swatch disambiguation . the swatch group ltd. type public traded as six uhr uhrn otc pink swgay industry manufacturing predecessor allgemeine gesellschaft der schweizerischen uhrenindustrie soci t suisse pour l industrie horlog re founded 1983 ; 33 years ago 1983 founder nicolas hayek headquarters biel switzerland area served worldwide key people nayla hayek chairman nick hayek jr. ceo revenue chf 8.451 billion 2015 1 operating income chf 1.451 b 1 2015 profit chf 1.119 b 1 2015 total assets chf 13.270 b 1 2015 total equity chf 11.242 b 1 2015 number of employees 36.3 k 2015 subsidiaries subsidiaries owned by swatch group blancpain eta sa omega sa harry winston glashutte original tissot swatch flik flak certina jaquet droz leon hatot calvin klein watches jewelry longines rado hamilton watch company website swatch.group the swatch group commonly known as swatch group is a swiss manufacturer of watches and jewelry founded in 1983 from the merging of allgemeine gesellschaft der schweizerischen uhrenindustrie and soci t suisse pour l industrie horlog re by nicolas hayek . worldwide the swatch group employs over 36 000 people in 50 countries . in 2015 net sales were chf 8.451 b decreasing 3 % from 2014 results . contents 1 history 1.1 ssih 1.2 asuag 1.3 reorganisation 1.4 important acquisitions 2 brands 2.1 sports timing 3 movement and component sales 4 electronic systems 5 sports and events timing 6 the nicolas g. hayek watchmaking school 7 internet time and new technologies 8 ventures 9 see also 10 further reading 11 notes and references 12 citations 13 external links history edit the swatch group formed from two financially troubled predecessor companies ssih and asuag . ssih edit ssih originated in 1930 with the merger of the omega and tissot companies . swiss watch quality was high but new technology such as the hamilton electric watch introduced in 1957 and the bulova accutron tuning fork watch in 1961 presaged increasing high technology competition . in the late 1970s ssih became insolvent due in part to a recession and in part to heavy competition from inexpensive asian made quartz crystal watches . these difficulties occurred even though it had become switzerland s largest and the world s third largest producer of watches . its creditor banks assumed control in 1981 . asuag edit asuag formed in 1931 was the world s largest producer of watch movements and the parts thereof balance wheels balance springs spiral assortments watch stones rubis . asuag had also integrated an array of watch brands in 1972 into a sub holding company general watch co. asuag failed similarly in 1982 . reorganisation edit both groups were reorganised and merged into ssih asuag holding company in 1983 . taken private in 1985 by then ceo nicolas hayek with the understanding of the swiss banks and the financial assistance of a group of swiss private investors in particular stephan schmidheiny and esther grether it was renamed smh in 1986 and ultimately swatch group ltd in 1998 . the launch of the new swatch brand watch in 1983 by the then eta sa ceo ernst thomke and his young team of engineers was marked by bold new styling and design . the quartz watch was redesigned for manufacturing efficiency and fewer parts . this combination of marketing and manufacturing expertise restored switzerland as a major player in the world wristwatch market . important acquisitions edit over the years the swatch group has acquired several watchmaker companies such as blancpain s. a. founded 1735 bought by swatch in 1992 breguet s. a. founded 1775 bought in 1999 and glash tter uhrenbetrieb gmbh germany bought in 2000 . all three brands are prominent members of its range of products today . the most recent acquisition was hw holding inc. owner of harry winston inc. in new york usa a well known jewelry and luxury watch company . the transaction closed on 26 march 2013 for 711 million swiss francs . 2 nayla hayek became ceo . the company bought the world s biggest flawless blue diamond the winston blue on may 15 2014 . 3 brands edit hamilton khaki field officer h70615133 swatch once again prestige and luxury range omega breguet harry winston blancpain glash tte original jaquet droz l on hatot high range rado longines union glash tte middle range hamilton certina mido tissot balmain ck watch and jewelry co. entry range swatch flik flak private label endura sports timing edit swiss timing represents different brands of the above movement and component sales edit swatch subsidiary eta manufacture horlogere which is based in grenchen switzerland furnishes many oem brands such as lvmh which markets tag heuer hublot and zenith watch lines and richemont which markets amongst others baume & mercier iwc jaeger lecoultre officine panerai piaget sa and vacheron constantin . 