History of Swatch watches

At the end of the 20th century, analog watches were considered out of fashion. The Swiss watch industry was facing fierce competition from Japanese. So Swiss watchmakers joined forces with designers from all over the world formed a new watch company that could make parts so cheaply that is was more reasonable to throw the watch away than to repair it.

Hence the Swiss Watch Company (SWATCH) was born. They were launching high precision watches at a low price.

Swatch was developed by a team of ETA engineers under Thomke’s supervision to beat the Japanese competition, the Swatch was a fashion product and a plastic quartz watch manufactured in Switzerland.

It was launched in 1983 and experienced growing popularity worldwide from the late 1980s onwards. It was explained that the introduction of simplified mechanism using only 51 parts as opposed to the standard 91 parts. This is one reason why the Swatch could be made so slim and cost brought down.

Swatch was revolutionary because it changed the whole paradigm of what a watch is. A watch was no longer regarded as a timepiece, but as an accessory. Swatch watches may made from more expensive materials and may be sponsored or designed by well-known artist.
History of Swatch watches