news from 2012 are below:

• New Gent Flex watches.  Swatch will release two New Gent Flex watches:  1. Resolution (SUOK700);  2.  Blue Resolution (SUOB707).  Here is a photo of the actual Blue Resolution watch, very nice! Thanks to Alain Choisy for the pictures.
  
• New Gent Jelly Fish collection.  According to this blog, Swatch plans to release a New Gent Jelly Fish collection soon:  It will consist of four watches:  1.  Look Through (SUOK105, transparent / silver);  2. Gilt Ghost (SUOK106, transparent / gold);  3. Black Ghost (SUOK107, transparent / black);  4. Random Ghost (SUOK111, randomly coloured components!).  This will be a huge success I guess, especially Random Ghost as is has randomly coloured components inside...   Thanks to secondwatch.it for the hint and to Alain Choisy for the additional picture.
  
• Swatch Girls Pro China 2012 special.  The Swatch Girls Pro China 2012 event took place in Wanning, Hainan Island in China from 21 to 25-NOV-2012.  A special Chrono Plastic Swatch Girls Pro China 2012 (SUSB400D) was released to commemorate the event.  It is a Chrono Plastic Black Efficiency (SUSB400) with a special loop around the strap and it comes packaged in a very nice paper sleeve. Here is a picture of the t-shirt signed by Kelia Moniz (winner of competition in Wanning).  Thanks to Ivano Allodi for the information and pictures.
  
• Year of the Snake special.  According to the Chinese Zodiac, the Year of 2013 is the Year of the Snake, which begins on 10-FEB-2013 and ends on 30-JAN-2014.  As in the last years, Swatch will release a special watch to commemorate the Year of the Snake:  It is a New Gent called The Legend Of White Snake (SUOZ158), it comes packaged in a colourful nice paper sleeve.  Sophia Chang has added some interesting information and pictures about this watch (including pics of a very nice hand made promotional umbrella) at the swatch-clopedia forum.   Thanks to Marco Soares for the information.
  
• Original creator of the Swatch logo has died.  The following fact is not widely known among Swatch collectors:  Swiss designer Urs Gerber from Luterbach has designed the original famous Swatch logo back in the early 80s.  He received only 100 CHF for his work.  Over the years, the logo has been further developed by Swatch.  Urs Gerber died in the summer of 2012.  Thanks to Bernd Eigler for the information.
  
• Brasilia anniversary special.  At the end of APR-2010, Swatch has launched a special swatch called Traces Of An Architect (GZ227) with a big party at the National Museum in Brasilia.  The watch has been issued to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, and as a tribute to the renowned Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer who was the chief architect of most public buildings in Brasilia.  The watch is limited to 1500 pcs and it will be sold worldwide.  Update:  The watch comes in a nice paper sleeve.  Update2: Oscar Niemeyer died on 05-DEC-2012, at the age of 104.  A never released second Oscar Niemeyer Swatch special also exists, almost the same watch but white: Tracos De Um Arquiteto Branco (GZ234).    Thanks to Alain Choisy for the update and pictures.
• Xmas Club event special 2012.  The traditional Swatch The Club Xmas event 2012 took place from 22 to 25-NOV in Madrid, Spain.  About 110 collectors from all around the world participated at the event.  To commemorate the event, a unique (unavailable elsewhere!) Gent 12 Grapes (GZ284S) was released in a limited and numbered edition of 200 pcs.  The watch comes packaged in a nice paper packaging, numbered both on the back of the watch, on the back of the packaging, and on the sticker of the packaging.   Here is a picture of the closed packaging.  Here is a detailed report about the event with many pictures.
  
• Golden Pass special.  The Swiss rail road company Golden Pass has issued a nice company special Golden Pass (SFK193C), a Skin Simply Retro (SFK193) with a special strap.  No idea about the limitation or when or why this watch was distributed.
  
• Xmas special 2012?  Yes!  There will be a very special watch at the Swatch The Club event in Madrid but 2012 will be the first year since 1986(?) without a limited Xmas special.   In the recent years, the traditional Xmas special hasn't been selling too well (last years Lucky Snow (GZ259S) is still fairly easy available at retail), so this may be the reason to end this tradition...   Update:  Another, usually very good informed source tells me that the "No Xmas special 2012" information is wrong!  He tells me that the Xmas special 2012 will be a transparent/jelly New Gent Snow Your Time Away (SUOZ159S) with stones around the dial, so this watch is inspired by the famous Hollywood Dream.  The strap is imprinted with stars.  10000 pcs, 75 90 EUR, available mid december.  It comes packaged with nice white gloves with a golden star.   Update:  Here is an article with a real picture of the watch.  It really looks almost like Hollywood Dream!  This will be a huge success!  Update2:  Here are actual pictures of the watch:  closed box, opened box, number on outer paper packaging, number on plastic box, watch in the packaging, actual watch (the plastic strap is transparent with golden stars!), face of the watch, number on the back of the watch (produced in week 44 of 2012, beginning of November!).   Thanks to Alain Choisy for the information and to Melissa Starr for the picture.
• ICE-WATCH vs. I-SWATCH.  Here is an interesting article by a New Zealand patent attorney firm about a recent court case ICE-WATCH vs. I-SWATCH.  I also think that the name "Ice-Watch" was chosen because it sounds like "I-Swatch"...
  
