The History of Fashionable Swatch Watches
Swiss-made watches have always had a reputation for excellence. Up until the 1980s, a Swiss watch was the archetypal timepiece — classic, traditional and painstakingly crafted. They had been the prized possessions of many and frequently passed down throughout the generations. But, while Switzerland was busy putting over their signature timepieces, Asia was hard at work producing Quartz watches that were both accurate and, above all, cheap to purchase. It had a knock-on effect on the Swiss watchmakers and the industry more widely. Switzerland's market share was reduced by more than 35%, while 65,000 jobs were lost. The Swiss watchmaking industry was in turmoil -- it needed to change in order to survive. That’s when, in the 1980s, Nicholas G. Hayek recognised what was missing — personality. Believing that you shouldn't need to stop at owning just one watch, he made the idea of a 'second opinion'. Unlike the classical timepieces of all yonder, the opinion ...