Swatch are reknowned for their plastic and colourful watches which have enjoyed phenomenal success worldwide. But what makes Swatch so successful ?
Swatch watches were the brainchild of Nick Hayek, he foreseen that he could introduce a brand of watches that people would be happy to buy more than one of. At this time the current trend was for people to own only one watch, yet Nick was convinced that watches should be seen as more of a fashion accessory and that consumers would be happy to purchase many watches to suit their colour scheme of their attire. From this idea was born the Swatch brand. Made from only 50 moving parts (91 was the standard) and cheap materials such as plastic being used to make the body and straps then manufacturing prices could be kept to a minimum, and with emphasis based more on the colour and design and external appearance of Swatch then it wasn't long before they began to take a slice of the watch market.
Now years later Nick Hayeks vision can be seen in action, with many people owning a hatful of watches all to suit the days dress code and many models of Swatch have even become collectible over time, with some rarer models commanding premium prices.
Thursday 29 July 2010
Monday 26 July 2010
Despite the current world economic situation, vintage, rare and antique watches are still very much desirable and prices are rising more than ever before.
At a watch auction at Sotheby's only last week, a collection of rare watches sold for over £7000 each all of which sold at considerably more than the auction estimate prices.
More than 164 vintage wrist watches went under the hammer, many of which were from the most famous names in watch making such as Patek Philippe, Omega and Rolex.
This comes after a world record was set just a few weeks ago when a Patek Philippe gold watch sold for just over £3.75 million - twice the auction estimate - showing that rare watches are enjoying remarkable boom almost in trend with the current gold prices which have also been rising month after month since the start of the credit crunch.
At a watch auction at Sotheby's only last week, a collection of rare watches sold for over £7000 each all of which sold at considerably more than the auction estimate prices.
More than 164 vintage wrist watches went under the hammer, many of which were from the most famous names in watch making such as Patek Philippe, Omega and Rolex.
This comes after a world record was set just a few weeks ago when a Patek Philippe gold watch sold for just over £3.75 million - twice the auction estimate - showing that rare watches are enjoying remarkable boom almost in trend with the current gold prices which have also been rising month after month since the start of the credit crunch.
Wednesday 21 July 2010
Big Ears Brighton
Big Ears Brighton - Now in our 15th Year
Summer 2010 in Brighton is set to be a great one, with more events, festivals and attractions than ever before. There's the Brighton Festival Fringe, The Brighton Science Festival, the Documentary Film Festival, Brighton Pride Festival and host of comedy gigs and live bands, sandy beaches, parks, fun fair, shopping and lets not forget Brighton Pier which was the second most popular tourist attraction in the UK in 2009.
With the credit crunch and current financial situation still showing no signs of improvement, more and more people are spending their holiday at home in the UK as a 'Staycation", so why not make Brighton your choice of destination. There are plenty of hotels, campsites and caravan parks to suit all budgets. Brighton is also one of the most popular UK destinations for days out and weekend breaks and last year was named as one of the top 10 UK destinations for overseas visitors.
This year Big Ears Brighton celebrates it's 15th year as one of the best known shops in Brighton for watches, jewellery, gifts and accessories.
For 15 years we have been serving not only the Brighton community but also a growing number of visitors and tourists and to mark this we are now bringing to you even cheaper prices on all our range of watches as well as many new products and brands of watches. Our retail store is renowned for being the place in Brighton to buy Swatch watches, but we also stock a range of more designer watches and have many models of both mens watches and ladies watches including Casio, Rotary, DNKY and Diesel and many more.
As well as watches we also sell a number of gifts and accessories such as wallets, sunglasses and belts, so for visitors to Brighton there is a wide range of products to choose from to make that perfect gift. We also do watch repairs, battery replacements and sell watch straps and whats more all purchases include a free gift wrapping service.
Big Ears Brighton is situated in the heart of Brighton's shopping district at 143a North Street and are open from Monday to Saturday 10am - 6pm and on Sundays from 11am - 5pm, so if you are going to Brighton this year then why not pop in to Big Ears and say hello, we look forward to seeing you and look forward to the next 15 years !
Visit : Big Ears Brighton
Summer 2010 in Brighton is set to be a great one, with more events, festivals and attractions than ever before. There's the Brighton Festival Fringe, The Brighton Science Festival, the Documentary Film Festival, Brighton Pride Festival and host of comedy gigs and live bands, sandy beaches, parks, fun fair, shopping and lets not forget Brighton Pier which was the second most popular tourist attraction in the UK in 2009.