• Dr. Swatch in Switzerland.  Next week (19 to 24-NOV), you can bring your Swatch watches to "Dr. Swatch" in selected Swatch stores in Switzerland.  Free battery change (maybe I should bring my collection? :-), free polishing, free strap adjustment.  Participating stores are:  Basel, Berne, Geneva, Lausanne, Lugano, Lucerne, Zermatt, Zürich.
  
• Early Swatch prototypes on ebay.  A good friend from Italy has some very interesting early Swatch prototypes for sale on ebay.  Even if you are not interested in bidding, it is well worth to check out the auction as it is very likely that you haven't seen these prototypes before.  Cool stuff!
  
• Seasons Collection 2012 / Xmas special 2012.  The Swiss Swatch online store shows two New Gent specials which are probably part of the Seasons 2012 collection form the Sparkling Circle Collection:  1. Silver Glam (SUOZ147, comes in a nice paper sleeve);  2. SeasonsSpecial1211 Gold TBD Sunray Glam (SUOZ148, comes in a nice paper sleeve).  Thanks to Christine Tanner for the hint.
  
• eswatch / iswatch soon to be launched?  Already in 2008, Swatch has registered the trademarks "eswatch" and "iswatch".  www.eswatch.com and www.iswatch.com currently point to the Swatch homepage. Now, the picture of an iswatch (SURG101C) and an eswatch (SURR102C) have surfaced, they look very similar to the Touch watches.  I am curious about the additional functionality...  Update:  A usually very good informed source tells me that these two watches (iswatch and eswatch) are in fact regular Touch watches without any additional functionality!  Swatch now has to release an "iswatch" and an "eswatch" product in order not to lose the trademark rights for "iswatch" and "eswatch".  These two Touch watches will be available in November and they will be extremely limited:  A very large European market will only get 10 pieces of each watch, this includes the online store of this country.   Thanks to Alain Choisy for the information.
• No more Snowpass and Square watches.  Alain Choisy informs me that no more Snowpass and Square watches will be produced in the future, so these two product lines will come to an end.
  
• Full Blooded Collection update.  According to a website from Singapore, the Full Blooded Irony Diaphane Chrono collection is updated with four new models featuring precious stones, gold and silver â?? all carefully embedded on the black and white dials, highlighted with more silver and gold.  So far, only the ref.codes are known:  1. SVCK4067;  2. SVCK4068;  3. SVCM4008;  4. SVCM4009.
  
• Swatch Art Rules 2012 special.  The Swatch Art Rules 2012 special called Yeahaaa (SUOW104) is now available in the Swiss Swatch online store.  It has been designed by Marta Zarina-Gelze from Latvia.  The final product looks different (and better in my opinion) than the original design.
• Four new Swatch Touch models.  Four new Swatch Touch models are now available according to this greek website:  1. Touch Night (SURB102);  2. Touch Olive (SURG101);  3. Touch Dark Blue (SURN101);  4. Touch Chili (SURR102).
  
• "Shoot My Ride" special.  A special Snowpass Swatch Shoot My Ride (SUMB102D) has surfaced. It is the Show Your Style (SUMB102) with a nice new strap and it was distributed in 2010.  No idea when or where this watch was distributed but it is surely related to the Shoot My Ride snowparks in Verbier, Laax, Tignes, ...  Update:  Here is a picture of the Shoot My Ride 2011 special, it is based on the Chrono Plastic Mister Twin (SUKB400), with a new strap.  Thanks to Alain Choisy for the update.
• London 2012 NOC specials.  If you have wondered about the question:  "Where are the London Olympics 2012 NOC specials? Do they exist?":  The answer seems to be "Yes!" (although previous rumours denied the existence).  I have found an London 2012 Azerbaijan NOC swatch (GZ271Y).  NOC Belgium, Luxemburg (GZ271O), Brazil (GZ271Z), and Monaco also exist.  This watch is the so far unknown third olympic special Games Maker swatch besides the Volunteer special Games Maker (GZ273) and the London 2012 Paralympic Volunteer special (GZ272).  Update:  It seems that more countries exist:  NOC Germany (GZ271X, compare to the official German NOC logo).   Apparently the London 2012 NOC watches are much much more limited than the previous ones. Update2:  This time, the NOC watches have been produced as "B2B" watches for the NOCs who were interested.  This means that Swatch has no control over the distribution of these watches but only the NOCs...   Update3:  Pedro Mota just sent me a complete(?) list of 17 NOC 2012 specials:  Netherlands (GZ271C), Taiwan (GZ271D), Cayman Islands (GZ271E), Belgium (GZ271F), Ireland (GZ271I), Malaysia (GZ271J), Iraq (GZ271K), Cyprus (GZ271N), Luxemburg (GZ271O), Bulgaria (GZ271Q), Monaco (GZ271R), Saint Lucia (GZ271T), Turkey (GZ271V), Hong Kong (GZ271W), Germany (GZ271X), Azerbaijan (GZ271Y), Brazil (GZ271Z).  Happy hunting!  Thanks to Alain Choisy, Pedro Mota, and Jörg van Dyk for the update.
• "Ornament" collection.  Swatch has released three gent watches with the theme "Time Never Dies":  1. Time Never Dies Black (GM180);  2. Time Never Dies Orange (GO110);  3. Time Never Dies Pink (GP138).  These watches are not limited.
  
