Swatch Black Board SAB103

Today's watch is my second Swatch Automatic on this blog (-the first was in April this year).

The Swatch Automatic watches were released in 1991 and continued until 1997 when they were replaced by the Autoquartz technology. They have a mechanical automatic movement, and there is a load of information about that on my earlier post.

This model is one of the later models, having been designed in 1994 and released as part of the 1995 Spring Summer collection. It is called the Black Board and has a model number of SAB103. The watch has a white face with black numbers in all different sizes, and the top of the 2 in 12 is an open crescent moon shape with the movement just visible through. It has a black plastic case with matching black plastic strap, and the back is see through so you can see the rotating weight for the movement.

Swatch Turn Around PAN205 Pager Watch

Today's watch is a gadget watch of an era which is now over...

The watch is by Swatch from 1994 and was part of a series called The Beep. The special feature of the watch is that it contains a pager. A pager (or beeper) was the device that would be used to transfer messages in a small mobile package before mobile phones became so popular. Even I am so young that I never really used a pager, and the only times I remember it was from TV medical dramas where they used to ask someone to "page the doctor, this is an emergency"! Pager technology started in the 50s and work through short messages being sent from a radio transmitter to the device. By the end of the 90s, pagers hand become niche products, only being used by hospitals and emergency services as they are reliable and need only a low signal strength to work.

The Swatch pagers were released around the early 90s but have no signal anymore, meaning that they are not so collectable because they don't work. They are larger than the normal Swatch watches and have an ana-digi display. They are also recognisable by the 3 wires stretched across the display which is part of the aerial. Time is displayed on the 2 hand dial (where the hands move in jumps rather than continuous motion), while the LCD is reserved for the pager function.

This model is called Turn Around and was part of the Spring Summer 1994 collection. The model number for this design is PAN205.

The back of the watch has lots of information about the Pager functions. It says it is by Hutchison paging, and can be called on 1128003. It also states the Pager runs on a frequency of 279.7125, but doesn't give the units. There are also two small buttons on the back with the message 'press both buttons and pull wristlet out' which is the way to get to the watch battery, so I don't actually know how to switch the Pager on.

Swatch Feel My Love

I'm back with the Swatch watches again today, with a special model.

This watch is called Feel My Love, and was released for Valentine's Day in 2007. It is part of a subset of the Swatch Originals line which is called Jelly In Jelly which ran from 2006 to 2009. The case design looks almost  the same as the normal Originals watches, but are slightly larger and have a more hidden crown.

This Feel My Love watch has a relatively plain face to its 3 hand dial design, with a white background and black and red numbers. The strap has lots of images printed on it with a voodoo theme. The bottom half of the strap features a voodoo doll with heart shaped pins stuck in it, along with the watch's Feel My Love name and symbols of a stick person and male and female icons. The top half of the strap has the writing Swatch Voodoo Love in red and black with two of the o's in Voodoo being the male and female icons and the o in love being the head of the same stick person design shown on the bottom part of the strap.

The watch also came with a voodoo doll (which unfortunately I don't have) and a selection of pins with hearts on the end so that you could stick in the pins and try the voodoo for yourself.

The full model number is SUJK121 and it is classed as part of the Spring Summer 2007 collection.

Flik Flak Sola Turchese

Today's watch choice came about because I spotted this matched with the tee shirt I'd chosen to wear today (and being coordinated seemed like a good idea for a change).

This watch is from the Swatch children's range Flik Flak (or flik flak as it's written in non-capital letters). The watches follow the same principle as the regular Swatches with bright colourful designs and (usually) a standard case design (which for the flik flak are round).

This model is called the Solar Turchese, and is from the 2012 Spring Summer collection (with a design year of 2011). This design has a turquoise colour scheme with black and white writing. Even the case is in on the colour scheme, being a turquoise anodised aluminium design. The most noticeable part about the face is the sparkly diamond design which is between each hour number. On closer inspection, it seems that these jewels are mounted or moulded on the inside of the glass, pointing down towards the face. The strap is a turquoise rubber/silicone design with a knobbly texture which is common in the flik flak watches.

The model number is FCN025, and technically it is a girls watch. Inside is a Swiss ETA movement, and this powers the 2 hand dial arrangement. As it is a flik flak watch, it is waterproof and machine washable (at 40C, but I don't want to test it...).

Swatch Scuba SDK111 Tipping Compass

I'm going to the Swatch FIVB World Tour event (beach volleyball) tonight, so I thought it was fitting to wear another from my collection of Swatch watches.

