Vintage 80s Swatch collection.
My girlfriend had a whole army of these things. There’s a few not pictured here. We’ve brought them to our local Swatch shop and they can’t get them working at all but they are cool and @robertsamble put a post about our girlfriends and watch collecting. Made me think of sharing these.
These days my girlfriend wears my khaki field mechanical 38 and I was thinking if not for the success of these swatches in the 80s would there even be a khaki field watch in 2024?
10 comments
Sort by
Chris
Restaurant folk. Exploring the realms.
San Francisco
Member since
Last active: 1 hr ago
Tudor shown for scale
probably not. Swatch made watches cool for us kids in the 80s. Just like how Trapper Keepers binders and Knight Rider lunchboxes were sold more for collectibilty instead of sturdiness and longevity, so were Swatches.
Awesome. I agree, if it weren't for Swatch I think horology-wise, things would be pretty different for us.
probably not. Swatch made watches cool for us kids in the 80s. Just like how Trapper Keepers binders and Knight Rider lunchboxes were sold more for collectibilty instead of sturdiness and longevity, so were Swatches.
But swatch bought Hamilton with those profits and kept the brand alive.
But swatch bought Hamilton with those profits and kept the brand alive.
Yes, I was agreeing with you. Hamilton would probably not exist if Swatch was not a hit in the 80s
I'm super surprised that none of them work. Though many of mine are 30+ years old all of mine still work though a few have yellowed and two have broken straps that I'm having trouble replacing.
One 1984 Olympics Swatch I bought used had battery corrosion when I got it home but I used an emery board to clean the contacts and voila!
Maybe the lack of humidity and lack of extreme temperatures where I live helps preserve them. I also removed all the batteries for the ones in long term storage.
Love #vintage but kills me to see things from the 80s called vintage
Remember the hype back then with Swatch. Saw this one and it was my one watch I wear all the time. After it broke went back to Casio and Timex. Saw it again and brought it again. This one first came out in 1987.
But swatch bought Hamilton with those profits and kept the brand alive.
This isn't correct. I used to believe this myself. It's an easy mistake to make. I'm not a historian so you'll have to forgive me if I don't have all the answers. But Swatch was originally SSIH (Société Suisse pour l'Industrie Horlogère) when Tissot and Omega merged some time in the 30s. In the 80s it basically went bankrupt (the quartz crisis is often credited with it's demise) and it merged with the (at the time) worlds largest movement manufacturing company, ASUAG (Allgemeine Gesellschaft der Schweizerischen Uhrenindustrie). The merger was named renamed SMH (Société de Microélectronique et d'Horlogerie). And then later around 1990 renamed itself after it's (again at the time) most well known watch. So those companies were owned before Swatch was launched and shot to popularity. Though I'm sure Swatches explosion helped the company pull it all together. But Swatch did not start buying up all the Swiss watch companies with profits from it's success. Like I said, there are people who know way more than me who can give more accurate dates and correct my errors. But it's easy enough to Google it to verify.
I only know this because I said the exact same thing and someone else corrected me.
Wow. Thanks for the history lesson. I love it.