• Fred Butler artist special.  In October, Swatch plans to release a New Gent artist special Dodecahedron Collision (SUOZ144S) by UK fashion designer Fred Butler, as part of the Swatch & Fashion series.  It will be limited to 777 pcs, in a unique numbered special packaging, price will be $275 US.  Update: pictures of the watch updated.
• Irony Big Automatic.  Soon, Swatch will launch a new collection Irony Big Automatic (the return of the mechanical Irony watches).
  
• Artyou Basel 2012 club event.  On 20-SEP-2011, the urban art exhibition Artyou was opened in Basel, Switzerland.  Swatch is presenting sponsor and invited the swiss club members for a pre-opening event.  French Tattoo artist Tin-Tin (who also participated in the exibition) tattooed live and signed his new artist special watches Draconem, Fired Snake, and Waved Koi for the club members (no special packaging was released).  Here is a detailed report about the event with many pictures.
  
• Berlin FIVB Beachvolley special.  From 13 to 15-JUL, the FIVB Beach-Volleyball Grand Slam 2012 took place in Berlin, at the famous Waldbühne.  A special version of the FIVB Rebel New Gent (SUOJ700C) was released, it has a special Berlin loop (the sleeve of the watch on the picture is signed by German Swatch Proteam members Sara Goller and Laura Ludwig [not all of the sleeves are signed]). This special was only available in Berlin and it has no special ref.no.
  
• IOC special.  A new IOC special with Olympia logo has surfaced, it was probably distributed in July at the Olympic Games in London (or during the IOC session which took place in London on 24 to 26-JUL, directly before the Olympic Games).  It is a Skin Metal Knit Olympia Logo (SFZ117M), based on the Skin Metal Knit (SFM118M) from 2011.
  
• Essen mega shopping bags.  For the opening of the new Swatch store in Essen (Limbecker Platz, Germany), special "mega shopping bags" were distributed.  Nice idea!
  
• Paris Artist signing event.  On 14-SEP, an artist signing with Swiss artist Emmanuelle Antille (Dark Graft and Blue Graft) and French Tattoo artist Tin-Tin (Draconem, Fired Snake, and Waved Koi) took place at the Swatch store at the Louvre in Paris.  The two watches by E. Antille were sold in a special packaging limited and numbered to 30 pcs, signed on the side of the packaging.  The three watches by Tin-Tin were sold in a special packaging limited and numbered to 30 pcs, signed on the side of the packaging. Thanks to Christine for the pictures.
  
• German X-fighters club event / special.  Swatch The Club Germany has organized a club event from 10 to 12-AUG-2012 during the Red Bull X-Fighters event in Munich (Olympic Stadium).  A Red Bull X-Fighters Munich 2012 special (SUOZ703CS, a Mat Rebeaud Wonder Zebra (SUOZ703) with an extra loop around the strap) was released in a limited and numbered edition of 222 pcs.  The watch comes packaged in a special sleeve, it is numbered on the back of the watch, on the sleeve and on the price sticker.  www.swatch.stawi.de has a very nice report with lots of pictures about the club event.
  
• Blum collection on display in NYC.  On 14/15-SEP, the famous Blum Swatch collection (or at least parts of it) will be shown in New York City as part of the Timecrafters exhibition.  See this flyer for more details (including instructions how to get a complimentary entrance pass).  I assume that it will feature the same watches that were shown prior to the Hong Kong auction last November.  Go and see it if you can, it is not yet clear how often the current owner (a mainland Chinese collector who wishes to remain anonymous) will pull out the watches from the safe...  Update:  The New York Times of Sun, 09-SEP, featured a full page ad for the exhibition.  Wow!  (I am very well invested :-) Thanks to Brian and Roy for the update.
  
• London 2012 Olympic volunteer special.  The London 2012 Olympic volunteer special is a Gent called Games Maker (GZ273).  Secondwatch.it blog has a picture of the complete volunteer package/uniform.  This picture shows two more possibly London Olympic related Swatch watches.  Update:  The London 2012 Paralympic Volunteer special is one of the two other London Olympic related Swatch watches and it has the ref.no. GZ272.
  
