a swatch exhibition called
"Quelle Swatch est-il?" (What Swatch is it?). The exhibition was
shown from 22-SEP to 23-OCT-2004 and it displayed Swatch watches by
Christian Lacroix, Keith Haring, and others. Visitors of the
exhibition could get a small special plaque
which can be affixed to the back of a Turnover swatch. It comes
free with the purchase of a Turnover swatch. Update:
While this is old news, Philippe Danjean has prepared a nice
report about the exhibition which you can read here.
Thanks to David Feist and Philippe Danjean for the
information and pictures.
- Vendôme Xmas Lightning special. For the inauguration of the
special X-mas lighting called Sensations Suisses on Place
Vendôme (25-NOV-2004), a special swatch called Cross
Pass (LK226PU) was issued by the Vendôme Store in Paris:
One of the Muuh-Cufflinks with
a special strap. Limitation is 90
pcs, 50 of them were given away in a lottery by Paris news paper
Le Figaro. Here and here are pictures from Place Vendôme,
taken during the day. It also looks great at night!
Update: While this is
old news, Philippe Danjean has prepared a nice report about the
exhibition which you can read here.
Thanks to Toty Booms and Philippe Danjean for the
information and pictures.
- Swatch continues to sponsor beach
volleyball. The international beach volleyball
federation FIVB
and Swatch have signed a four-year agreement in which Swatch will serve
as naming partner of the SWATCH-FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour,
beginning with the 2005 World Tour. More details here.
So
we'll have more club events at beach volleyball tournaments in the
future!
- Taiwanese White Valentine's Day 2005
special. In order to celebrate the Taiwanese White
Valentine's Day 2005, Swatch Taiwan has issued a very nice special
packaging of the Irony Nabab 'TILL
DAWN (YNS102). The special is limited to 300
pcs, numbered, the
watch comes in a nice jewelry
box (open / closed).
Thanks to Sophia Chang for the information and
pictures.
- Bormio Club Event special. From
4 to 6-FEB, a Swatch The Club Event took place during the FIS
World Ski Championship 2005 in Bormio, Italy. To commemorate
the event, a special packaging of the Climatic Descente Bormio Special (SHB110C, back of the strap with special writing FIS
ALPINE WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS 2005, 1900 pcs) was released, it is the
normal Bormio access special in a nice special paper sleeve (front
/ back), ref.no. is
SHB110C-3. About 40 club members participated at the event,
limitation of the special is 100 pcs. Markus Muth has many nice
pictures from the event on his webpage.
Update: Here
is a picture of the back of the strap of the regular Climatic
Descente access (SHB110). Thanks
to Roberto Tintori for the update and additional information.
- World Museum Anniversary
special. For the second anniversary of the World Museum near Milano,
Italy, on 13-MAR, a special packaging
called Treccani World Museum special,
containing the gent swatch Brand
Name (GE162), will be released in a limited edition of 78
pcs, numbered. Here is the
draft version of the special. Thanks to Andrea
Marco Faggioli for the information and pictures.
- Hong Kong Prosperous Fish
special? The nice gent swatch Prosperous
Fish (GB226) is sold in Hong Kong with a special
sleeve. Is this sleeve only available in Hong Kong? Or
anywhere else as well? Please let me
know... Update: The
sleeve is also available in the USA and in Taiwan, so it is not that
special... Thanks to Jonn and Sophia Chang for
the info.
- Swatch Alternative Fashion Week
2005. Swatch is the main sponsor of the Swatch Alternative Fashion
Week, taking place in London from 14 to
18-MAR-2005. Read more details here
on the swatch website. Update:
Here
is a nice newspaper report about the Swatch Alternative Fashion Week.
- Portuguese Bear special. Now
that the house built with money raised from the Fraldinhas
swatch special is finished, swatch Portugal has released the swatch gent
Ursinhos (portuguese
for "little bears") as next swatch special for charity. This time
the purpose is the Fundação do Gil
organization that helps childrens in need of medical care. The
watch is sold with a pin. There is a regular package in a paper
box (closed / opened),
a special limited edition packaging of 1999 pcs (numbered)
packaged in a stuffed bear, and a maxi
swatch. Update: Swatch has released new versions of the
Ursinhos special watch to celebrate the valentine
day 2005 (Portugal only). It is the well known package with
the stuffed bear, this time with an
additional key ring, and the regular paper
package with a brace with some hearts. Thanks
to Pedro Coelho, Ricardo Rocha, and Pedro Mota for the
information and pictures.
- Vendôme / Spiga Valentine
special. The Vendôme / Spiga valentine special is a
square, it is called Love
Flame (SUBR107APU/BPU). It comes in a nice
packaging, here is a closeup
picture of the front of the watch and here
is a picture of the back. The Vendôme store sent out a nice invitation
for a valentine event on 14-FEB, here
is a picture of the back. A valentine ring has been released too,
it is called Turning
Love. Thanks to Rodolphe Foucart
and David Feist for the pictures and to Thomas
Sonneville for the update.
- Oldtimer swatches. Swatch
will
re-release 'oldtimers' together with the new collections. Among these
are some nice Irony swatches: the original Happy Joe, the chrono Cadmos (black) and the first
Irony alu Loomi Zebah (that actually never
went out of production). Maybe, a more complete list can be
published in the next days... Update:
The 'oldtimer' swatches being available may differ from country
to country. In France, the skin Flattention
(SFB106G, 1999), will be available. Also: In the 2
next seasons, no new POP swatch will be launched. But as in France the
POP swatch still has buyers, swatch will sell one old POP
swatch in France. Thanks to Andrea Marco Faggioli
for the information and to Arnaud Perche for the update.
- CES commemorative Paparazzi
swatch. Swatch and MSN Direct have launched a
commemorative CES Smart Watch (Smart = Paparazzi) called Paparazzi for MSN (SUHZ100) for the CES
2005 in Las Vegas. Here
is a news
article about the watch.
- Swatch no longer official timekeeper
at the olympic games. Omega
is now the official timekeeper at the olympic games, starting
already at the Turin 2006 Olympic Winter Games. Read all the
details here.
Thanks to Alain Choisy for the information.
- Portuguese special. As
in the last years, there is a portuguese only special for the launch of
the spring / summer 2005 collection: The gent swatch Friandise
(GE159) comes packaged in a nice paper tube.
Thanks to Pedro Coelho for the information and picture.
- 2005 swatch chinese new year
special. On 14-JAN, the 2005 swatch chinese new year
special will be released in Taiwan in a limited edition of 1688pcs,
numbered. Here is a
preliminary picture. You can find all the info on Sophia Chang's
nice webpage.
- Vendôme Ephiphany charms. The
Vendôme store in Paris had a nice promotion during 3 to 8-JAN:
Anyone who bought a Vendôme watch got a
little box with 7 gold-coloured metallic charms, for free. The
charms were supposed to be used (and can be used) as an item you put in
the dough of the special "Dreikönigsbrot" (Epiphany bread or cake, in
french Galette du Roi) and
bake it. Upon eating (amongst friends or family) the person who finds
the "bean" in his/hers piece is the KING (or queen). The box (160
pcs) was produced in cooperation with a french bakery/bakery products
manufacturor LeNôtre.
Extra special thanks to Henk Seligmann for the
information!
Andreas Wiethoff