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 (Last updated:  07-NOV-2009)

• Sydney "New Years Eve Party 2007" special.  Swatch has released a nice special for the New Years Eve Party 2007 on 31-DEC-2007 at the Opera House in Sydney, Australia.  The special consists of the 2003 gent swatch Funny Village (GR146) with a new strap.  The strap carries the imprint: "The Time of our Lives".  The guarantee is stamped "31-12-07".  The watch is packaged in a nice red velvet bag with a white vintage print "NYE 2007".  Limitation is unknown but probably not too high.  Thanks to lots_of_swatch from the Swatch-Clopedia forum for the information and pictures.
  
• Snow Mobile 2007 event special.  The Swatch Snow Mobile 2007 event took place from 13 to 16-DEC in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria.  As in the last years, a special Snow Mobile 2007 swatch was released.  It exists in two versions, both have the same new strap, made especially for this event:  The first one is the Fun Boarder Snow Mobile 2007 (based on Mountain Mania, SULM101D, 300 pcs, including a 2 day ski pass for Saalbach).  The second one is the Fun Boarder Snow Mobile 2007 VIP (SULM102I, 925 pcs, used for VIP entrance during the event).  Swatch The Club did not hold a special club event for all club members this year.  But there was an online competition on the official club webpage where Swatch The Club gave 16 club members the chance to qualify for the race.  The fastest three won a place in the Swatch The Club raceteam.  All you had to do is to apply and send in a video to Swatch The Club.  You can read a report on Matthias's nice webpage and at Michael's nice webpage.  Both have a lot of photos showing meters of snow in Saalbach (a complete contrast to last year's club event!)  Update:  Check out this nice TV report showing a lot of the action and members of the Swatch The Club raceteam!  It is absolutely worth checking out.  Thanks to Peter for the information and to Michael for the pictures.
• Swatch The Club Austria Bonus Pass special.  In 2007, members of Swatch The Club Austria were able to collect bonus points for every Swatch watch purchased.  For 20 bonus points, club members received a special Jelly in Jelly access Swatch Bonus Pass (SUMK101K).  More details here.  Thanks to Michael for the information.
• Thai King birthday special.  In honor of the 80th birthday of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Swatch Group Thailand has created a special limited edition Swatch watch called Happy 80th Birthday (SUJZ107) in a limited edition of 15000 pcs, available only in Thailand.  The watch has been designed by Her Royal Highness Princess Siriwannavari Nariratana to design this special limited edition and named it "Happy 80th Birthday".  Previously, she has designed the special Love And Nature (GZ156) in 1998.  The new Happy 80th Birthday special features nine rabbits on the watch.  The special packaging of the watch features a rabbit head.  Here is the info flyer and here are more detail pictures of the special.
  
• Swatch The Club Xmas event 2007.  The Swatch The Club Xmas event took place from 30-NOV to 2-DEC in nice city of Budapest.  122 club members from 16 countries from all over the world participated at the event.  A very special Swatch was released in an unnumbered edition of only 150 pcs(!) to commemorate this event:  The first ever Irony Lady special called Star Stones (YSZ100G).  So this is a very very rare watch.  Star Stones is a variation of the current Xmas Irony Lady Swatch Shiny Stones (YSS224G).  There are two differences to Shiny Stones:  The dial has a different color (pink instead of beige) and an additional star is affixed to the strap.  The packaging also fits very nicely to the watch:  It comes in a little red leather box (opened) carrying the logo of the event (the theme was "King and Emperor").  The leather box is packaged in a little red leather bag.  Very nicely done, as you can clearly see that a lot of thoughts went into this nice watch and packaging.  Here is a detailed report about the event with many pictures and even some little videos!
• A huge Swatch in Grenchen.  Grenchen is the "Swatch town" in Switzerland, one of the places where Swatch watches are produced.  At the center of the new Monbijou roundabout in Grenchen, a tower carrying a huge Swatch Shake the World No.19 (SUJZ102) .  The height of the watch is about 7 meters.  Here is the official press release by Swatch (in German).  Picture by Swatch.
• Strategic alliance of Swatch and Tiffany.  "Swatch clocks in for breakfast with Tiffany as glamour marries kitsch" is the great title of a report about the newly announced strategic alliance of the Swatch Group and Tiffany & Co.  Swatch is to set up a company (wholly owned by Swatch) that will use Tiffany?s designs and branding to sell watches that will be manufactured and distributed through the global Swatch network.
• Singapore Airport special.  To commemorate the opening of the Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3 in JAN-2008, a nice special Swatch Changi Airport (GS126C) has been released in a limited edition of 5000 pcs.  It is the gent Linear Linen (GS126) from 2005 with a new strap, packaged in a nice paper sleeve.
  
• Withdrawal of Olympic swatch.  The Irony Chrono Graphic Combination (YCS496), part of the Beijing Olympic Collection, has been recalled by Swatch and is being withdrawn from sale.  The logo printed on the watch is misprint (head of the little man is missing).  On the packaging, you can see the correct logo.  Here is a newspaper report about the withdrawn watch.  Update:  Soon, the Chrono will be reissued with the correct logo.  Thanks to Marco Soares for the information and to Alain Choisy for the update.
• Vendôme store update.  On 22-NOV, a meeting will take place at the Paris Vendôme store, with champaign and chocolate.  The reason is the special illumination of the place.  The Vendôme store has not received any new models since june.  It is not yet known if there will be a special Vendôme Xmas special.  Thanks to Henk Seligmann for the information.
  
