80s Swatch: The Iconic Pop Culture Watch

Swatch watches are one of the areas of watchdom that I’ve noticed watch enthusiasts don’t seem to explore so much. There seems to be a separate specific , almost cultish group, that have been collecting these for a long time when you look at the various auctions for old pieces. When subscriber ‪@TickSweep‬ dropped me a note around buying a Swatch, he suggested I do a video on it. Little did I know I would be down a 5 week rabbit hole!!

An amazing history combining art, horology and swiss watch industry history. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. This video should help give you a pretty comprehensive overview of their offerings in the 80s, as well as some of the pre-history of how the affordable plastic fashion watch came into being. I hope you enjoy the video!

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Chapters:

Pre-Swatch: 0:00
1983: 4:25
1984: 5:39
1985: 7:46
1986: 10:21
1987: 11:36
1988: 14:02
1989: 15:48

Amazing sources I used for this video are:

Stay Tuned to Swatch Website - amazing resource!!
Swatch Beyond Website
Squiggly.com (from web archive)
Lauritz.com and other auction sites
Watch Papst (if i doubt - most of the photos came from here)
Fred Edwards - Swatch - A Guide for Connoisseurs and Collectors

And many more from the usual Etsy, ebay sites that I’ve tried to reference where possible