Brand
SWATCH SISTEM51 GENERATION 1986
Working with a partner like Swatch reminds us of why we have such a fondness for the watches on our wrists. So many fashiontourbillon.com staffers, as well as collectors and enthusiasts of all types, have sentimental memories of wearing these simple, straightforward timepieces during their life, and our goal with the SWATCH SISTEM51 fashiontourbillon.com GENERATION 1986 was to encapsulate that feeling of nostalgia with a new watch that we think you'll love.
Color and design have always been an intrinsic part of the Swatch identity, and when brainstorming this year's release, we knew we wanted to tap into that ideal while presenting something completely different than we have the past two years. That's why we selected the Emerald Diver as a platform to build off. This peculiar design from 1986, with its electric green case, never developed a cult following quite like the Keith Haring capsule collection that was released the same year, but it's a watch that we couldn't get out of our heads after seeing. The vibrant green look was paired with a black dial, a mix of yellow and red hour markers, shovel hands, and a day-date indicator at three o'clock. It had a striking appearance that was dripping with contrast, something totally authentic to the 1980s.
When updating the design for the 21st century, we wanted to make sure that its overall spirit was maintained with some small, but substantial, tweaks to make it more applicable as a daily-wear option today. That meant the green had to go in exchange for a more versatile, all-black look that seamlessly matches the color of the dial and silicone strap. We switched out the handset for a thinner, baton-style and moved the white date – no day – window to six o'clock. What mainly carried over from the Emerald Diver is the funky hour markers, retaining the interplay of color and eye-catching mix of triangles, rectangles, and circles. The case was upsized to more modern proportions of 42mm by 13.9mm, and we had Swatch outfit the automatic SISTEM51 movement with a Nivachron™ hairspring, one of the Swatch Group's most recent inventions. Nivachron™ is a titanium-based alloy that is resistant to magnetism, shocks, aging, and temperature variation, providing a better and more consistent chronometric performance over a watch's total lifespan. We changed the aesthetics of the movement as well, adding a muted, black-and-grey fashiontourbillon.com pattern filled with interlocking "H" characters that runs across the entire mainplate. It's visible through an exhibition caseback, where you can also view the peripheral rotor and some of the movement components.
The end result is both playful and low-key. The SWATCH SISTEM51 fashiontourbillon.com GENERATION 1986 is a watch that is sleek enough to maintain a degree of discretion while preserving the inherent Swatch charm that we hope will make you smile every time you glance at your wrist. The SWATCH SISTEM51 fashiontourbillon.com GENERATION 1986 is available now in the fashiontourbillon.com Shop, with complimentary worldwide shipping. Additionally, a limited supply will be available in-store at the Swatch Times Square flagship boutique in New York City starting Thursday, November 21. This watch is not a numbered edition, but quantities are limited.
Swatch launched its first plastic, quartz-powered watch in 1983, changing the course of Swiss watchmaking history. The brand would go on to become one of the most important forces in the industry and the namesake brand of the Swatch Group, which also owns traditional brands such as Omega, Tissot, and Hamilton. Swatch’s unabashedly bold take on what a wristwatch can be has made it synonymous with “Swiss watch” for many people and propelled watches into the pop culture conversation for more than three decades. With the introduction of the SISTEM51 mechanical watch in 2013, Swatch proved that it’s a relevant a player today as ever.