• New Athens 2004 NOC.  A new, so far unknown Athens 2004 Olympics NOC Switzerland One Team, One Spirit (SUDK106R, same as the regular Switzerland, with an additional loop around the strap) has surfaced.  It was distributed to the members of the Swiss Olympic Team, eg. the Swiss Volleyball team.  Thanks to Alain Choisy for the information and picture.
  
• Xmas 2007 collection.  Squiggly has published some details about the 2007 Christmas collection.  It will contain seven watches and one Swatch Bijoux. Two of the watches are expected to be limited:  Christmas Charms (YUS113G, a new product line: Irony Square lady! numbered and limited to 4999 in a very interesting special packaging), Winter Day (SUJW100S, Jelly In Jelly).  The other five watches are:  Holiday Dream (SUBM106A/B, Square), Zauberfee (LK286G, Lady), Shiny Stones (YSS224G, Irony Lady Lady), Caress Perles (SFK305G, Skin), Blue Signs (YRS402G, Irony Retrograde).  In december, Swatch will release an Irony Medium special called Diamonds In The Sky (YLZ401S, limited and numbered 499 pcs, retail 950 EUR, containing 80 little real diamonds, total 0.4ct).   Update:  Swatch has launched a nice special website for the Xmas collection:  www.swatchseasons.com
• Swatch in the NY Times archive.  Recently, the New York Times has opened its archive.  I have found two nice reports from the past:  1. Fueling A Frenzy: Swatch (10-MAY-1992) is a report from the height of the Swatch craze, including some well familiar names from the Swatch collector scene:  June Berliner and Henry Buhl (he purchased the Lot 24 My Swatch during the Wristory auction in 2001, the result was the Helmut Newton swatch special, limited to only 100 pcs)   2. Coming Soon: Swatch Watch, the Sequel (26-MAR-1995) is a report about the collecting scene in the mid 90s.
  
• Swatch no longer supports Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich.  According to this newspaper report, Swatch has stopped the financial support of the Cabaret Voltaire and the Dada-house in Zurich.  The support will end in AUG-2008.  Swatch has given 320000 CHF each year to the Dada-house, the city of Zurich a similar amount.  In 2004, Swatch has issued some special Dada swatch watches and they also held a unique Dada event in Zurich.  Here is some background information about the Dada-house.  Thanks to Henk Seligmann for the information.
  
• Swatch The Club Gold & Pioneer / International event.  The Swatch The Club Gold & Pioneer / International event took place from 2 to 7-OCT in Antalya, Turkey.  The theme of the event was Treasure Hunt.  About 70 club members participated at the event.  You can find some 'live' impressions with many pictures from the event at Matthias Stawinskis nice webpage.  For the international event, the club members received a special packaging of the gent Skulling Time (GB220C, from 2004), with an extra loop Treasure Hunt around the strap and a nice paper sleeve.  The G&P special 2007 is a golden Irony The Chrono called The Chest. It is a completely new watch, similar to the Irony The Chrono Golden Chest (YOG100G).  The watch is packaged in a small chest box, numbered to 200 pcs.  Here is a picture of the outside of the box.  Michael has published two very nice reports about both events:  International event and G&P event.  Update:  Rodolphe Foucart has published three nice videos from the event, check them out!  Thanks to Matthias Stawinski for the instant report!
  
• Access specials.  Thanks to Alain Choisy, I was able to update my long list of access specials with a few Jelly in Jelly access specials (SUMK101C to SUMK101Q, SUMK103C).  Check it out!
  
• Unique prototype.  Here is a picture of a (probably) unique and therefore ultra, ultra rare 1984 prototype for the Davos Symposium special.  The dial of the prototype is derived from the 1984 gent Inc. (GA103).   Here is a picture of the back of the proto.  Even more interesting:  A similar Davos Symposium proto (closed dial of High Tech II (GA101)) was auctioned on 19-JAN-1992 in Vicenza, Italy during one of the famous Antiquorum auctions Important Collection of Production Models, Variants, Prototypes and Hybrids.  A picture of this other proto can be found in the catalogue from this auction.  Thanks to Jeroen Kieven for the update.
  
• French Swatch Blog.  A nice french Swatch blog can be found at ...  http://www.swatchblog.fr/  It also contains an interesting article about a printed newspaper report about the Swatch collection of Rodolphe.  Lots of pictures, check it out!  Thanks to Rodolphe Foucart for the information.
  
• Corto Maltese special / event.  Corto Maltese is an Italian comics series featuring an eponymous character, a complex sailor-adventurer.  As hinted already on the Swatch The Club website, a special Jelly In Jelly swatch Corto (SUJZ106) was released on 30-AUG to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the comic. Later in October, a more limited black and white special swatch 19 degrees South 169 degrees West (SUJZ105S, limited to 11111 pcs) will be released.  Here are pictures of the limited special and its packaging.  Swatch The Club held a special presale event in Lausanne on 31-AUG, Michael has a great report with many pictures on his nice webpage.  Until 23-SEP, you were able to enjoy an exhibition called Swatch and Corto Maltese at the Cité Du Temps in Geneva, Switzerland.  The official Swatch website has a nice special section about Corto Maltese, check it out!  Update:  A meet and greet with the real Corto Maltese took place in Brussels on 17-OCT.  Jeroen has more details and a lot of pictures here at the Swatch-Clopedia forum.  At the end of the event, all collectors received a very nice special packaging of the Corto (SUJZ106), containing a T-shirt, a large poster, and some stickers.  The packaging is limited and numbered to 150 pcs.  And a Corto Maltese Swatch The Club event will take place in Lucca, Italy on 3 to 3-NOV.  Thanks to Andrea Marco Faggioli for information.
• Honorary Citizenship.  Swatch founder Nicolas G. Hayek and his wife Marianne will become honorary citizens of the Swiss town of Meisterschwanden on 11-NOV.  More details here.  Thanks to Michael for the information.
  
