Swatch unveils 51-piece mechanical watch
The head of Swatch, the world’s biggest watchmaker, unveiled a new mechanical watch at Baselworld on Thursday that the Swiss company hopes will breathe new life into its line of low-cost timepieces.
Nick Hayek, Swatch’s CEO, announced the “Sistem51” watch, to sell for between 100 and 200 francs ($106-$212), at the annual watch and jewellery fair in Basel.
The company touts the “simplicity” and innovation of the new watch, completely made in Switzerland, which uses a self-winding mechanical movement made from 51 components.
Most mechanical watches have at least twice as many parts and some have more than 600, Swatch said on its website.
The Sistem51 is a world first because it has the only mechanical movement ever made whose assembly is 100 percent automated, the company said.
Its components are “welded together to form a single assembly centred on a single screw”.
The movement is also made of an alloy of copper, nickel and zinc that is anti-magnetic and has a 90-hour power reserve.
The new watch, to be available to consumers in October, took almost two years to develop with close cooperation between the various companies in the Swatch Group, research and development director Thierry Conus told media.
Around 100 watchmakers and engineers worked on the Sistem51, which is protected by 17 patents.
The Swatch Group, which manufactures a range of luxury watches, has never presented its Swatch brand models at Baselworld before.
But Hayek recalled the important role played by the plastic watches, which were first produced 30 years ago last month.
The success of the Swatch is credited with helping lift the Swiss watch industry out of the doldrums at a time when it was facing strong competition from Japanese brands.
The Bienne-based company, maker of such other brands as Omega, Breguet and Tissot, recorded record sales of more than eight billion francs last year.
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Nick Hayek, Swatch’s CEO, announced the “Sistem51” watch, to sell for between 100 and 200 francs ($106-$212), at the annual watch and jewellery fair in Basel.
The company touts the “simplicity” and innovation of the new watch, completely made in Switzerland, which uses a self-winding mechanical movement made from 51 components.
Most mechanical watches have at least twice as many parts and some have more than 600, Swatch said on its website.
The Sistem51 is a world first because it has the only mechanical movement ever made whose assembly is 100 percent automated, the company said.
Its components are “welded together to form a single assembly centred on a single screw”.
The movement is also made of an alloy of copper, nickel and zinc that is anti-magnetic and has a 90-hour power reserve.
The new watch, to be available to consumers in October, took almost two years to develop with close cooperation between the various companies in the Swatch Group, research and development director Thierry Conus told media.
Around 100 watchmakers and engineers worked on the Sistem51, which is protected by 17 patents.
The Swatch Group, which manufactures a range of luxury watches, has never presented its Swatch brand models at Baselworld before.
But Hayek recalled the important role played by the plastic watches, which were first produced 30 years ago last month.
The success of the Swatch is credited with helping lift the Swiss watch industry out of the doldrums at a time when it was facing strong competition from Japanese brands.
The Bienne-based company, maker of such other brands as Omega, Breguet and Tissot, recorded record sales of more than eight billion francs last year.
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