The Swatch Group Ltd.
Type	Limited
Founded	1983
Headquarters	Biel, Switzerland
Key people	Nicolas Hayek
Products	Watches
Operating income	US$3.2615 billion
Employees	20,650 (2005)
Website	www.swatchgroup.com

The Swatch Group Ltd. is a Swiss company and the biggest watch manufacturer in the world (about 25% of the sales). It owns some of the most famous and fine brands of watch of the history of watchmaking. Its brands include Breguet, Blancpain, Jaquet Droz, Glashütte Original, Union Glashütte, Léon Hatot, Omega SA, Rado, Longines, Swatch, Tissot, Calvin Klein, Certina, Mido, Pierre Bal-main, Hamilton, Flik Flak and Endura. It was formed in 1983 through the merging of the two Swiss watch manufacturers ASUAG and SSIH, and took its present name in 1998 (formerly SMH Swiss Corporation for Microelectronics and Watchmaking Industries Ltd). Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Limited liability company. ... Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... Place du Ring in Biel/Bienne Biel/Bienne is a town in the Canton of Bern in Switzerland. ... Born in 1928, Nicolas G. Hayek is the Lebanese co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Swatch Group, with principal Headquarters in Biel-Bienne. ... This page is about timekeeping devices. ... Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), also known as operating income and operating profit, is a term used to describe a companys earnings. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... For the album by the Kaiser Chiefs see Employment (album) Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ... A website (alternatively, Web site or web site) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos and other digital assets that is hosted on a Web server, usually accessible via the Internet or a LAN. A Web page is a document, typically written in HTML, that is almost always accessible... Manufacturing is the transformation of raw materials into finished goods for sale, or intermediate processes involving the production or finishing of semi-manufactures. ... A Breguet Classique watch with tourbillon Breguet is a manufacturer of fine watches, founded by Abraham Louis Breguet in Paris in 1775. ... Founded by Jehan-Jaques Blancpain, Blancpain is one of the most exclusive brands of wrist watches in the world. ... Glashütte is a prestigious German watchmaker founded in 1845. ... Omega SA is a watch company based in Biel/Bienne Switzerland and is one of the more prestigious brands in timepieces. ... Rado Silver Star, circa 1980 Rado is a Swiss manufacturer of mid-price watches, with headquarters in Lengnau, Switzerland. ... Longines is a watch company founded by Ernest Francillon at Saint-Imier, Switzerland. ... Swatch is a brand of stylish quartz watches (some available in Automatic) produced by The Swatch Group Ltd. ... Tissot watch Tissot T-Touch Tissot is a Swiss watchmaker company founded in 1853. ... Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is a well-known American fashion designer. ... Mido is a name that may refer to: An Egyptian footballer; see Ahmed Hossam. ... Hamilton pocketwatch, ca. ... Endura may refer to: a rite of the Cathars Endura-D, an engine built by Ford Motor Company Category: ...

In 2003, gross sales were 3.983 billion CHF. The Swatch groups employs 20,000 collaborators. 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

History

The Swatch Group formed from two financially troubled predecessor companies. SSIH originated in 1930 with the merger of the Omega and Tissot companies. Swiss watch quality was high, but new technology such as the Hamilton Electric watch introduced in 1957 and the Bulova Accutron tuning fork watch introduced in 1961 presaged increasing high technology competition. Russian Poljot Siberia model finished movement viewed through crystal back For other uses, see Watch (disambiguation). ... Bulova is a New York based corporation making watches and clocks. ... Russian Poljot Siberia model finished movement viewed through crystal back For other uses, see Watch (disambiguation). ...

In the late 1970's SSIH became insolvent due in part to a recession and in part to heavy competition from inexpensive Asian made quartz crystal watches. These difficulties occurred even though it had become Switzerland's largest and the world's third largest producer of watches. Its creditor banks assumed control in 1981. ASUAG, formed in 1931, included the Longines and Rado brands. ASUAG was the world's largest producer of watch movements but failed similarly in 1982. SSIH and ASUAG were reorganized and merged into ASUAG-SSIH Holding Company in 1983, then taken private by CEO Nicholas Hayek in 1985, and renamed SMH in 1986, and ultimately Swatch Group in 1998.

The launch of the new Swatch brand in 1983 was marked by bold new styling and design. The quartz watch was redesigned for manufacturing efficiency and fewer parts. This combination of marketing and manufacturing expertise restored Switzerland as a major player in the world wristwatch market.

Brands

The Swatch Group owns several companies which do research (Asulab, EM Microelectronic-Marin, Oscilloquartz SA), produce movements (ETA SA, Valjoux, F. Piguet), produce pieces of watches (Comadur), and numerous watch brands, including: ETA SA Manufacture Horlogère Suisse is a Swiss producer of mechanical and quartz watch movements and also manufactures clock movements, as well. ... Valjoux (for Vallée de Joux, Joux Valley) is a Swiss manufacturer of mechanical watch movements that specializes primarily in chronograph production. ... Comadur is a part of the Swatch Group based in Switzerland in the town of Le Locle and manufacturing stones for watches industries, sapphires glaces and ceramics decoration (for watches in particular). ...