• New Irony product line Retrograde.  As reported since more than two weeks on this french watch forum and on this french watch news page, Swatch plans to launch a new Irony product line called Retrograde on 1-NOV.  It will be a classic chronograph (diameter 41mm), price will be a little bit more expensive than Irony The Chrono:  150 / 160 EUR.  The most interesting thing about this new product line is the tri-fold "retrograde" functionality of the different hands:  The little hand at the 2 o'clock position counts the minutes until 4 mins, 59 secs.  It goes back to the starting position then, therefore the name retrograde.  The little hand at the 10 o'clock position counts every 5 minute until 59 mins, 59 secs.  It goes back to the starting position then.  And the large seconds hand counts up to 30 seconds from 3 o'clock to 9 o'clock and goes back to 3 o'clock. If this sounds too confusing to you, have a look at the excellent pictures of the first four models on the french watch forum and you will probably get the unique idea of this product line...  I bet that this will be a great success.   The case of the watch looks a little untypical "Swatch" however, it is a different shape to what we know since 1983.  Also the glass is real mineral glass, not plastic.  So this watch should be a little more scratch resistent.  Update:  Here are pictures of the actual watch and here is a little video of the watch in action.   Thanks to Rodolphe Foucart for the information.
• Bernina special.  The swiss sewing machine company Bernina has released a nice Swatch special for the 75th anniversary of the company:  The special Bernina (YLS123C) is a strap variant of the Irony Medium Invader (YLS123).  Customers who buy certain Bernina sewing machines during september/october will receive this watch as a gift with purchase.  Limitation is 5000 pcs, this includes 400 pcs for Germany.  Thanks to Alain Choisy for the information and picture.
  
• Club Voice special.  For the relaunch of the magazine of Swatch The Club (now called "The Voice"), it was planned to issue a special packaging of the Jelly In Jelly Swatch Instantaneous Fresh (SUJK102C) in a nice special packaging, limited and numbered to 300 pcs.  This special packaging should have been distributed at a club event but apparently, this event was cancelled at last minute.  So for the first time, this special packaging has surfaced at the Swatch kiosk at the G&P event in Turkey.  Thanks to Michael and Henk Seligmann for the information and picture.
  
• Verbier access special.  As in previous years, the swiss town of Verbier will release a special swatch for skiing.  This time a Jelly In Jelly access called Snow Sphere (SUMK101N).  Note that the basis model of this watch (SUMK101) has not yet been released, it seems to be the "Jelly In Jelly" successor of the Freeride access (SKK100).  It is only available as "strap variant":  Snow Sphere (SUMK101N), Caprices (SUMK101E) and Wiener Eistraum (SUMK101D).  Thanks to Jacky Beauverd for the information and picture.
  
• 1998 Diax special.  Around Xmas 1998, the Swiss phone company Diax released a special version of the Chrono Time To Call (SCK112C), with two extra loops around the strap.  Meanwhile, Diax has been absorbed by the Swiss phone company Sunrise.  Thanks to Alain Choisy for the information and picture.
  
• Rotterdam Swatch event.  On 7-OCT, a Swatch event will take place in Rotterdam during the FIS World Cup Big Air. There is a Swatch Container Shop during the day. You will also be able to sign up for a "right to buy" for the Corto Maltese special swatch 19 degrees South 169 degrees West (SUJZ105S).
  
• New instant stores.  The Swatch store in Leipzig, Germany has been closed, it has currently been replaced with an Instant Store since 15-SEP.  And another instant store was opened in Malta for one week recently.  Here is another picture from Malta.  Thanks to Dino Wierz and Yasmin Galea for the information and pictures.
  
• Unique Swatch auction.  On 20-SEP, a charity watch auction called OnlyWatch 2007 took place at the Monaco Yacht Show.  Swatch has created a unique Irony Nabab swatch called Pearly Pink, it was auctioned as Lot 31.  Only one piece of this Swatch exists.  The design is inspired by the Vendôme / Spiga Irony Nabab Pink Folie (YNS100PU) from 2003.  Update:  The watch has been sold for 4500 EUR.  Thanks to Dino Wierz for the information.
• Ja Gern St. Gallen special / event.  On 8-SEP, during the live performance at the Kunsthalle St. Gallen, Swiss performers Ja Gern have created a special Swatch Jelly in Jelly with special Packaging (limited to 444 pcs).  This performance is part of the Museum Night in St. Gallen.  Swatch The Club hosted a special event Time as activity: Ja Gern! on that day.  A special gent Ja Gern (GZ159D, Jelly Piano with a new strap) was given to Kunsthalle employees or sold to Swatch club members during that day, limitation is unknown. Michael has a great report with many pictures on his nice webpage.  Thanks to Christine Tanner for the picture.
  
• Flik Flak online museum.  Michael has created a superb online museum for Flik Flak watches (kid's watches made by Swatch), it is well worth a visit.  Flik Flak is celebrating their 20th anniversary this year.
  
• Schmid Muller website.  I just stumbled upon a nice website by Marlyse Schmid et Bernard Muller.  They were one of the first designers for Swatch watches and they have designed Swatch classics such as 12 Flags (GS101, 1984) and Breakdance (GO001, 1985) and much more.  Their website also has a special section dedicated to Swatch, check it out!
  