• Uma Wang artist specials.   Three Two watches designed by fashion designer Uma Wang will be released in april (pushed back a month at the last minute):  1. Pure Fabric (SUOZ134) (this watch has been launched during the presentation of the Uma Wang Fall / Winther collection 2012/13 on 26-FEB in Milano at the Palazzo Reale, see also the secondwatch.it blog);  2. Pretty Bohemian (SUOZ135); 3. Red Dancing Rose (SUOZ131S, limited to only 777 pcs, 119 EUR in Germany).  The Red Dancing Rose watch has been cancelled for now and may be released in June with a new ref.no.  Update:  Finally, the third special designed by Uma Wang is available:  Black Dancing Rose (SUOZ132S) is limited to 777 pcs and it comes packaged in a nice special box.  Price is 216 EUR or 300 CHF.  Pictures by Swatch.
  
• The story behind the 5th Element pyramid box.  The VIP pyramid box of the 5th Element special from 1997 (SKZ105PACK3) is quite rare, in fact, I have not yet seen it "live".  Basel Ismail (one of the designers of the packaging) just sent me a very nice story about the creation of this special:  "In 1997, Swatch asked us to design the box for the fifth element VIP access to the ball at cannes 50th film festival.  My wife at the time (Kate Isler) from una  advertising agents in Basel (Switzerland) was asked to provide three designs for this event.  We were given a secret collection of out of focus photos of the film (the fifth element) and we had twenty days to do this in all hush hush.  The truth was: we made three wonderful box ideas.  The day before our presentation to Swatch, my wife suddenly looked at what we created and said:  'no there is something missing.'  Well my heart sank, I actually got very angry as we both worked long long hours to meet the deadline.  In my anger I went into the next room of our studio, folded a carton into a pyramid, chose the corrigated blue because J.P. Gaultier and Luc Besson both liked blue.  The box had a wonderful magnet mecanism to open it if you pressed on the side as well as the option an asfour crystal from egypt with Swatch printed on it as well as the mirrored paper on the inside to give it this future look.  Well in the meeting they chose the fourth option that they did not ask for, well this is the true story of the pyramid box."
  
• Club special 2012.  On 15-SEP, the new club special Open It (SUOZ157, a New Gent Laquered) will be released (closeup of watch face).  As with other New Gent Laquered watches, each watch is unique as different components of the watch are randomly coloured.  It comes packaged in a nice blue box, together with a small key with your access code to the online club section.  The swatchtheclub.com website has been reworked completely and the Club section is now much more prominently featured on the swatch.com homepage.  You will have to register again to login into the club section.   Pictures by Swatch.
• Malaysia surprise special.  In Malaysia, during the month of August, it was possible buy a "surprise" watch for 80 MYR (~25 EUR) after the purchase of a regular watch (any). This packaging is avalable in 5 or 6 different colours. It contains older skins, chronos, gents, ...  It is also available in the UAE (United Arab Emirates).  Any other countries?
  
• Blum auction catalogue reprinted.  The very nice auction catalogue from the Blum collection has been reprinted with a new cover and is now available at Swatch stores and at the online store as well (price is 31 EUR / 21 UKP).  The only other change besides the cover that I have noticed is the information about the final auction results for each lot.  Grab it while you can!
  
• Mathieu Mercier artist special.  In mid June, Swatch will release an artist special New Gent Swatch The stone from your heart (SUOZ139S) designed by the french artist Mathieu Mercier.  It will be a limited edition of 777 pcs, numbered (on the back of the watch and on the red ring of the packaging), in a special packaging.  Price is $100 US.  Here is another picture of the packaging.  Swatch The Club Switzerland held a launch event with Mathieu Mercier on 20-JUN in Fribourg, Switzerland (small report by Christine Tanner).    Fun Fact:  Did you note the new kind of production code on the back of the New Gent?  "IP18"??  Can anyone decipher?  Up to now, the New Gent watches had regular gent style production codes...  Update:  secondwatch.it has detailed information about the new style New Gent production codes:  I = ETA Sion (production location), P = 2012 (year of production), 18 = week of production.  Thanks to Swatch Armenia for the pictures.
  
