Swiss watch company Asuag-SSH scored a hit in March 1983 with its low-priced ‘Swatch’ range of brightly coloured watches.
Ernst Thomke and Nicolas Hayek developed the thin hard-wearing plastic watches to compete with cheap watches from Japan and Hong Kong. At first, the range comprised 12 colourful – and most importantly – cheap models.
Marketing man Max Imgruth masterminded the innovative strategy that established the Swatch range of watches as fashion items that were sold alongside clothes.
The revolution in watch production shifted one million units within a year, 50 million within five years, and well over 200 million by the end of the century.
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Swiss watch company Asuag-SSH scored a hit in March 1983 with its low-priced ‘Swatch’ range of brightly coloured watches.