• New Puzzle Motion swatch product line.  On the Swatch-Clopedia forum, you can find information and pictures (example, more on the Swatch-Clopedia forum) about a nice new product line Puzzle Motion:  A new Jelly-in-Jelly with a moving Kaleidoscope face (eight small discs which turn constantly).  It is rumoured that these five new watches (Disco Vibe (SUPB100), Moving Flower (SUPK100), Blue Satellite (SUPK101), Fine Mystique (SUPK102), Interpretation (SUPK103)) will be released in August.  Retail is $85 US.  To me, this idea is one of the best innovations by Swatch in the recent years.  This should be a great success. You can find information about Puzzle Motion on the Swatch website.  And here and here are two promo advertising clips for Puzzle Motion.   Here is a video of the actual watch in action!  Alain Choisy reports that there are problems with the Puzzle Motion swatches:  The discs do not always return to the right position.  Despite this problem, the Puzzle Motion swatches are sold now in a few countries.  Update:  Swatch Japan runs a nice website called puzzlemotion.jp.
  
• New collectors website.  Italian collector Pierangelo Taiocchi has started a new Swatch collecting website.  It looks great (despite the line: "completed 5%"), check it out!  It has some new ideas / features such an interactive list of participants at club events, videos from events, valuations of Swatch watches with regard to ebay prices and more.  Well done!
  
• Recent Swatch events.  1. Beach Boat Timeless Party during the Klagenfurt FIVB event from 2 to 5-AUG.  For the Klagenfurt FIVB Beach Volleyball event, a special access Swatch was released, limitation is about 2000 pcs.  2.   Beachparty in Frankfurt Swatch Store on 4-AUG. 
• Nicolas G. Hayek interview.  Here is an interesting interview (in the German Manager Magazin) with Nicolas G. Hayek explaining why the Swatch Group is mainly family owned and other things...
• Taiwan Chinese Valentine's Day special.  For the Chinese Valentine's Day, Swatch Taiwan has released a nice special packaging of the new gent swatch Petit Collage (GE194), part of the Fall/Winter collection 2007/08.  The special is limited to 1500 pcs, not numbered.  Here is another photo of the little lunch box packaging.  Thanks to Sophia Chang for the information and pictures.
  
• "Be Swiss" Club event.  From 27 to 29-JUL, Swatch The Club held a Club event called Be Swiss.  About 50 collectors from all over Europe came to the 'heart' of Swatch, Switzerland, and they enjoyed several typical Swiss activities and a visit to the Swatch FIVB 2007 World Championships in Gstaad, Switzerland.  The participants received a nice Be Swiss special packaging containing the Touch Alarm Nostalgic Touch (STAF100C) with a unique loop around the strap in a nice red paper sleeve.  The special is limited to 80 pcs but only 50 pcs were distributed at the event.  The club members also received the Jelly in Jelly Gstaad WM 07 (SUMM101C) in the special black paper sleeve and a lot of other goodies, including a unique self-made Swatch bell!  Here is a detailed report with many pictures from the event. 
  
• Presentation of the F/W collection.  The upcoming Fall/Winter collection 2007/08 was presented on 29-JUL during the Swatch FIVB 2007 World Championships in Gstaad, Switzerland.  The collection was presented by models (pic1 / pic2 / pic3 / pic4)  and Swatch Pro-Team Members, eg. Snowboarder Xavier De le Rue, Swiss Beach Volleyball player Martin Laciga, Brazil Beach Volleyball player Leila Gomes de Barros.  Here is an online press report about the presentation.  Pictures by Swatch.
  
• Portuguese Swatch specials.  To celebrate the III Feirawatch-boavista (3rd watch fair, selling watches at reduced prices), the Portuguese Swatch shop Watch-Boavista has created two specials which were sold during the III Feira dos Relógios (30-JUN to 7-JUL in Oporto, Portugal).  The first one is the regular special containing the Jelly In Jelly Instantaneous Fresh (SUJK102), limited to 20 pcs and the second special is the VIP special containing the Jelly In Jelly Fluid Word (SUJK104), limited to only 4 pcs.  Thanks to Vasco Dias for the information and pictures.
  
• More Full Blooded Swatches.  In July, Swatch has released four more versions of the Full Blooded (SVCK4032G) Irony Diaphane Chrono which in turn is a variation of the Shaq 34 Gold (SVCK4008G) Irony Diaphane Chrono.  The watches are called:   Full Blooded Night (SVCK4035G), Full Blooded Blue (SVCK4036G), Full Blooded Pink (SVCK4037G), and Full Blooded Silver (SVCK4038G).  Update:  Swatch The Club Italy has released a nice special packaging with space for all five Full Blooded watches, it costs 140 EUR incl. the Full Blooded Blue (SVCK4036G).  Limitation is 150 pcs, it is only available in Italy.  Thanks to Dino Wierz for the information and pictures and to Andrea Marco Faggioli for additional information.
• Club Austria Come Together event.  On 18-JUL, a Come Together event organized by Swatch The Club Austria took place on the Badeschiff in Vienna.  A commemorating swatch special (with a special paper sleeve) was also released.  Michael has a great report with many pictures on his nice webpage, check it out, it also includes a picture of the special!    Thanks to Peter Altmann for the information.
  