• More Beijing Olympics specials.  If you have wondered about the question:  "Where are the Beijing Olympics 2008 NOC specials? Do they exist?":  The answer is "Yes!".  Some info about the Beijing NOC specials has now surfaced, ten (exactly!) NOC specials were (probably) released in 2008:  1. Pregnant World - NOC Cyprus (SUJZ109C).  The following other nine NOC specials were also distributed:  2. Pregnant World - NOC Belgium 1 (SUJZ109E);  3. Pregnant World - NOC Belgium 2 (SUJZ109F);  4. Pregnant World - NOC Hong Kong (SUJZ109N);  5. Pregnant World - NOC Ireland (SUJZ109I);  6. Pregnant World - NOC USA (SUJZ109O);  7. Pregnant World - NOC Luxembourg (SUJZ109K);  8. Pregnant World - NOC Monaco (SUJZ109Q);  9. Pregnant World - NOC Poland (SUJZ109J);  10. Pregnant World - NOC Slovakia (SUJZ109D).  The watch is/was also available without special NOC loop as Pregnant World (SUJZ109).  Limitation for all these watches is unknown.  Oh yes, and the so far unknown Olympic special (I have been looking for info since 2009) is called Multicultura (SUJZ110).  Four (exactly!) different NOC versions of this swatch were also distributed, at least three or four, I have had only one example: 1. Multicultura - NOC Brazil (SUJZ110F).  Update:  One more:  2. Multicultura - NOC Bulgaria (SUJZ110E).  Update 2:  The missing two are:  3. Multicultura - NOC Slovakia (SUJZ110C);  4. Multicultura - NOC Poland (SUJZ110D)    Thanks to Alain Choisy and Pedro Mota for the information and pictures.
• Birdhead artist special.  In September, Swatch plans to release a New Gent artist special Majestic Bird (SUOZ707S) by Birdhead (Song Tao and Ji Weiyu from Shanghai, China), as part of the Swatch & Art series. The watch will be limited to 1888 pcs, in a numbered special packaging, price will be $100 US.  secondwatch.it has more pictures of the actual watch and the very nice packaging.
  
• Tattoo artist specials.   Swatch plans to release three New Gent artist special watches by French Tattoo artist Tin-Tin (his studio Tin-Tin tatouage is in Paris, in Clichy).  The watches are:  1. Draconem;  2. Fired Snake;  3. Waved Koi.  I assume that the watches are not limited, price is $80 US each.
• Emmanuelle Antille artist specials.  Swatch plans to release two New Gent artist special watches by Swiss artist Emmanuelle Antille (she lives in Lausanne).  She represented Switzerland at the Biennale in Venice in 2003.  The watches are:  1. Dark Graft;  2. Blue Graft.  I assume that the watches are not limited, price is $80 US each.
• Portuguese Swatch Chrono Plastic launch event.  On 12-JUL, Swatch hosted a FMX (Freestyle Motocross) show at the Torre de Belém in Lisbon, played by the most renowned national athlete, Diogo Ribeiro. Swatch also presented the new Chrono Plastic watches.  Swatch collectors received a few nice goodies (hat, fan, ...).   Marco Soares sent me two nice original pictures:  pic1 / pic2. Thanks to Pedro Mota for the information and picture.
  
• Estavayer le Lac event / special.  On 7-JUL, the Free4Style event (FMX, Jet Ski, ...) took place in Estavayer le Lac, Switzerland.  A special New Gent Free4Style 2012 (SUOZ703C, a Mat Rebeaud Wonder Zebra (SUOZ703) with a special loop around the strap) was released in a limited edition of 280 pcs to commemorate the event.  It comes packaged in a special paper sleeve.  An event organized by Swatch The Club Switzerland also took place on that date, here is a nice report by Christine Tanner about the event.  Thanks to Christine Tanner and Jacky Beauverd for the pictures. 
  
• A Swatch A Day.  US photographer Michael LeGrand owns more than 40 Swatch watches (so few? :-)  He just completed a photo project called A Swatch A Day featuring all of his Swatch watches...
  
• UBS gives away 64000 Swatch watches.  Swiss bank UBS gives away 64000 Swatch watches to its employees.  It is a special Irony Chrono 150 years UBS (YCZ4001, the dial looks similar to Wildly (YCS4024) from 2003) with the UBS logo on the crown (this probably justifies the special ref.no.!), and the number 150 on a loop around the strap (which also features the UBS logo), packaged in a nice paper sleeve.  This is somewhat ironic as Swatch sued UBS recently...  Thanks to Christine Tanner for the information. 
• Gold & Pioneer Event / Special Geneva 2012.  The traditional Gold & Pioneer Event with the theme Time Lapse took place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 31-MAY to 03-JUN-2012.  About 126 club members from all around the world participated at the event and visited CERN, UN, and Cité Du Temps.  A super, super nice completely golden New Gent Lacquered special called Time Lapse (SUOZ149S), limited and numbered xxx/200 on the back of the watch (note the golden coil inside and the golden battery cover!!) was distributed to participating club members.  The words "Gold and Pioneer" are written on the dial.  The watch is packaged in a very nice paper box which can be opened.  Here is a picture of the back of the packaging and closeup of the number imprinted on the back of the packaging.  Here is a detailed report about the event with many pictures.
  
• torstenjourney.de online again.  One of the oldest Swatch web pages (from the last millenium!) has been restored and is available online again:  www.torstenjourney.de.  If you don't know it, check it out, especially the section "Specials" => "Signature".  Torsten has some unique signed watches...
  