4 electronic systems edit the swatch group electronic system provides solutions by integrating the individual expertise of the following companies not only for quartz wristwatches but also sports and events timing see below as well as high tech ventures such as belenos clean power ag . 5 em microelectronic marin designs and produces ultra low power low voltage mixed signal integrated circuits lcd and modules . ic product lines include rfid microcontroller smart card asic rtc reset circuit watchdog lcd driver opto ics . micro crystal produces miniature low power quartz crystals and small low power oscillators . focus is 32.768 khz smd and through hole crystals in miniature metal and ceramic package . renata develops and produces micro batteries . product lines include button cells and rechargeable lithium polymer batteries . primary batteries include silver oxide lithium and zinc air technologies . sports and events timing edit swiss timing under brands such as omega and longines provide timing services for sporting events such as formula one olympic games and equestrian events . 6 the nicolas g. hayek watchmaking school edit the swatch group started offering their first class for aspiring watchmakers in september 2005 . this school is based out of miami florida . another school is located in okmulgee oklahoma . other watchmaker schools outside the us are situated in glash tte germany pforzheim germany kuala lumpur malaysia and shanghai china . internet time and new technologies edit in 1998 swatch invented swatch internet time intended as a global time system which divides the day into 1000 beats in a single worldwide time zone . in october 2004 swatch introduced its first smart watch the paparazzi based on microsoft corporation s spot smart personal objects technology . ventures edit in 1994 swatch entered into a joint venture with germany s daimler ag to produce the smart but they later withdrew from this project . 7 swatch subsidiary belenos clean power ag entered into a joint venture with the paul scherrer institut in may 2008 to develop a hydrogen fuel cell for a fuel cell powered car . 8 swatch began test drives of the car in switzerland in 2012 . however the swatch group decided to abandon the project for a fuel cell powered car in june 2015 and concentrate instead on a new type of battery with high storage capacity . 9 see also edit pierre jaquet droz further reading edit mudambi ram branding time swatch and global brand management temple university fox school of business temple university igms case series no. 05 001 january 2005 the swatch group ltd. history of the swatch group notes and references edit a b c d e annual report 2015 . swatch group . retrieved 13 march 2016 . lorenceau ren . financial reports and development . the swatch group . retrieved 22 march 2015 . harry winston renames world s largest flawless vivid blue diamond the winston blue . forbes . may 15 2014 . retrieved 2014 05 16 . swatch fire seen affecting other watch makers reuters g m dec 30 2013 company profile benelos clean power ren lorenceau . swiss timing swatch group . retrieved 22 march 2015 . lewin p 132 joint venture between belenos clean power ag and the paul scherrer institute psi . the swatch group . retrieved 30 march 2012 . galli hans . swatch gibt wasserstoffauto auf freiburger groupe e uebernimmt . . der bund . retrieved 3 july 2015 . citations edit lewin tony . smart thinking the little car that made it big . st. paul minnesota mbi publishing . isbn 0 7603 1943 x. external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to swatch group . official website the nicolas g. hayek watchmaking schools official website yahoo the swatch group ltd. company profile the swatch group history v t e swiss market index companies of switzerland abb actelion adecco credit suisse geberit givaudan holcim julius b r nestl novartis richemont roche sgs swatch group swiss re swiss life swisscom syngenta ubs zurich financial companies portal switzerland portal authority control worldcat identities viaf 141232324 lccn nb2014018484 gnd 4552460 9 sudoc 050530321 bnf cb13535062t data ulan 500334805 nla 35396497 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