The Swatch Group

The brands

SSIH and ASUAG

Crisis and the 1983 merger

By the 1970s both companies were in trouble again. Mass-produced electronic watches, especially from Japan, were taking the market; both SSIH and ASUAG faced liquidation, and foreign rivals offered to buy brands such as Omega, Longines and Tissot.^1, 2, 4

Counts of the damage differ: the Swiss watch workforce fell from about 70,000 in the mid-1960s to 30,000–35,000 in the 1980s by one count, and from 90,000 in 1970 to 28,000 in 1988 by another.^23, 24

Nicolas G. Hayek, whose consulting firm was asked to plan for the two companies’ future, was at work on an analysis of the two groups from 1982 and recommended that they merge and launch a cheap, high-tech “second watch”, which became the Swatch. A pool of investors led by Hayek then took a majority of the shares, and he became chief executive.^{1, 2, 25, 26}

According to the Swatch Group and the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, the merged ASUAG-SSIH was renamed SMH, the Société suisse de microélectronique et d’horlogerie, in 1985 (other accounts give 1983 or 1986); it became The Swatch Group in 1998.^{2, 4, 24, 28}

A group of brands and suppliers

Where the Swatch Group leads

• Founded by · , PersonNicolas G. Hayek

  The Swatch Group calls Hayek its founder: his 1983 study recommended merging ASUAG and SSIH and launching the Swatch.¹

• Came after · , GroupASUAG

  ASUAG merged with SSIH in 1983 into the company renamed SMH in 1985 and the Swatch Group in 1998.^{2, 26, 28}

• Came after · , GroupSSIH

  SSIH merged with ASUAG in 1983 into the company renamed SMH in 1985 and the Swatch Group in 1998.^{2, 26, 28}

• Owns · , GroupEbauches SA

  Through ASUAG, Asuag-SSIH (1983) and SMH (1985), Ebauches SA ended inside what became the Swatch Group, its factories grouped into ETA.^32, 33

• Based in · , PlaceBiel/Bienne

  The group's administrative head office is in Biel/Bienne, in the former ASUAG building.^3, 34

• Used · , TechnologySilicon in the movement

  WorldTempus reports that the Swatch Group, a member of the CSEM consortium, fits silicon parts across almost all its brands.^35, 36

• Part of · , HistoryCrisis, consolidation and the groups

  The merged group, SMH from 1985 and the Swatch Group from 1998.^2, 28

• Part of · , HistoryMaking watches today

  The group whose decision to keep ETA’s movements for itself reshaped the supply of movements.^{37, 38, 39}

• Part of · , HistoryThe electric and quartz revolution

  The group was formed when SSIH and ASUAG, near insolvency, merged in 1983.^2, 24

• See also · , PlaceGlashütte

  The German Watch Museum Glashütte says the Swatch Group supported Glashütte Original in buying and restoring the former watchmaking school as the museum’s home.⁴⁰

• See also · , PlaceNeuchâtel

  The Swatch Group's registered office is in Neuchâtel.^3, 28

• See also · , PlaceThe Jura Arc

  The group’s head office is in Biel/Bienne and its movement maker ETA is at Grenchen, both at the foot of the Jura.^2, 3, 14

• See also · , GroupRichemont

  Both groups bought established watchmakers in 1999 and 2000: Richemont bought Les Manufactures Horlogères, the Swatch Group bought Breguet and Glashütte Original.^{10, 41, 42}

• See also · , TraditionOrigin labels

  The group says its roughly 150 production sites in Switzerland go well beyond what the Swiss Made rules require.²⁹

• See also · , EventGlashütte after reunification

  Bought Glashütter Uhrenbetrieb GmbH in October 2000.^10, 43

• See also · , EventThe ETA supply dispute

  The Swatch Group was the party to the settlements of 2013 and was left free in 2020 to choose ETA’s customers.^{15, 44, 45}

• See also · , EventThe luxury-group consolidation

  The Swatch Group bought Breguet in 1999 and Glashütter Uhrenbetrieb, maker of Glashütte Original, in 2000.^10, 42

• See also · , EventThe pandemic watch boom and correction

  National Jeweler reports that the Swatch Group closed 384 shops in 2020; the group says it sold more than a million MoonSwatches from 2022.^46, 47

• See also · , EventThe quartz crisis

  The crisis that forced the 1983 merger from which the Swatch Group grew.^1, 2