DUBAI – Since its launch in 1983, Swatch, the Official Time Provider at Expo 2020 Dubai, has released 10,000 different designs, amounting to a new look every one-and-a-half days. Now, with the Expo-themed update of its Swatch X You customisable collection, with designs inspired by countries participating in Expo, launched today at the event, the sky really is the limit.
The Swatch X You concept, originally launched in 2017, allows you to choose different watch bodies, straps and accessories, creating a one-off design that is, ultimately, for you. Just browse the various categories when making your choice – ‘Street Stories’, ‘Geometry Madness’ and ‘Power Nature’ among them. The new Expo-themed category is ‘Swatch Calling’, with designs submitted by the countries participating at the event.
Shoppers can browse the categories via a tablet device in-store, piece their watch together, and even zoom in on the section that really catches their eye, seeing how the end result will look when printed onto the Swatch.
The first six watches in the ‘Swatch Calling’ category are from selected artists from six countries – France, Ukraine, Egypt, Switzerland, Panama and Uruguay. Many more of Expo’s 192 participating countries will follow, and in December, Swatch will launch five different designs to mark the 50th UAE National Day, with five celebrated Emirati artists submitting their ideas.
Lauding the new launch as the “ultimate in customisation,” Carlo Giordenetti, Creative Director Swatch International, said: “Customisation is very much in fashion. To keep coming up with new and unique ideas is no joke, and this concept keeps the door open to everyone; it has a creative soul.”
Giordenetti explained how Swatch aligns with the subthemes of Expo. He said: “We start with Mobility, bringing in different countries and designs from across the world, and move onto Opportunity, which sees amazing collaborations, and then we have Sustainability, and from 2019 we have made all of our packaging sustainable.”
Each of Swatch’s four physical stores – at the Welcome Plaza, and in the Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability districts – has a different focus, such as Swatch and art, Swatch as a brand, the innovative SwatchPAY! technology, and the brand’s use of bio-innovative materials.