• Swatch president Mrs Emch retires.  Swatch Group announces:  Swatch president Arlette-Elsa Emch will reach retirement age in February 2013 and therefore discontinue her activities for the Swatch Group. As Mrs Emch has accrued a large amount of annual leave as a result of her long service, she will discontinue her operational activities for Swatch and CK at latest by mid of July 2012.
  
• 2nd Jeremy Scott collection.  Fashion designer Jeremy Scott has announced his second Swatch collection via his twitter account.  The new collection consists of five watches and will be launched on 14-SEP during spring fashion show in New York:  1. Melted Minutes (GZ261, Gent); 2. Portrait (SUOZ121, New Gent); 3. X-Ray Vision (GZ252, Gent); 4. Hypnotic Heart (MX001S, 12 cm height, limited and numbered to 777 pcs, special packaging, $405US!); 5. Punk (GZ251, Gent).  More info and pictures at MTV and Coco Perez...  Fantastic and creative, especially X-Ray Vision with the corresponding sun glasses :-)  Update:  The Hypnotic Heart maxi has been postponed many times but now (15-JUN), it is finally available in the Swatch online store (at least in Germany, in the "Maxi" section).  Price is 290 EUR, ouch!  (but cheaper than in Switzerland :-)  secondwatch.it has a few pictures of the actual watch.
  
• New Plastic Chrono product line.  The Plastic Chrono will change its shape again, it will look a bit more traditional.  Swatch Italy has posted a picture of ten new colourful Plastic Chronos on its facebook page.  The watches are:  1. A Touch Of Fuchsia (SUSA400);  2. Black Efficiency (SUSB400);  3. Crazy Nuts (SUSC400);  4. Acid Drop (SUSL400);  5. Grrrr (SUSM400);  6. Blue C (SUSN400);  7. Wild Orange (SUSO400);  8. Red Shadow (SUSR400);  9. Pink Frame (SUSR401);  10. Basic White (SUSW400)
  
• FIVB staff 2012 special.  As in the last years, a FIVB staff 2012 (GV122D) special has been released for the staff people of the different 2012 Swatch FIVB BeachVolley World Tour events.  The watch is a Colour Code Gent Purple-And-White (GV122) with an special loop around the strap.
  
• London City special.  Just in time for the London Olympics, Swatch has released a new London City special (a New Gent) called Mind Your Swatch. Thanks to secondwatch.it for the hint.
  
• "Occupy Your Wrist" special.  Swatch has distributed a special New Gent Occupy Your Wrist Swatch (SUOZ146) during the annual general shareholders meeting on 16-MAY.  Swatch Group Chief Executive Nick Hayek presented this watch on 1-MAR as a playful poke at bankers.  The watch is also shown on the front page of the Annual Report 2011 of the Swatch Group.  Limitation is 5000 pcs (not numbered), about 2300 shareholders were present during the shareholders meeting.  Thanks to Christine Tanner for the picture.
  
• Moby artist specials.  The American musician, DJ, and photographer Moby (real name is Richard Melville Hall) has designed two Gent Swatch watches according to the Italian Swatch blog Secondwatch.  Update:  One of the watches will be released in mid June.  It is called Little Idiot (SUOZ129S) and it will be released in a limited edition of 7777 pcs, numbered and in a special packaging.  Price is $100 US.  Here is another picture of the packaging.  Thanks to Swatch Armenia for the pictures.
  
• Matthew Langille in Berlin.  Matthew Langille (designer of several Swatch watches, eg. Snuggle Bunch (GS136);  Floating Away (GS137); Germaholic (GW149) will be in Berlin on 27-MAY, see his facebook entry:  "I am off to Berlin on May 27th for a two day event supporting my favorite Danish Brand, The Baand doing drawings etc."  If you are in the area (I won't), this may be a good chance to get an autograph :-)  Thanks to Sophia Chang for the hint.
  
• Swatch Photoshop disaster.  Have a look at this Swatch Photoshop disaster (?) in an ad for the Irony Diaphane Chrono...  Thanks to Nikolai Kuttler for the hint.
  
• Verbier Xtreme club event.  From 23 to 25-MAR-2012, the Swatch Freeride World Tour 2012 made its 6th and final stop in Verbier, Switzerland.  A Swatch The Club event was organized around this great skiing and snowboard happening at the Bec des Rosses (3222 meters).  17 collectors participated at the event (10 from Switzerland, 7 from other European countries such as Germany, Italy, UK, ...).  The participants at the event received a special Swatch Freeride World Tour 2012 (SUOB704C) in the paper sleeve.  This watch is quite rare as it was not available for sale anywhere during the event.  The participants also received the new Xavier De Le Rue (SUOZ137) special watch.  Here is an overview picture of all the stuff that the collectors received at the event.   Here is a detailed report about the event with many pictures.  Update:  Here is a nice video by Swatch about the launch and the preparations before...
  