With the credit crunch and current financial situation still showing no signs of improvement, more and more people are spending their holiday at home in the UK as a 'Staycation", so why not make Brighton your choice of destination. There are plenty of hotels, campsites and caravan parks to suit all budgets. Brighton is also one of the most popular UK destinations for days out and weekend breaks and last year was named as one of the top 10 UK destinations for overseas visitors.
This year Big Ears Brighton celebrates it's 15th year as one of the best known shops in Brighton for watches, jewellery, gifts and accessories.
For 15 years we have been serving not only the Brighton community but also a growing number of visitors and tourists and to mark this we are now bringing to you even cheaper prices on all our range of watches as well as many new products and brands of watches. Our retail store is renowned for being the place in Brighton to buy Swatch watches, but we also stock a range of more designer watches and have many models of both mens watches and ladies watches including Casio, Rotary, DNKY and Diesel and many more.
As well as watches we also sell a number of gifts and accessories such as wallets, sunglasses and belts, so for visitors to Brighton there is a wide range of products to choose from to make that perfect gift. We also do watch repairs, battery replacements and sell watch straps and whats more all purchases include a free gift wrapping service.
Big Ears Brighton is situated in the heart of Brighton's shopping district at 143a North Street and are open from Monday to Saturday 10am - 6pm and on Sundays from 11am - 5pm, so if you are going to Brighton this year then why not pop in to Big Ears and say hello, we look forward to seeing you and look forward to the next 15 years !
Visit : Big Ears Brighton
Monday 19 July 2010
New Chairwoman at Swatch
Following the passing of Nick Hayek the founder of Swatch Group, his daughter Nayla Hayek has been appointed as the new chairwoman of the watch giant.
It is thought that she has been groomed for this position for many years, with his son, also called Nick, being the Chief Executive since 1993.
Nayla had already been given the job of Vice - Chairwoman since May this year and the Hayek family and their investors still own more than 40% of the voting rights.
It is thought that she has been groomed for this position for many years, with his son, also called Nick, being the Chief Executive since 1993.
Nayla had already been given the job of Vice - Chairwoman since May this year and the Hayek family and their investors still own more than 40% of the voting rights.
Airline Crew Given Rotary Watches
Two members of the cabin crew working for Emirate Airlines were last week given 2 Rotary Watches as a rewards for being the best on board salesmen.
The promotion run by Scorpio Distributors in conjunction with Rotary was run as an incentive for sales staff to sell more watches with the two winning members of the crew also winning a trip to London.
The competition was won by Jomkwan Chairat and Christina Janczak pictured.
Left to right: Emirates promotion co-ordinator Tatiana Vidal-Nel, the prize winners Jomkwan Chairat and Christina Janczak and Kerrie Hethersay from Scorpio Distributors.
They both won £200 spending money, West End theatre tickets and dinner.
The promotion run by Scorpio Distributors in conjunction with Rotary was run as an incentive for sales staff to sell more watches with the two winning members of the crew also winning a trip to London.
The competition was won by Jomkwan Chairat and Christina Janczak pictured.
Left to right: Emirates promotion co-ordinator Tatiana Vidal-Nel, the prize winners Jomkwan Chairat and Christina Janczak and Kerrie Hethersay from Scorpio Distributors.
They both won £200 spending money, West End theatre tickets and dinner.
Tuesday 13 July 2010
Madonna the Face of D&G Watches
Is Madonna sufferring in the credit crunch or maybe that costly divorce from Guy Richie has put her into financial difficulty..or perhaps all those legal fees for her adoption fight for a baby in Malawi.... just to get the latest fashion accessory...like Brangelina, Sandra Bullock...etc....
Maybe its not for the money at all, but however it has been confirmed that Madonna will be starring in a host of adverts for D&G which make designer clothes, sunglasses, and watches.
Whether she will be wearing any watches is not yet known, but reports suggest she will be starring in some black and white advertising campaigns dressed as a farm girl with chickens running around.
The worlds most publicity seeking brat has not yet commented, but no doubt she'll be making a big song and dance about it and doing something really controversial soon....yawn....
Maybe its not for the money at all, but however it has been confirmed that Madonna will be starring in a host of adverts for D&G which make designer clothes, sunglasses, and watches.
Whether she will be wearing any watches is not yet known, but reports suggest she will be starring in some black and white advertising campaigns dressed as a farm girl with chickens running around.
The worlds most publicity seeking brat has not yet commented, but no doubt she'll be making a big song and dance about it and doing something really controversial soon....yawn....
Thursday 8 July 2010
Watches Back in Fashion
Despite the recent economic global problems the watch industry, particularly the retail sector seems to be enjoying something of a revival.