• Berlin FIVB Club event.  During 11 to 15-JUL, the 2007 Swatch FIVB BeachVolley World Tour went to Belrin, Germany.  Swatch the Club Germany hosted a small event on the weekend.  The fourteen participating club members were able to purchase a special packaging of the Jelly in Jelly FIVB Snowpass Hit it (SUMM101).  The watch comes packaged in a nice paper sleeve, it is limited and numbered to 30 pcs only.  The packaging was signed by the German Pro-Team Members Julius Brink and Christoph Dieckmann.  In addition, the club members received a nice welcome package with many goodies.  For the staff of the event, a new FIVB staff 2007 special (SAZ106C) is available, it is the old Edwin Moses automatic (SAZ106) with a new strap.  Michael has a great report with many pictures on his nice webpage, check it out!  Thanks to Michael for the information and pictures.
• Portuguese special.  A special packaging of the new gent Bloomy Sunday (GL114, part of the fall/winter 2007/08 collection) will be released in Portugal.  The watch is packaged in a nice tube.   Thanks to Ricardo Rocha for the picture.
• 10th Swatch bourse at the world museum.   The 10th Swatch Bourse will take place at the World Museum (near Milano, Italy) on 16-SEP.  A very nice special packaging (limited to 77 pcs, numbered) will be released to commemorate the event.  The packaging has been designed by the Italian designer Tino Stefanoni, price is 150 EUR.
• Taiwanese Graduation promotion gift.  As in the last years, Swatch Taiwan is distributing a nice graduation promotion gift with purchases over $120 US:  A white or pink umbrella.  Here is a picture of an opened umbrella.  Thanks to Sophia Chang for the information.
  
• New Beijing Olympic collection.  Four new Beijing Olympic Swatch watches will be released soon.  You can find the information and pictures on the Swatch-Clopedia forum.
  
• New Swatch The Club merchandising.  Here is the (quite nice!) he 2007/08 Swatch The Club Merchandising.  I like the T-shirts!
  
• New Swatch The Club community.  In the near future, Swatch The Club will launch a new club members community webpage collectors.swatchtheclub.com.  It looks great, a huge improvement over the old website, check it out!  As it has not yet been officially opened, there may be some glitches here and there.
  
• Fake Swatch watches.  Yasuhiro Minato has pictures of a few fake swatch watches, some are good (Yuri), some are not so good (Happy Fish)...
• Taiwanese Mother's Day gift.  Swatch Taiwan has distributed a nice promotional gift with purchase for mother's day:  A pink mirror, somewhat similar to the mirror distributed in 2005 in Taiwan with the mother's day special 5-PETAL JOY (GE406).  Thanks to Sophia Chang for the information.
  
• Instant Store at Hessentag.  During the Hessentag 2007 (a Hessian state fair from 1 to 10-JUN) in Butzbach, Germany, Swatch was present with an Instant Store.  A report can be found on Michael's nice webpage.
  
• Portuguese Charity special.  On 6-JUN, Swatch has released a special Jelly In Jelly swatch Mundo Perfeito (Perfect World, ref.no. SUJK125), in Portugal only.  The watch comes packaged in a nice paper box.  The sale of this watch (retail is 52 EUR) will benefit a portuguese children charity project called Movimento ao Serviço da Vida.  Jeroen has more details at the Swatch-Clopedia forum.  Thanks to Pedro Coelho for the information.
• Swatch Events 1992 videos.  Here is another blast from the past:  Three videos of Swatch events in Germany and Switzerland in 1992:  Swatch The World Event in Zermatt, Black Box Swatch Exhibition in Berlin, and Crazy World Of Swatch (Swatch fashion show in Frankfurt).
  
• Nicolas G. Hayek Center opening special.  On 24-MAY, the Nicolas G. Hayek Center will open its doors in Tokyo, Japan, in the Ginza district.  Here is a real picture of the building.  As you can see at the japanese website of the Swatch Group, the building will have fourteen floors:  The first five floors are reserved for boutiques of the different brands of the Swatchgroup (Swatch, Omega, Breguet, Blancpain, ...).   The middle three floors are reserved for the customer service.  The top six floors are reserved for the offices of Swatch Group Japan.   To commemorate the opening, a special version of the Jelly In Jelly Swatch Swiss Ski (SUMK103) will be released in a limited edition of 300 pcs.  It has an extra loop around the strap and the ref.no. is SUMK103D.  The watch comes in a regular plastic box.  Retail price is 8925 Yen (~55 EUR).  You can also find this news bit on the japanese Swatch website.  The Swatch Store at the ground floor will also carry pieces from the Vendôme collection.  The Swatch Japan website has a great information page about the new Swatch Store.  Masa from Japan has taken the following pictures at the opening yesterday:  entrance of the building; still closed before grand opening; the big moment!  Here are some nice official pictures of the building by Swatch.  Apparently, the swatch was very crowded with the people who would buy the limited swatch.  Yuji Tada has sent me nice pictures from the opening event, click here to check them out!  Update:  In 2009, the magazine ArchitectureWeek has published a nice online article about the architecture of the building, featuring many pictures.   Thanks to June Berliner and Yuji Tada for the information and pictures.
  