• Swatch Sports collection.  On 23-MAR, during the stop of the Swatch Freeride World Tour in Verbier, Switzerland, a new Sports collection consisting of six New Gent watches designed by six different Swatch ProTeam members was launched.  The first four ProTeam members in the following list were present during the launch.  The watches are:  1. Wonder Flora (Anne-Flore Marxer, snowboard; SUOZ704);  2. Wonder Inspiration (Kassia Meador, surfing longboarding; SUOZ141);   3. High Wonder (Xavier De Le Rue, snowboard; SUOZ137);  4. Wonder Zebra (Mat Rebeaud, freestyle motocross [FMX]; SUOZ703);  5. Wonder Tube (Coco Ho, surfing; SUOZ143);  6. Wonder Drift (Courtney Conlogue, surfing; SUOZ706).  The watches are not limited and they come in regular plastic boxes, no special sleeves...  They will be generally available starting 30-APR.
• Portuguese Swatch dinner special.  On the 17-MAR, a Swatch Portugal dinner (with surprises!) took place.  A special packaging (paper sleeve) of a New Gent Lacquered was released, limited to only 20 pcs.  Here is an overview picture of the stuff that the collectors received (the watch with the special sleeve, a T-shirt with the same words as the sleeve, 3 press kits, a pin, a Swatch Store ID for wokers and a neckchain).  Thanks to Pedro Mota for the information and pictures.
• Swatch on German TV.  After a break of many years, Swatch will show TV ads on German TV (for New Gent Lacquered) in March (target audience:  adults, 14 to 49).  Here are the dates.  Additionally, there will be print and online ads, too (Glamour, GQ, Stylemag, ...) and some sponsered blog entries.
  
• Welt am Sonntag newspaper article.  The German weekly newspaper Welt am Sonntag has a nice long article about Swatch watch collecting.  Here is the online version, including a short interview with Fiorenzo Barindelli (World Museum).
• Two older company specials.  1. Synthes (SHK102C, a Scuba Access Chill Factor (SHK102) with an extra loop around the strap), issued by Synthes, a company originating from Switzerland producing instruments, implants and biomaterials for the surgical fixation, correction and regeneration of the skeleton and its soft tissues.????  2. Stadler (SUPN100C, a Puzzle Motion Eternal Tribal (SUPN100) with a special strap), issued by Stadler, a Swiss manufacturer of rail passenger cars.  Thanks to Pedro Mota for the picture.
• Champs 2012 club event.  On 3 to 4-MAR, a Swatch The Club event Champs 2012 will take place during the longest running snowboard contest in Europe, the CHAMPS in Leysin, Switzerland.  Snowboard, Music & Urban Art are the main components with a TTR 5STAR slopestyle competition.  Participating club members will receive a Swatch special Champs, a weekend-skipass, a VIP dinner, and more...  Update:  Five special watches were released to commemorate the club event:  Five new gents, each one in a special sleeve with a special loop around the strap, designed by three different artists.  The five sleeves together form a nice picture. 60 pieces of each special were produced:  50 pcs in a special big packaging in order to display them together and 10 of each were sold separately (total 300 pcs ;60 of each).  A special loop is also included.  The references are (from left to right):  1. Dark Rebel (SUOB704D);  2. Rubine Rebel (SUOR704C);  3. Orangy Pink Rebel (SUOO701C);  4. Green Rebel (SUOG704C);  5. Yellow Rebel (SUOJ700D).  More pictures and impressions from the club event at the secondwatch.it blog.   Thanks to Alain Choisy for the information and to Jacky Beauverd and Ivo Meier for the update and pictures.
  
• Xtreme Verbier Club event.  From 23 to 25-MAR, the traditional Verbier Xtreme contest will be held in (you guessed it) Verbier, Switzerland.  Swatch The Club will hold a club event during the event for swiss club members and Gold & Pioneer members.
  
• Hideaki Kawashima artist specials.  Alain Choisy has send me a picture of a New Gent artist special by chinese fashion designer Uma Wang the japanese artist Hideaki Kawashima.   Update:  It is part of the 2012 Art & Fashion Collection and it has been launched on 1-MAR.  Actually, there are two watches by Hideaki Kawashima available now:  1. Blue Wraith (SUOZ107, not limited); 2. Pink Wraith (SUOZ108S).  This watch is limited to only 777 pcs and it comes packaged in a nice special box.  From the ref.no.s, we can deduce that these two watches were prepared for a much earlier release but for whatever reason, they have been retained from sale until now.  
  
• Swatch 1983.  Here is a nice German news paper article ("Schema Coolness") about the history of Swatch.  Especially interesting:  a picture from 1985 showing the 10.000.000th Swatch watch.
  