Although watches have been shunned in recent years, largely due to the fact that most of us owned mobile phones which included a clock, this trend seems to have changed over the last year or so.
Many people, especially the younger generation are now beginning to see watches in a different light and not as a gadget used just for telling the time. Instead watches are becoming more like a fashion accessory, especially designer watches from top brands such as Ed Hardy, ICE and Seksy watches which have really caught on this season.
Also more traditional mechanical watches are also on the up, as many people become less interested in quartz watches and gain a fascination for mechanical movements.
This revival has seen many big designer names introducing lines of watches in a bid to get a slice of the fashion watches market. Designer brands such as Bench, DKNY, Ben Sherman, Accessorize, Christian Audigier, BCBG Max Azria, Michael Kors, Marc Ecko and many other top brand fashion designers are all introducing new designs of watches on a regular basis to try to keep up with demand in recent fashion trends.
Although watches have been shunned in recent years, largely due to the fact that most of us owned mobile phones which included a clock, this trend seems to have changed over the last year or so.
Many people, especially the younger generation are now beginning to see watches in a different light and not as a gadget used just for telling the time. Instead watches are becoming more like a fashion accessory, especially designer watches from top brands such as Ed Hardy, ICE and Seksy watches which have really caught on this season.
Also more traditional mechanical watches are also on the up, as many people become less interested in quartz watches and gain a fascination for mechanical movements.
This revival has seen many big designer names introducing lines of watches in a bid to get a slice of the fashion watches market. Designer brands such as Bench, DKNY, Ben Sherman, Accessorize, Christian Audigier, BCBG Max Azria, Michael Kors, Marc Ecko and many other top brand fashion designers are all introducing new designs of watches on a regular basis to try to keep up with demand in recent fashion trends.
Monday 5 July 2010
Samuel Eto'o Buys Team Mates Watches
To celebrate their qualification for the world cup, Inter Milan and Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o blew a fortune on buying watches for all of his team mates !
The Dail Mail reported that the amount of money he spent buying the watches ran into the hundreds of thousands of pounds, in fact they quoted a figure of £900,000 ! This gesture also not included just his Cameroon team mates but also the management and backroom staff connected with the team with came to a total of 30 watches each costing £29,000 each - all of which were personally engraved at further expense.
Cameroon failed to sparkle in the world cup, with them coming last in their group without a single point...maybe it beacuse they were earing their expensive wristwatches and did't want to break them !!
The Dail Mail reported that the amount of money he spent buying the watches ran into the hundreds of thousands of pounds, in fact they quoted a figure of £900,000 ! This gesture also not included just his Cameroon team mates but also the management and backroom staff connected with the team with came to a total of 30 watches each costing £29,000 each - all of which were personally engraved at further expense.
Cameroon failed to sparkle in the world cup, with them coming last in their group without a single point...maybe it beacuse they were earing their expensive wristwatches and did't want to break them !!
Thursday 1 July 2010
A Tribute to Nick Hayek
Following on from the previous post yesterday - tributes are flooding in for Nick Hayek.
The Daily Telegraph applauded Mr. Hayek as a man who made billions when starting out with nothing and continued to appraise him with words like "an inate genius", "a master of marketing" a showman and an entrepreneur.
Who knows what the watch industry would be like in the present day without the investment, genius and entreprenerial spirit of Mr. Hayek. No doubt he had a huge influence in making Switzerland into the reknowned watch manufacturers that they are today making Swiss watches the choice of consumers for mechanical watches the world over.
His brainchild Swatch watches and the fact that he could foresee people owning more than one model of Swatch hailed a new era of modern watches and watch collectors. With more than 300 models of Swatch introduced each year many models have since become collectors items, and some of the rarer models of Swatch can attract premium prices amongst collectors in todays market, meaning a growing band of collectors some of whom see certain models as investment opportunities.
The Daily Telegraph applauded Mr. Hayek as a man who made billions when starting out with nothing and continued to appraise him with words like "an inate genius", "a master of marketing" a showman and an entrepreneur.
Who knows what the watch industry would be like in the present day without the investment, genius and entreprenerial spirit of Mr. Hayek. No doubt he had a huge influence in making Switzerland into the reknowned watch manufacturers that they are today making Swiss watches the choice of consumers for mechanical watches the world over.
His brainchild Swatch watches and the fact that he could foresee people owning more than one model of Swatch hailed a new era of modern watches and watch collectors. With more than 300 models of Swatch introduced each year many models have since become collectors items, and some of the rarer models of Swatch can attract premium prices amongst collectors in todays market, meaning a growing band of collectors some of whom see certain models as investment opportunities.
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