The Swatch Beach Volleyball Major Series was started as a collaboration between Red Bull and ACTS Group marketing agency, with Swatch being brought on board as a partner and sponsor. The event consists of 4 beach volleyball tournaments around the world to find the series champions.

This watch is one of the Swatch Scuba range (also called Scuba 200), but is a little different from the last Scuba model I blogged. This model is called Tipping Compass, which is due to the face design. The face doesn't actually tip, but has a nautical style compass design, but with a bottom section which looks to be at an angle. The compass points make up the hour markers, and the 3 hands are glow in the dark for easy reading. The Scuba models are thicker than the standard Swatch to allow the increased water resistance (200m), and they feature a rotating bezel with minutes markers for timing during a dive.

With this model, I also got a glow in the dark loop fitting which fits on the strap. I don't know if it was originally with the watch, but it fits the size and design very well. My guess is that it is designed to allow you to clip something to the loop while diving to avoid losing it.

This model has the model number SDK111 and was a winter 1993 release (with a design date of 1992).

Swatch Ellypting GB152

Today's watch is one of my old Swatch watches, but this time with an unusual way of telling the time.

This Swatch is called Ellypting and is one of the Swatch Originals models. It is a standard looking 3 hand design, but there are more numbers on the dial than you'd expect. The reason for this is that the watch has a 24 hr movement, and the hour hand only goes round once per day. The Ellypting is one of the first two 24 hr movement Swatch watches which were released in 1993, and it seems that there has only been 7 different designs released in total (the last in 1999).

It is one of the designs called Standard Gents, but actually seems to have been aimed at men and women. This means it has the standard plastic case, and this one has a leather strap (which is said to have an ostrich print). The face design has an ellipse in the middle with the different phases of the moon shown on the ellipse. There are numbers on the dial for every hour, but the odd numbers are much smaller.

It was released as part of the Fall Winter 1993 collection, having been designed in 1992. The model number is GB152.

Swatch Automatic - Red Ahead

There's been quite a few Swatch watches on this blog, but this model is a different type that I'd been after for a while.

All of the Swatch watches I had to begin with had been the usual quartz movement design, but early on I discovered that they had also made a range of automatic mechanical watches.

The Swatch Automatic watches were only released for a short period of time, from 1991 to 1997, before they were replaced by the Autoquartz technology. Over that time, it appears that they released 78 different models. The Swatch Automatic seems to have originally been released for around $85 which was extremely low for a mechanical watch, and one article I've read suggested the manufacturing cost was only $22. The automatic uses an ETA Eterna 2842 caliber with 23 jewels. According to an article which reviewed the module (link), it has a reasonable accuracy at 19 seconds per day, but due to the manufacturing process it is not the most smooth running watch. The movement is also a hi-beat sweep hand design with a 21,600 bph frequency.

This design is called the Red Ahead and has a model number of SAK101. It was designed in 1991, and released as part of the 1992 Fall Winter collection. It has an open face design where you can see the movement, but not a skeleton as there has been no cutting away of the movements case to allow you to see the insides. The case design is typical Swatch and looks like the Swatch Originals models. It has a blue, silver and gold design in a clear plastic case (which has discoloured to yellow, but matches well), and comes with a red leather strap.

Swatch Sea Traffic

Today I went for something a bit more colourful with a watch from my old Swatch collection.

This Swatch watch is called Sea Traffic, and has a very colourful appearance. The case is a slightly transparent orange colour with a green, purple, orange, and white face. The numbers on the dial are a mix of standard digits (even numbers) and roman numerals (odd numbers). Towards the outside of the dial is a ring split into 60 alternating orange and white blocks for the minutes /seconds with numbers for the first 10 and then every 5, and the seconds hand is in a matching orange. The strap is a dark purply blue with various patterns such as arrows, dotted lines (like a route on a map), and boat sails.

The Sea Traffic is one of the Originals collection and a Standard Gents design. It was designed in 1993 and released as part of the 1994 Spring Summer collection. The model number is GO101.

Swatch - Date In View GW404

Today's watch is one of my Swatch watches, but this one has quite an unusual shape.

The watch is one of the Swatch Standard line of watches and is quoted as being in the Standard Gents line but also as being a unisex watch. It is called the Date In View and was part of the 1998 Spring Summer collection (and has a design date of 1997). The watch case is a standard shaped white plastic design, and has a transparent strap with white and silver panels. The unusual part is the shape of the glass which is the normal depth at the bottom of the face, but is angled so it is sticking out about 1cm at the top of the watch. The front face of the glass is painted with a crosshair design aimed at the centre of the dial, and there is a small date window at the bottom. Behind the glass, the watch face is transparent, so you can see the quartz movement and the full date wheel around the edge. The watch is a two hand dial design, and the hands are transparent with silver around the edges.

