Design

Wear a Masterpiece on Your Wrist

Swatch believes that art makes the world a better place. From its collaborations with emerging or celebrated artists, designers, architects, and famous museums, the brand's love for art runs deep.
Lexus Life
BY

Lexus Life

The birth of the ‘second watch’

When the first Swatch was introduced to the world in May 1983, it was an immediate hit. The name Swatch, a contraction of ‘second watch’, highlighted the fact that these watches were designed to be an affordable, fun and disposable fashion item to own alongside your main watch, rather than replace it. Change your outfit; change your Swatch; make a statement!

A creative journey like no other

In 1985, Swatch launched the Swatch Art Journey, a unique way to bring art into people’s daily lives, collaborating with Kiki Picasso, creating the world’s smallest canvas to celebrate her creativity. A 1996 collaboration with Keith Haring saw his energetic cartoon-like characters and surprising colour juxtapositions adorn wrists worldwide.

Other collaborations saw Swatch team up with the likes of Arnaldo Pomodoro, Annie Leibovitz and Mimmo Rotella, to name just a few creative giants. 2011 saw the launch of the Swatch Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai. Offering short residencies to artists from around the world, the ultimate goal of the initiative is to spark creativity and collaborations.

The next chapter

This year sees the launch of the Swatch Art Journey’s next chapter — a trip through key moments in art history — and they’re going big! Between mid-March and May, five capsule collections that celebrate the historical disruptors of the art world, from Botticelli to Lichtenstein, will hit stores.

Swatch has recreated masterpieces in its signature Gent, New Gent and playfully provocative style. Here’s what you can look forward to:

SWATCH X MOMA – Celebrating the 100th anniversary of pop artist Roy Lichtenstein’s birth

Pop art fans rejoice! Swatch has once again teamed up with MoMA, this time to honour legendary American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein. Two vibrant watches featuring artwork from MoMA’s collection — Girl and Reverie — blend his unique, comic-style art and single-color Benday dots with the playfulness and creativity of Swatch.

SWATCH X MOMA: Celebrating the 100th anniversary of pop artist Roy Lichtenstein’s birth

SWATCH X MAGRITTE – Honouring the 125th birth anniversary of surrealist artist René Magritte.

Surrealist painter René Magritte is known for his dreamlike, imaginative aesthetic and evocative symbols (the bowler hat and pipes, to name a few). To mark the 125-year anniversary of his birth, two watches take his most famous paintings and translate them into wearable art for the wrist.

SWATCH X MAGRITTE: Honouring the 125th birth anniversary of surrealist artist René Magritte.

SWATCH X LE GALLERIE DEGLI UFFIZI – Remastering Sandro Botticelli’s Renaissance art.

The renowned Le Gallerie degli Uffizi, known for its rich collection of Renaissance masterpieces, may house both the ‘Allegory of Spring’ and ‘The Birth of Venus’ by the one and only Sandro Botticelli in the same room, but now people can wear both on their wrists!

 

SWATCH X LE GALLERIE DEGLI UFFIZI: Remastering Sandro Botticelli’s Renaissance art.

SWATCH X LOUVRE ABU DHABI – Hokusai meets Astrolabe: one watch unites the work of two epochs and two masters.

In an unprecedented collaboration with the Louvre Abu Dhabi, Swatch releases an eye-catching watch where two worlds unite: the powerful and iconic Japanese artwork by Katsushika Hokusai and the renowned sophisticated Astrolabe artifact by Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Battûtî.

SWATCH X LOUVRE ABU DHABI: Hokusai meets Astrolabe: one watch unites the work of two epochs and two masters.

Iconic collectibles

Far from being the mere disposable fashion accessory it was initially marketed as, many Swatch watches have become collectible items coveted the world over. The brand’s collaborations with some of the world’s top art museums over the years have made its watches even more desirable than ever, and this collection will be no different. The Swatch Art Journey Collection is available now, with another release to be unveiled at a later stage.

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