1980 – 81

1980 The Vulgaris prototype

According to an interview of Jacques Müller (together with Elmar Mock, the inventors of the construction principle behind Swatch) with the online platform Bilanz, the head of ETA wanted to have a 100% Swiss Made watch which should cost as little as possible. To achieve this, a competition among  ETA engineers was introduced. Müller and Mock’s idea was to simplify the movement and to reduce the components as much as possible, first sketches of the ideas being made on paper towels. Moreover they had the idea of using plastic as case material. For latter suggestion they earned a lot of laughter from their coworkers, as they thought that a plastic watch would never work.

The first technical sketch made of the construction principle of what will become a Swatch can be seen below. Note the date on the sheet: 27.3.80

 First technical sketch of the construction of what will become Swatch. Note the revolutionary way of inserting the components of the watch from above. This permitted a fast production of industrial scale. Nowadays a Swatch is built fully automatically in 2.8s ! From the former collection of Marlyse Schmid and Bernard Müller. Picture credit: Sotheby’s

The whole project was initiated because of the enthusiasm of  Nicolas Hayek and Ernst Thomke.

The most challenging part was to be able to have all the producing steps made on an industrial scale, and at the beginning nothing worked.  Müllers family remembers how in December 1980, all hands of the prototypes ran counterclockwise. They even turned to Lego, who provided them with plastic and helped them develop the needed quality.

The first technical sketch below, with proportions and dimensions already roughly leads to the aesthetics of the future Swatch, but the very first prototypes look nothing like they will look later. These ‘Vulgaris’ named versions are completely hand made, also the case, as ETA did not have machines for plastic injection yet. Latter will be procured by Elmar Mock for the building of the Zaugg prototypes.

 The very first prototypes, made even before having developed a name for the brand. This version is still called the ‘Vulgaris’ and features commercially available leather straps with steel buckles. From the former collection of Marlyse Schmid and Bernard Müller. Picture credit: Sotheby’s
 The development process included the search for patterns and decorations for dials and straps. The picture shows various papers in different textures hand made and assembled by Marlyse Schmid next to a ‘Vulgaris’ prototype, all to be presented at their first meeting with the head of ETA. This first meeting should decide whether she and Bernard Müller would be hired as designers for the new watch brand. From the former collection of Marlyse Schmid and Bernard Müller. Picture credit: Jean-Bernard Mani, Yannick Durand, and Kouroche Amini. Picture taken from stay-tuned-to-swatch.

1981 Zaugg Prototype

 Technical drawing and design research for the Zaugg prototype. Please note: the technical drawing already shows one additional bridge for the strap mounting, a second one will be added for stability purposes in later designs. On the bottom three finished Zaugg examples. From the former collection of Marlyse Schmid and Bernard Müller. Picture credit: Jean-Bernard Mani, Yannick Durand, and Kouroche Amini. Picture taken from stay-tuned-to-swatch.

Marlyse Schmid and Bernard Müller managed to be hired to help design the whole concept of the watches: case, dials, straps and the logo. The first prototypes including all technical ideas for the future Swatch will follow in 1981. The design of the case is still not the one which will be adopted.

This Zaugg prototype is one of the first studies to determine the final shape of the Swatch. It is named after its designer H. Zaugg and is machine made, to the contrary to the ‘Vulgaris’ prototypes of 1980, which were hand made. The picture above shows a production line up to the working model on the right. Also the hands, the strap and the buckle are still preliminary designs. Compared to the ‘vulgaris’ design of 1980, the Zaugg version already includes the battery hatch with a metal cover. The most distinctive feature of Swatch watches is still missing though: The two additional fixation bridges for the strap.

The battery cover is already machine made. However the material oxidizes pretty fast and the overall quality was not satisfying.

The strap buckle and the strap were completely different as in the definitive models. Both of them were optimized in design and durability.

This very early prototype is already prepared for the assembly from above, which was revolutionary in watchmaking at the time. For compatibility purposes with the plexiglas crystal, ABS-Plastic has been selected as material for the cases. Moreover it is shock resistant, rigid and permits a more important reuse of the injection moulds without harming them. Also the precision of manufacturing the cases is most important, as ABS does not shrink as much as other plastics. One disadvantage though is the higher sensitivity to UV – Light.

Of course there are several prototypes belonging to the first two years of development which show different steps of design. The Zaugg-prototoype on the left has been mounted with one of the dials featuring an alternative Swatch logo. The discussion about the development of the logo can be found in the ‘1982’ section, where these dials have been placed into the cases which show the definitive shape.

This watch has also its original strap and is in fully working condition.

The two non-working pieces shown in the first picture, as well as the strap buckle with the trident mark shown in the second picture, come directly from Elmar Mock, who considers himself the ‘mother’ of Swatch (as there can be only one mother). These three pieces  were then given by Mock to a collector in Rotterdam (the Netherlands). This collector forwarded them to  Daniel J. Komar. They now have found their way back into a private collection in Switzerland.

Ref: R. Carrera, Swatchissimo, Antiquorum editions, 1991