• Lorenzo Petrantony artist specials.  Alain Choisy has send me a picture of three New Gent artist specials by the Italian artist Lorenzo Petrantony.  With his unique style, he is already known to Swatch collectors as he took part several times at the Illustrative Exhibition in Zurich and Berlin which had been sponsored by Swatch in the last years.  The Lorenzo Petrantony collection consists of five watches in total:  1. Lucky Draw (SUOZ123); 2. Words (SUOZ124); 3. Reflecting Time (SUOZ125); 4. Hypnotic Eye (SUOZ126); 5. Time Trial (SUOZ127).  Update:  Since 1-MAR, the collection is generally available.  Also:  From 2-MAR to 1-APR, an exhibition called Timestory with lots of artworks by Lorenzo Petrantony is shown in Milano.  Some impressions from the vernissage on 1-MAR can be found at the nice secondwatch.it blog.
• Sport specials.  Swatch will release three different special Swatches designed by Swatch ProTeam members:  1. Xavier De Le Rue (snowboard);  2. Coco Ho (surfing); 3. Courtney Conlogue (surfing)
  
• Portuguese Valentine's sleeve.  Swatch Portugal has issued a special Valentine's sleeve as a free gift with the purchase of a Swatch watch on 14-FEB (valentine's day). Thanks to Pedro Mota for the picture.
  
• 1997 NMT Access special.  In 1997, a special access Swatch NMT (SKK103?) was distributed to a project team in Sweden, in a limited edition of 30 pcs.  This was part of a successful project in the NMT mobile phone network system.  NMT was the first mobile system to exist, and the mother of all mobile systems such as GSM, CDMA, 3G, 4G etc. The project ended during the winter of 1996/1997 and the project team members went to the Swedish ski resort Åre with these watches as ski passes.  The watch is printed with "CMS 45/89 NMT" on the upper half of the band and "NMT THE NATURAL CHOICE" on the lower band, together with some graphics.  The watch is transparent and with "Ericsson ///" printed on the lower part of the watch itself.
  
• New Gent Lacquered series.  In JAN-2012, Swatch will release a very colourful new series of ten New Gent swatches called New Gent Lacquered.  Here is a japanese press release and Sophia Chang also has some info from pre-release events in Taiwan and Hong Kong (the watches are already on sale in a new flagship store there since 24-DEC!).  The watches are manufactured in a "Jelly Fish" style and many parts of the actual clockwork are also coloured (there are rumours that the colours of the wheels etc. may differ from one watch to another!).  The ten models are:  1. Black Lacquered (SUOB101);  2. Pink Lacquered (SUOP100);  3. White Lacquered (SUOW100); 4. Purple Lacquered (SUOV100);  5. Indigo Lacquered (SUON101);  6. Orange Lacquered (SUOO100);  7. Blue-Grey Lacquered (SUON102);  8. Green Lacquered (SUOG103);  9. Yellow Lacquered (SUOJ100);  10. Red Lacquered (SUOR101).  Update:  The rumours are true:  The watches 6 to 10 (red, orange, yellow, blue-grey and green) will each have their own set of colouring rules on the mechanisms making each watch unique and individual. 
  
• Freeride World Tour 2012 special.  For the Freeride World Tour 2012, a special Swatch Freeride World Tour 2012 (SUOB704C, a New Gent Dark Rebel (SUOB704) with a special strap) has been distributed to journalists and VIPs.  The watch comes packaged in a paper sleeve.  Thanks to Alain Choisy for the information and pictures.
  
• Fafi O'Clock special.  Here is a picture of an artist special by the french Graffiti artist Fafi that will be released soon:  It is called Fafi O'Clock (GZ274, gent).  Here is a picture showing Fafi and the comic figure designed by her. Thanks to Alain Choisy for the information and picture.
  
• Roland Garros 2012 specials.  Two special Swatch watches will be released in France for the Roland Garros French Open Tennis tournament (Paris, 27-MAY to 10-JUN):  1. Roland Garros Bleue (SUOZ702, New Gent), 2. Roland Garros Blanche (GZ270, Gent, comes in a nice paper sleeve). 
  
• London 2012 Olympic specials.  Swatch plans to release two similar graphic gent specials for the London 2012 olympic games:  1.  Olympic 2012 Brown (GZ266);  2.  Olympic 2012 Blue (GZ267). They both feature the London 2012 logo on the dial and they come packaged in a nice paper sleeve.  Pictures by Swatch.
  
• New Gent Coloured Collection.  Five colourful New Gent Swatch watches will be released soon, just in time for spring / summer.  The collection is called New Gent Coloured Collection:  1. Dark Rebel (SUOB704);  2.  Orangy Pink Rebel (SUOO701);  3. Yellow Rebel (SUOJ700);  4. Green Rebel (SUOG704);  5. Rubine Rebel (SUOR704).  Thanks to Marco Soares for the information.
  
• 2012 valentine specials.  During the recent China trip, Pedro Mota found a picture of the two upcoming valentine specials in a Swatch store in Macau, two gent watches:  1. Catch My Heart (GZ264);  2. Lovely Mine (GZ265).  Similar to last year, the two valentine watches will be available in a special packaging, numbered (also the watches on the back) and limited to 777 pcs (GZS50).  Thanks to Alain Choisy for the information.