The model number for this design is GW404.

Swatch Skin - Rouge De Toi

Today's watch is a rather thin one, and so light you hardly notice you are wearing it!

This is the second (possibly 3rd) Swatch watch I've posted from the Swatch Skin collection. The Skin watches first came out in 1997 and are designed to only be 3.9mm thick. The range has even been a Guinness World Record holder for the thinnest plastic watch. To fit the glass and face within that depth, the movement inside is very wide but flat, and uses an incredibly tiny battery (a 317).

This model is called the Rouge De Toi, and was part of the Fall/Winter 2004 collection (having been designed in 2003). The name translates to "Red From You" assuming the online translation is completely correct. It is a 2 hand dial model with a silver face, red trim, and white numbers. It comes with a thin red leather strap to complete the look.

The model number for this model is SFK206.

Swatch Irony Happy Joe Yellow

It's back to the Swatch watches again with another of the metal models, but this time an earlier version.

The Swatch Irony range came out in 1995 and were a more luxurious metal version of the typical Swatch watches. The designs were normally similar to the Swatch Originals apart from the material of construction for the body.

This model is called Happy Joe Yellow and comes from the 1997 Fall Winter collection. Interestingly, it was designed in 1993, which means it had been originally envisioned before the Swatch Irony range was first released.

The watch is a 3 hand dial design with an ETA quartz movement, and has a date window at the 3 o'clock position (with a small magnifying dome in the glass). It has a yellow design with white hands and a black ring (with minutes markers) around the very edge of the face. The bezel is also engraved with the word Swatch repeated around it.

The Happy Joe Yellow has the model number YGS409 and is one of at least 6 different colours of Happy Joe watches. There are also 3 different variations of Happy Joe Yellow (4 if you include that the metal strap model came in US and EU versions), with this version with a yellow leather strap being YGS409C.

Flik Flak Sweet Banana

I'm wearing another of the 'cool kids' watches from my childhood today as I noticed the colour matched my t-shirt.

The watch is one of the Flik Flak watches which are a range of Swatch watches for kids. Flik Flak refers to the tick tock of the watch, and the range was started in 1987 to bring the Swatch style into the kids market. One of the things I've read about the Flik Flak watches (but I hold no responsibility about if it is wrong) is that the range was machine washable (40C in a fabric net and without prewash), but due to the age of the models I have I don't quite trust this.

This model is called Sweet Banana and was part of the Spring Summer 1999 collection (and was designed in 1998). The design has a red aluminium case with a yellow face and strap. The face has a picture of an open and part eaten banana in the middle, while the fabric strap has a chain of cartoon monkeys along the length.

The model number for this design is FBB366, and it uses a Swiss ETA movement.

Swatch Raincoat GK372

It's time for another of my old Swatch watches today, but as it is sunny today, the name wasn't so appropriate.

The Swatch model is called the Raincoat and is from 2002 (with the design copyright to 2001). It is part of the gents Originals range and so is a 3 hand dial design with a plastic case. This one has a silver face and a transparent case with a blue/green strap. On the face are the hour numbers in a clean black font, but there are some of the 24hr hours marked as well on the sides (numbers 14 to 16, and 20 to 22). The strap is also unusual as it has a clear plastic first section with a hoop on the end where the blue/green strap is connected. Looking online, the strap was originally more blue than my one shows, and I guess it discolours to be more green with age.

The model number for this watch is GK372

Swatch Time Slider YSS148HA/HB

I'm blogging another Swatch today, but not a 90s model for a change, although this only missed by a couple of years.

This Swatch is called the Time Slider and was designed in 2001. It was then released as part of the 2002 Fall Winter collection in two versions with a model number of YSS148HA or HB. The difference between the versions was the size of the strap which was either the Small (HB) for 16cm wrists or Large (HA) for 17.5cm wrists.

It is a two hand dial design with very small arrows for the hands peeking out from behind a silver circle in the centre of the dial. The case is one of the small ladies cases, but mounted into a solid clear perspex mount surrounded by metal plate. The front plate sits in front of the dial and slides out of the way (to the right) to reveal the time. The rest of the strap is also clear perspex with a metal  connecting section at the back. To open the strap you press the two buttons on the side of the strap above the face, and the front section opens up.