• Interesting info about a Thailand special.  In mid 2006, I published the following info:  For the 60th anniversary of the Thai King in governing the country, a special gent swatch Guiding Light (GZ166C-1) will be released in a numbered edition, 4509 pcs.  Here is a closeup of the face of the watch and here are lots of pictures of the watch and packaging by Yasuhiro Minato.  There are some pictures of the actual watch on the Swatch-Clopedia forum.   Here is an interesting update by Jörg van Dyk:  This watch (ref.no. GZ166) was originally planned as Xmas special 2001, as you can see from this page from the Swatch-Clopedia 2002 or even better from this photo of an early Xmas 2001 prototype.   It would have had a different strap of course.  The watch almost made it into the shops as it was produced already.  But as we all know, this Xmas special was replaced in the last minute by the Plume de Fete Xmas special 2001 (SFK136).  My guess is that the change took place to make some advertisement about the new Vendôme store...  At the Vendôme Store itself, a slightly different version of the Plume de Fete Xmas special was sold in 2001:  Plume Serafine (SFK136P, numbered xxx/200) containing 2 extra breastpins.  Thanks to Thomas Sonneville and to Michael for the information.
• "Love For Swatch" book.  Fiorenzo Barindelli (founder of the Swatch World Museum) and Kelly Magni are the authors of a new book called Love For Swatch.  It will be a thick (about 240 pages, in Italian and English) and colorful book about the history of the Swatch and the World Museum, hopefully a worthy successor to the best book about Swatch watches so far:  Swatchissimo.  It has been a long time since a good table book has been released about Swatch watches (with the exception of the Swatch-Clopedia catalogue of course), so this is a very welcome addition to the world of Swatch watch collecting.  Here is an ad for the book.  The book will be released on 20-MAY, during the ninth swatch bourse at the World Museum.  A special packaging of the book, together with the Jelly In Jelly Pfauenauge (SUJS100) will be released in a limited edition of 150 pcs, retail of the special packaging with the watch is 80 EUR.  To give you an impression of the book, here are a few example pages:  Swatch history, Swatch The Club, Opening of the World Museum, Fiorenzo Barindelli collection.  You can also preorder the book at Squiggly now.  Pictures of the book can be found at the Swatch-Clopedia forum.
• French Outlet store.  Swatch has opened an outlet store in Troyes, France, at the Centre Commercial Mac Arthur Glen, 10150 Pont Sainte Marie.  You can buy older swatch watches, including Vendôme swatches and specials at minimum 30% discount to the original retail price.  Lots of older Vendôme swatches were recently sent back from the Vendôme store to Swatch France so that they can now be sold at a lower price in Troyes.  Thanks to Henk Seligmann and Thomas Sonneville for the information.
  
• USA VIP loyalty program.  Swatch has started a new VIP loyalty program in the USA (for USA addresses only). As a member of the program, Swatch will send you a $25 gift card upon the purchase of your first 10 watches.  If you buy 20 or more swatches (including discounted watches), you will receive a free membership with Swatch The Club.  You also receive a nice VIP loyalty program membership card based on the Sam Francis Swatch. The back of the card includes your name and membership number.   According to their mailing: "Additionally, your VIP status will grant you access to exclusive events and product launches in the future, as well as keep you up to date on special in-store promotions via email."  Although it sounds somewhat related, this loyalty program is not related to Swatch The Club.  Thanks to Brian Pier for the information and picture.
• Swatch and MTV?s Best. Show. Ever.  MTV Europe and Swatch today announced a partnership to create MTV?s first user-generated, viewer-led show, MTV?s Best. Show. Ever.  More details can be found on the Swatch official website.
  
• Fat Boys @ Swatch Breakdance contest.  Check out this unique video:  The Fat Boys at a Breakdance contest sponsored by Swatch.  This must have been in 1984 or 1985, note the curtains designed by Keith Haring in the background!  Thanks to Jeroen for the hint!
  
• Swatch "Kiez Brunch" in Berlin.  On 26-MAY, the Swatch Instant Store Berlin is hosting the Kiez-Brunch #2.  The brunch starts 12 pm at the Instant Store in the Muenzstrasse.  All Swatch collectors are invited, no special will be released, though.  More information can be found at Michael's excellent webpage.
  
• Book about Dutch Swatch specials.  Dutch Swatch watch collector Hans van Buuren has prepared a book called Swatch Specials from the Netherlands.  The title says it all!  The book has 286 pages (I never thought that there are sooo many dutch Swatch specials :-)  The book looks great as you can see from his preview web page.  One question remains:  Why is the Kiki Picasso Swatch Art special on the front page of the book?  How is this watch releated to the Netherlands?
  
• Swatch and Red Bull X-Fighters.  Swatch is the official timekeeper of the Red Bull X-Fighters, a freestyle motocross (FMX) competition taking place in bullfighting arenas.  Thanks to Michael for the information.
• New Spiga / Vendôme swatches.  Masas has posted pictures from the upcoming Spiga / Vendôme swatches at the Swatch-Clopedia forum, very nice watches!
  
• Spiga / Vendôme Mother's Day special.   The upcoming Spiga / Vendôme Mother's Day special 2007 is called My Lovely Mother (GE192PU).  It is a nice gent with a neck tie for your mobile phone.  Limitation is 400 pieces for Vendôme and Spiga.  Thanks to Masas from the Swatch-Clopedia forum for the information and picture and to Thomas Sonneville for the update.
  
