The Swatch Group facts for kids
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| Public company | |
| Traded as |
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| Industry |
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| Predecessor | ASUAG and SSIH |
| Founded | 1983 |
| Headquarters | , |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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| Products | Watches, Jewelry, Electronic systems |
| Revenue |  CHF 7.89 billion (2023) |
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Operating income
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CHF 1.19 billion (2023) |
| CHF 890 million (2023) |
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| Total assets | CHF 10.5 billion (2023) |
| Total equity | CHF 12.26 billion (2023) |
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Number of employees
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33,602 (2023) |
| Subsidiaries |
List
Blancpain
Breguet Certina ETA SA Flik Flak Glashütte Original Hamilton Watch Company Harry Winston, Inc. Jaquet Droz Leon Hatot Longines Mido Omega SA Rado Renata Batteries Swatch Tissot |
The Swatch Group Ltd is a big company from Switzerland. It makes many kinds of watches and jewellery. The company started in 1983. It was formed when two older watch companies, ASUAG and SSIH, joined together.
This happened during a time called the "quartz crisis". Many people started buying cheaper watches that used quartz crystals. These watches came mostly from Asia. The Swatch Group helped save the traditional Swiss watchmaking industry by making its own quartz watches.
Today, The Swatch Group is the largest watch company in the world. It has about 33,602 employees in 50 countries. The company owns the popular Swatch brand. It also owns many other famous and luxury watch brands. These include Omega, Longines, and Tissot.
Contents
How The Swatch Group Started
The Swatch Group was created from two older Swiss watch companies. Both of these companies faced big problems in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
SSIH: A Watchmaking Giant
SSIH stands for Société Suisse pour l'Industrie Horlogère. It began in 1930. This was when the Omega and Tissot watch companies merged. Swiss watches were known for their high quality.
However, new technology started to appear. For example, the Hamilton Electric watch came out in 1957. The Bulova Accutron tuning fork watch followed in 1961. These new watches meant more competition.
By the late 1970s, SSIH was in trouble. A tough economy and strong competition from cheap Asian quartz watches hurt the company. Even though it was Switzerland's largest watch producer, it became unable to pay its debts. Banks took control of SSIH in 1981.
ASUAG: Parts and Brands
ASUAG stands for Allgemeine Gesellschaft der Schweizerischen Uhrenindustrie. It started in 1931. This company was the world's biggest maker of watch movements. It also made many tiny parts for watches. These parts included balance wheels and balance springs.
ASUAG also owned several watch brands. These brands were grouped under a company called General Watch Co. But ASUAG also ran into financial problems. It failed in 1982, just like SSIH.
The Birth of The Swatch Group
Because both ASUAG and SSIH were struggling, they merged in 1983. This new company was first called ASUAG/SSIH. In 1985, Nicolas Hayek took the company private. He had help from Swiss banks and investors.
The company was renamed SMH in 1986. SMH stands for Société de Microélectronique et d'Horlogerie. Later, in 1998, it became The Swatch Group Ltd.
The famous "swatch" brand of watch was launched in 1983. Ernst Thomke and his team at ETA SA created it. The quartz watch was redesigned to be simpler to make. It used fewer parts and had a fresh, modern look.
Famous Watch Brands
Over the years, The Swatch Group has bought many luxury watch companies. For example, it bought Blancpain S. A. in 1992. This company was founded way back in 1735. It also bought Breguet S. A. in 1999, which started in 1775. In 2000, it acquired Glashütte Original from Germany. The Swatch Group continues to make watches under all these famous names.
In 2013, The Swatch Group bought HW Holding Inc. This company owned Harry Winston, Inc., a well-known American jewelry and luxury watch company. Nayla Hayek became the CEO of Harry Winston. In 2014, the company bought a very large, perfect blue diamond called The Winston Blue.
Here are some of the brands owned by The Swatch Group:
Current Brands
Brands No Longer Owned or Made
- Calvin Klein Watches
- Endura
- Léon Hatot
How Watches Are Made
The Swatch Group does more than just sell watches. It also makes many of the important parts inside them.
ETA Watch Movements
ETA SA is a company owned by Swatch. It is based in Grenchen, Switzerland. ETA makes many watch movements. A watch movement is the engine that makes a watch work. Other big watch companies, like LVMH and Richemont, use ETA movements in their brands.
Electronic Systems and Batteries
The Swatch Group also has companies that make electronic parts. These parts are used in watches and other devices.
- EM Microelectronic-Marin: This company designs tiny computer chips. These chips use very little power. They are used in things like LCD screens and smart cards.
- Micro Crystal: This company makes small quartz crystals. These crystals are used to keep time accurately in watches and other electronics.
- Renata: This company makes small batteries. They produce button-shaped batteries and rechargeable batteries.
Swatch Internet Time
In 1998, Swatch came up with a new idea called "Swatch Internet Time". It was meant to be a single time system for the whole world. It divided the day into 1000 "beats" instead of hours and minutes.
In 2004, Swatch released its first smart watch. It was called the Paparazzi. This watch used technology from Microsoft.
Watchmaking Schools
The Swatch Group helps train new watchmakers. It started the Nicolas G. Hayek Watchmaking School in Miami, Florida, in 2005. There are other schools in Germany, Malaysia, and China. These schools teach people how to build and repair watches.
Other Projects
The Swatch Group has been involved in other interesting projects besides watches.
Sports Timing
Swiss Timing is a part of The Swatch Group. It uses brands like Omega, Longines, and Tissot. They provide official timing services for big sports events. This includes events like the Olympic Games and the Tour de France cycling race.
Car and Energy Ventures
In 1994, Swatch worked with a German company called Daimler AG. They created a small car called the Smart car. Swatch later left this project.
Another Swatch company, Belenos Clean Power AG, worked on a project to develop a hydrogen fuel cell. This was for a car powered by fuel cells. They tested the car in Switzerland in 2012. However, The Swatch Group stopped this project in 2015. They decided to focus on making new types of batteries that could store a lot of energy.
See also
- Quartz crisis
- List of watch manufacturers
