Falling down the Swatch rabbit hole
I was looking for a new direction to go in with my collection, and as much as I fought against it, I've just bought another 3 Swatch watches.
I won't post the seller's pictures of the ones I bought in case I jinx the postman and they never arrive, but suffice it to say that they are none of the ones in the picture above.
In the picture above, btw, there is the Skyracer (the follow-up to the Nautilus and Follow Me by Mario Fani), a Fleet Street, a Charles Rennie MacKintosh, and a blue one which I still can't identify (Turquoise Bay, perhaps?).
It took me weeks to work out what the main Swatch watches from the '80s were, and then I discovered this video which was far more useful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlQNqpU9VLk
Anyway, I'm a lost cause now. I've found a new niche to collect in, and it's pretty much a bottomless pit.
Being a huge fan of coloured watches, I love all of them!
New grails:
I'm doomed.
I'm pretty much done with collecting now, but I've certainly got a good variety of affordable watches. As an occasional YouTuber, I'm a comedian not an influencer. Skmei is the new Casio!
Ah, it's always nice to start a new niche. 👍
The funny thing with Swatch is that you see one that you like and then tomorrow you see another that you like more!
Now you're SwatchDean...
Why does this post remind me of beanie babies?
Wait didn't you post how you hated the tick of swatches a few weeks ago? This will not end well.... 🤑
No, I did not. It's Ben who says that Swatch watches tick louder than Timex in his video from 3 years ago (which I watched again last night).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT-hIqsqjEE&pp=ygUKc3dhdGNoIG1laA%3D%3D
Apologies. Some one also posted something a few weeks back and I thought it was you.
Enjoy the swatch collecting. It's fun and quarky, and they have great designs.
Now you're SwatchDean...
SirDeanTheSwatcherOfSkmei *
Love the designs of the last 3!
They are great for collecting and wearing occasionally.
Enjoy your new collection and I'll look forward to seeing the pics 😎
Enjoy your new collection and I'll look forward to seeing the pics 😎
I got this one on my birthday in 1986. Sadly I lost it!! This watch sucked me into the rabbit hole called Swatch at the time; and it is responsible for my current watch affliction....
One warning though: the plastic of the case off gassed quickly (it was a problem then already). It turns the case into a brittle thing. That's why you could buy cheap sillicone protectors from Swatch. They start to go where the case meets the band. But I guess you're not going to do big activities with them.
Anyway: enjoy; they're very cool!!
Wait didn't you post how you hated the tick of swatches a few weeks ago? This will not end well.... 🤑
I don't know whether you read me, but I said that I hate the Swatch tick a few weeks ago☝️. The best Swatch is a smashed Swatch IMHO.
Casiodean = unofficial brand ambassador for:
Casio
Swatch
Skmei
Need I go on🤔😂😂
Enjoy your collecting friend 👏🏻👏🏻
I don't know whether you read me, but I said that I hate the Swatch tick a few weeks ago☝️. The best Swatch is a smashed Swatch IMHO.
Ah, yes! Thanks. Loved reading those, they were pretty hilarious. 💯👌🏽
I still have all my original Swatches I've bought for myself since the mid 80s to mid 2000s. That may seem like there should be a lot. But, not really. It's about 4 watches total throughout that time period. I would only buy a new Swatch when the batteries ran out of juice. I didn't buy new batteries to replace, just a new watch all together when that time occurred. That was my watch tradition and I suppose that may have been my earliest watch collecting habit and ritual. Swatches were essentially the exclusive watches I owned for almost 20 years.
With a battery change, they all still run to this day.
I wish I knew what I knew about yellowing in the clear transparent plastic cases back then or I might have tried taken better care of them to prevent it... Maybe, I doubt it. They were watches I always wore all the time day and night, and in any situations. Swimming/diving, hot tub, hot showers, deep dish washing, etc... for a plastic watch with no screwdown crown, 30m of WR, and a simple 1/4 turn battery hatch door, I do indeed chuckle when people trip about WR at and under 100m WR as my Swatches for their build quality never suffered any water intrusion as active as I was with them. Surely any modern watch built these days has better tech and building techniques to be as robust if not better than my plastic Swatches of over nearly 40 years ago. Anyways..
Btw, I have the turquoise dial one in your cover photo. It's called the Turquoise Bay. It was my 2nd Swatch.
I haven't bought a new or modern Swatch in a long time. I did try buying one about 3 years ago. But, I didn't keep it.
I don't like the larger 41mm case and quartz movement. They seem unnecessarily thicker than they need to be. As such, they are rather bulbous in shape and sit like a chubby soap bar on my wrist. The way the strap continues off the lugs looks odd and doesn't quite flow IMHO. It sort of pulls down into the wrist then back out and around the wrist.. making the watch look even taller off wrist. Lastly, the quartz movement they are using in these modern larger Swatches are SO loud. Unless I am outside or in with a decent amount of ambient noise, I can totally hear the loud ticking at arms length and a little beyind. It's so loud, I have to put the watch away in a watch box at a distance to be able to sleep.
My "vintage" Swatches at 34mm were slim and quartz movement inside way quieter. I don't what's up with the new ones and thus don't consider them anymore. At least not their main 41mm variety. I believe they still may make and offer some in their classic 34mm build and perhaps they might be ok or better in the wearability of not the movement sound output?
I remember wearing two swatches on the same arm and at least one on the other in the 80s, all watches at once. That was fun and super fashionable then. What fantastic marketing. Have fun with your new obsession. 😊
I'm always finding new rabbit holes, Swatch does a MoMA series that caught my eye.