6/19/2023 0 Comments Swatch automaticThe genius of the Sistem51 is that it’s made of only 51 parts, spread around five modules and linked to one another by only one central screw. To build this movement, ETA, Swatch R&D, Nivarox and Comadur (all part of the Swatch Group) joined forces working over a period of two years to create, from scratch, a highly complex manufacturing process that led to an incredibly simple movement. It may be cheap, but it is a really interesting engine that boasts more technology than any other ETA, Soprod or Sellita. The movement of the Swatch Sistem51 is a real engineering feat, albeit far from what passionate watchmakers are used to producing and not at all the “traditional” way to develop a movement. In order to keep a low retail price, the movement is fully made by machine, without any human intervention, even to adjust the accuracy of the balance wheel and the escapement. ![]() Under its fun and inexpensive exterior, the Sistem51 is a real industrial achievement and shows an amazing intelligence in its conception. How was it possible that a Swiss-made watch with a manufacture movement (and not the worst one we’ve ever seen, either) could be sold for a fraction of the price of an ETA-powered Tissot? It was accomplished by using synergies inside the Swatch Group and applying the same magic trick that the 1983 Swatch used. When it was presented at Baselworld 2013, the Swatch Sistem51 created a real earthquake in the watchmaking industry, a mixed feeling of astonishment and fear. It is not the first automatic Swatch - some of them used to come with ETA movements - but this one adds something more. Everything that characterized the original Swatch watch is here, except for its automatic mechanical movement. You’ll find the same basic concept of a plastic watch, Swiss-made, developed in-house, with a 51-part movement fully industrialized and for a very low price (about $15o in the U.S.). The Swatch Sistem51 brings back the idea of the 1983 Swatch with one single difference, its movement. It may be a simple and cheap plastic timepiece but it proved to be a historically important one. The renewal of many brands, and the birth of our favorite independent watchmakers, are partially due to the Swatch. Hayek, with a group of Swiss investors, bought Swatch in 1985 and used it as the foundation of what is now known as the Swatch Group.īecause of the Swatch watch’s success, the whole Swiss industry took advantage of its creation. Helped by an aggressive marketing campaign, sales were huge, and overcame the targets of one million pieces for 1983 and 2.5 million the next year. The first collection was introduced in March 1983 at an initial price range comparable to those of Seiko and Citizen’s watch collections, but it was the first such watch developed and manufactured in Switzerland. Compared to mechanical watches, a Swatch was 80% cheaper to produce due to fully automating its assembly and reducing the number of parts to only 51 components. The Swatch was devised as a Swiss-made plastic watch with a fully integrated and in-house-built movement. Using the concept of the Concord Delirium (the thinnest watch in the world), Thomke designed a watch with a caseback used as the main plate of the movement. Swatch was born under the leadership of Ernst Thomke, CEO of the movement maker ETA, who was aided by a small team of engineers. In fact, we can trace the rise of haute horlogerie, luxury watches and independent watchmaking directly to the simple, cheap quartz Swatch watch that made its debut in 1983. However, a very simple but clever idea saved the Swiss watch industry. At that time, the watchmaking industry in Switzerland was intensely affected by the arrival of cheap Japanese quartz watches and production numbers became lower than at any time before. Swatch (which stands for “second watch,” because of its affordable price and casual look) was born in the early 1980s, right in the middle of the so-called quartz crisis. ![]() Like the first Swatch watch in 1983, this new automatic watch is a major industrial milestone that could (emphasis on “could” because, for the moment, we are not sure of possible future developments) change the face of the Swatch Group and indeed the whole watch industry. Why? Because the Swatch Sistem51 is clearly one of the most important new watches of the last 10 years. ![]() The Swatch Sistem51 is certainly the cheapest watch we’ve ever reviewed on, and we are doing it without any shame or regrets.
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