• Highland Open special.  The O'Neill Highland Open by Swatch is the coldest surf contest, taking place at Scotland's northernmost coast from 24-APR to 1-MAY-2007.  To commemorate the event, Swatch will release a special Fun Scuba Highland Open (SUGB104C, the Fun Boarder Black Anguilla (SUGB104) with a new strap).  Limitation is 2000 pcs.  The watch comes packaged in a nice paper sleeve.  Thanks to Alain Choisy and to Andrea Marco Faggioli for the information, pictures by Swatch and Alain Choisy.
• FIVB 2007 specials.  As in the last years, Swatch will release two watches for the Swatch FIVB Beachvolley World Tour 2007:  The first one is an Irony Chrono called Game starter (YCS487), with a red silicon rubber strap.  The watch comes packaged in a special paper sleeve.  The second one is a Swatch Jelly in Jelly Snowpass called Hit it (SUMM101), with a clear plastic strap featuring a colourful action scene from a beachfront court.  A third Beachvolleyball special will be released in Switzerland only around end of may for the Swatch FIVB 2007 World Championships in Gstaad, Switzerland, from 24 to 29-JUL:  A Jelly in Jelly Gstaad WM 07 in a special paper sleeve.   Thanks to Jeroen, pictures from Swatch-Clopedia forum and to Jacky Beauverd for the information and picture.
• Second UN Human Rights special.  A second UN Human Rights special Jelly in Jelly swatch called Shake The World No.2 (SUJZ104) will be released in early may.  It looks very similar to the first UN Human Rights special Shake The World No.19 (SUJZ102).  This time, the white '2' on the dial refers to article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  Swatch dedicates a part of the money earned by the sale of these Human Rights watches to support selected UN projects in favour of human rights.   Thanks to Jacky Beauverd for the information, picture by Swatch.
• Swatchgroup invests in Asia.  The parent company of Swatch, the Swatch Group invests in asia:  First, the Swatch Group has bought an ancient hotel in Shanghai, the South Building Peace Hotel which was build in 1908.  In 2008/09, the hotel will reopen as an artist center called Swatch Art Peace Hotel.  Opposite of the hotel, Swatch will open four stores for Omega, Blancpain, Breguet and Swatch.  Three floors of the hotel will be reserved for artists from all around the world who can live free of charge for six months in the hotel.  Sounds like a great idea.  Second, Swatch will open a large building called Nicolas G. Hayek Center in Tokyo, Japan, in spring 2007.  More information at the japanese website of the Swatch Group.  Thanks to Jean-Bernard Mani for the information.
  
• Roland Garros 2007 specials.  As in 2006, Swatch will release two special swatches for the Roland Garros 2007 tennis tournament in Paris, France:  The first is a skin called Rève d'Ivoire (SFK294).  The second one is a Jelly In Jelly called Jeux d'Elite (SUJK129).  Both are packaged in a yellow Tennis ball.  This year, the watches will be available in other countries than France as well, eg. the watches are available in Portugal already.   Thanks to Michael and to masas from the Swatch-Clopedia forum for the information and to Jacky Beauverd for the picture.
• Big Mountain Pro special.  Swatch is sponsoring the Swatch O'Neill Big Mountain Pro 2007 event, a brand new freeride snowboard and ski competition taking place in the alps from 1 to 10-MAR.  To commemorate the event, Swatch has released a special Big Mountain Pro Fun Boarder (SULM102C, it is the Snow Mobile 2006 [SULM102] with a new strap).  Limitation is 2000 pcs.  Here is a promotional trailer for the Big Mountain Pro 2007 event.   Thanks to Andrea Marco Faggioli for the update.
• Swatch sponsors MTV The Games.  Swatch is the main sponsor of MTV The Games 2007 in Asia.  The alternative Olympics feature crazy and uniquely entertaining sports events against the clock.
  
• Club Swatch 2007/08.  The Swatch The Club special 2007/08 is a Jelly In Jelly called Global Thinking (SUJZ400, close-up of face, with date function).  A really "up to date" theme!  The watch comes with a very nice special packaging.  The watch was launched during a Swatch The Club event in Rome, Italy from 31-MAR to 1-APR.   The 70 participating club members received a special version of the packaging (SUJZ400C, grey instead of white, numbered xxx/300).  More gadgets were given away:  A CD-ROM and seven pins representig the seven days and/or characteristics of Swatch spirit.  Here is a nice report by Michael about the club event.  Thanks to Roberto Quadrini for the information and to Marcel from Squiggly for some pictures.
  
• IOC Skin special.  A new IOC olympic special has surfaced, it is the Skin Pure Black Olympia Logo (SFZ108) with the olympic rings on the dial.
  
• Swatch TV report.  Here is a long Swatch TV report from DEC-2005.  Includes extended interviews (in English! report is in Turkish) with Swatch Boss Nicolas G. Hayek, Klaus-Peter Mager (intl. Swatch marketing), and Swatch The Club Pioneer Member Henk Seligmann from the Netherlands (at 25:45). Also includes an insight into Swatch history, snippets from the Fun Boarder launch event in Bürgenstock, Switzerland.
  
• Dutch Blue Man Group event.  A Blue Man Group event took place in Amsterdam on 11-MAR.  Collectors were able to purchase the limited Blue Man Group art special Paint In Blue (SUJZ101S), afterwards, a they went to a live show of the Blue Man Group.  Michael has a nice report!
  
• 1990's Luzern auction pictures.  I have updated my page about the Swatch auctions which took place in Luzern, Switzerland in 1991 to 1994, check it out!
  
• Caprices Music Festival special.  A special Jelly In Jelly access Caprices (SUMK101E) has been released for the Caprices Music Festival taking place in Crans-Montana, Switzerland from 7 to 11-MAR-2007.   The watch comes packed in a nice black paper sleeve, limitation is unknown.  Note that the basis model of this watch (SUMK101) has not yet been released, it seems to be the "Jelly In Jelly" successor of the Freeride access (SKK100).  It is only available as "strap variant":  Caprices (SUMK101E) and Wiener Eistraum (SUMK101D).
• Mini mini Swatch exhibition.  On 25-JAN, the renovated Museum Zeughaus (part of the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museum in Mannheim, Germany) opened its doors to the public.  Part of the permanent exhibition is a collection of (mainly very old) clocks.  Among the clocks is a display cabinet of  Swatch watches, featuring 20 swatch watches from the collection of swatch collector Joris van Eeden.  It would have been possible to show some more swatch watches as you can see from this picture...  But it is always nice to see those 83 blister packagings :-)  Here is the press release about the exhibition. Update:  Here is a TV report about Joris von Eeden from last year, showing his Swatch collection and his collection of antique watches, very nice!
  