Founded by Jehan-Jaques Blancpain, Blancpain is one of the most exclusive brands of wrist watches in the world. ... A Breguet Classique watch with tourbillon Breguet is a manufacturer of fine watches, founded by Abraham Louis Breguet in Paris in 1775. ... Glashütte is a prestigious German watchmaker founded in 1845. ... Pierre Jaquet-Droz (1721-1790) was a Swiss-born watchmaker of the late eighteenth century. ... Omega SA is a watch company based in Biel/Bienne Switzerland and is one of the more prestigious brands in timepieces. ... Longines is a watch company founded by Ernest Francillon at Saint-Imier, Switzerland. ... Rado Silver Star, circa 1980 Rado is a Swiss manufacturer of mid-price watches, with headquarters in Lengnau, Switzerland. ... Hamilton pocketwatch, ca. ... Tissot watch Tissot T-Touch Tissot is a Swiss watchmaker company founded in 1853. ... Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is a well-known American fashion designer. ... Pierre Balmain and Ruth Ford, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1947 Pierre Alexandre Claudius Balmain (May 18, 1914-June 29, 1982) was French fashion designer. ... Swatch is a brand of stylish quartz watches (some available in Automatic) produced by The Swatch Group Ltd. ...

Other watch related entreprises

ETA SA is a Swiss producer of mechanical and quartz watch movements. ... Comadur is a part of the Swatch Group based in Switzerland in the town of Le Locle and manufacturing stones for watches industries, sapphires glaces and ceramics decoration (for watches in particular). ... Nivarox (full business name Nivarox - FAR SA) is a Swiss business entity that is the result of a merger in 1984 between Nivarox SA and Fabriques dAssortiments Réunis (FAR). ...

Electronic Systems

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The Swatch Group Electronic System provides complete solutions by merging individual expertise and the synergies of the following companies: Image File history File links Nuvola_apps_important. ... Shortcut: WP:WIN Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia and, as a means to that end, also an online community. ... Shortcut: WP:NPOV Wikipedia policy is that all articles should be written from a neutral point of view. ... Shortcut: WP:RULES Wikipedia is a collaborative project and its founders and contributors have a common goal: Wikipedia has some policies and guidelines that help us to work toward that common goal. ...

• EM Microelectronic-Marin: Designs and produces ultra-low power, low voltage mixed-signal integrated circuits, LCD and modules. IC Product lines include RFID, microcontroller, smart card, ASIC, RTC, reset circuit, watchdog, LCD driver, opto ICs.
• Oscilloquartz SA : Produces and designs high precision frequency control products, including Cesium PRS, quartz crystal oscillator, OCXO, BVA & PRC, SSU (also called SASE, TSG or BITS), GPS based synchronisation products for the wireless and wired telecommunication infrastructure.
• Micro Crystal: Produces miniature low power quartz crystals and small low power oscillators. Focus is 32.768kHz SMS and through hole crystals in miniature metal and ceramic package.
• Renata: Develops and produces micro batteries. Product lines include button cells and rechargeable (Lithium Polymer) batteries. Primary batteries include Silver Oxide Lithium and Zinc-Air technologies.
• Lasag: Offers solid-state lasers for precision welding, cutting, drilling and ablating of metals.
• Sokymat Automotive: specialist for passive RFID transponders in car immobilizer. It also develops systems for keyless entry and keyless start, as well as for tire pressure monitoring.

Oscilloquartz SA, headquartered in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, is a company of the Swatch Group. ...

The Nicolas G. Hayek Watchmaking School

The Swatch Group started offering their first class for aspiring watchmakers in September 2005. This school is based out of Secaucus, New Jersey. Secaucus is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, USA. As of the United States 2000 Census, the town population was 15,931. ...

Internet Time and New Technologies

In 1998, Swatch invented "Swatch Internet Time", intended as a global timesystem, which divides the day into 1000 "beats" in a single worldwide timezone. Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... Swatch Internet Time is a concept introduced in 1998 and marketed by the Swatch corporation as an alternative, decimal measure of time. ... TimeZone is an Internet forum for discussion of watches and horology. ...

In October 2004, Swatch introduced its first smart watch, the Paparazzi, based on Microsoft Corporation's SPOT (Smart Personal Objects Technology) technology. shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Microsoft Corporation, (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKSE: 4338) is a multinational computer technology corporation with global annual revenue of US$44. ...

Oscilloquartz SA, a company of the Swatch Group Electronic Systems, also produces NTP time servers products. Oscilloquartz SA, headquartered in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, is a company of the Swatch Group. ... NTP is a three-letter acronym which may stand for: Network Time Protocol, a means of transmitting time signals over a computer network. ...

Ventures

In 1994, Swatch entered into a joint venture with Daimler-Chrysler to produce the Smart Car, but they later withdrew from this project. Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar). ... DaimlerChrysler AG (Xetra: DCX) , (NYSE: DCX), with headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany and Auburn Hills, Michigan, is a prominent automobile and truck manufacturer, formed in 1998 by the buyout of the Chrysler Corporation (USA) by Daimler-Benz (Germany). ... For cars with artificial intelligence, see Smart car. ...

See also

• Pierre Jaquet-Droz

This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Further reading

• Branding Time: Swatch and Global Brand Management, Ram Mudambi, Temple University, 2005

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Swatch Group

• Official site of the Swatch Group
• Official site of the Watchmaking School
• Swatch line website
• All the latest news and infos from the world of swatch collecting
• Yahoo! - The Swatch Group Ltd. Company Profile
• Swatch Watch information
• Swatch Watch Catalogue
• Swiss Watch History
• Swatch Case Study

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