• Beijing 2008 special.  A new Beijing 2008 olympics special Jelly In Jelly called FuWa (SUJZ103) is now available in China.  It features the olympic mascots on the strap.  It comes packaged in a silver paper sleeve.  The watch is also available in Italy, Switzerland, Germany (and probably other countries) since march 2007.  Update:  Here are pictures from the launch of the watch in China on 12-NOV-2006, note the maxi version of this watch!  Thanks to June Berliner and Henk Seligmann for the information and to Andrea Marco Faggioli for the update.
  
• Semmering Zauberberg specials.  Swatch has issued two Fun Boarder specials, together with the skiing area Zauberberg Semmering.  Here is a picture of the two watches (the Snow Mobile 2006 [SULM102] with either a black or a white strap).  The special is limited to 2000 pcs (probably 1000 each), and the watch contains a one day ski pass preloaded on the watch.  Here is more information about the watch.
• Wiener Eistraum special.  A special Jelly-In-Jelly access special called Wiener Eistraum (SUMK101D, "Vienna Ice Dream") has been released in Vienna, Austria, in a limited edition of 1000 pcs.  It is probably the first ever Jelly-In-Jelly access special.  The access swatch can be used as an entrance pass for Wiener Eistraum:  From 19-JAN to 4-MAR-2007, the square in front of Viennas city hall is used as a huge ice-skating area.  A picture can be found on Michael's nice website. 
  
• Swiss Snowboard movie special.  Dessine moi une ligne is a movie starring (among others) Géraldine Fasnacht (snowboarder from Switzerland, Swatch Pro Team member).  To commemorate the release of the movie, Swatch will release a special packaging of the Swatch Fun Boarder Snowy Sky (SULK100C).  If you are interested in purchasing this swatch, you can contact Alain Choisy.  Update:  Here is a promotional video for the Dessine moi une ligne special.    Thanks to Alain Choisy for the information and picture.
  
• Design study for Swatch.  Yet another design study for a swatch watch, not official I guess and designed by Pierre Merlet.  The watch is called Infinity, and it is a Mp3/Video/Photo Player watch.  Thanks to Rodolphe Foucard for the information.
• CollectoMania Club Event.  A Swatch The Club event CollectoMania took place in Duisburg, Germany on 10-FEB-2007 starting at 3pm at the Gebläsehallenkomplex Landschaftspark.  A CollectoMania special numbered xxx/300 on the back of the plastic box (ref.no. SAB104C) was also released:   It is the automatic Punching with a special strap and a nice black paper sleeve.  As about 80 club member participated at the event, only about 80 of the 300 specials were given out, so the CollectoMania special is quite rare.  Collectors were able to purchase Point of Sales and merchandising material.  Here is a detailed report with many pictures from the event.    Later in the evening, a Timeless Party took place.  Michael has a nice report about the CollectoMania event on his great website.
  
• Swatch Comic competition.  A Swatch Comic competition was recently held in Austria.  The theme of the contest was "Time" (not too surprising :-)  At the website of the contest, you can browse the artworks of the winners.  The artworks are current on exhibition in Graz, Austria.
  
• Ambiente goes Swatch store Frankfurt.  From 9 to 17-FEB, you can see exhibitions from the Frankfurt trade fair Ambiente in 40 different stores in Frankfurt city. The Frankfurt swatch store is nicely decorated with bottles of the Swiss company SIGG.  Thanks to Michael for the information.
  
• net.hunt, the first ever online game.  Did you ever hear about the Swatch net.hunt, the first ever online game in APR-1996?  Probably not...  Click here to read a story about the Swatch net.hunt and to find out how the internet looked like more than 10 years ago!
  
• Swatch Instant Store Art Exhibitions.  Two art exhibition could be seen at the Swatch Instant Store in Berlin (Münzstrasse):  First, artwork by Monoka in October/November 2006, and in December 2006 some artworks by Christian Kreisel.  Thanks to Michael for the information.
  
• Valentine special 2007.  The Valentine special 2007 is a Jelly In Jelly called Feel My Love (SUJK121).  This year, the theme is "Voodoo Love", so the watch comes packaged in a red box with a little voodoo doll and some little heart pins.  Swatch has added a nice voodoo game about the watch to the official website.  Here is the TV ad for the watch and here is something really unique:  A true voodoo priest, Eddy G. Lazaro, has blessed the voodoo swatch with a love spell, check out his visit to the Swatch headquarters in Biel and more...  Update:  A "VoodooLoveLounge" will take place at the Swatch Instant Store in Berlin (Münzstrasse) on 10-FEB at 9pm.  Free Entrance!
  
• Vendôme / Spiga Valentine Special 2007.  The Vendôme / Spiga Valentine Special 2007 is called Cherish Signs (LK283PU), packaged in a red heart.  Thanks to Emanuele Bertodo for the update.
  
• Mobile Phone Watch.  Almost ten years after Swatch presented Swatch Talk (a watch with an integrated mobile phone, click here and scroll down for more details) at the Cebit computer fair in 1998, TAG Heuer is thinking about launching a mobile phone watch.  Well, not completely true according to this Cash magazine article from 2000:  The prototype presented by Swatch in 1998 was only a DECT phone (a cordless phone with only 30 meters range), it was never commercially sold.  But in 2000, a real GSM mobile phone prototype was ready.  It was never commercially sold as well.  Let's see if  TAG Heuer is able to turn this new mobile phone watch into a real product...  Thanks to Christine Tanner for the information and picture.