For the launch of Swatch in 1983 we encounter the finalised design concerning the case and the logo.
Hologram “Earth” Prototype
The Swatches with holographic dials normally would not be attributed to the prototype category. These watches were not made to be produced, but as gifts or jokes by some Swatch engineers. Every piece is unique, and features different types of holographic dials. This holographic part was not made by Swatch, they used self adhesive holographic sheets, cropped them to size and sticked them onto a metal dial. The dial of this model shows the atlantic ocean with glimpses of the American continent on the left and Europe and Africa on the right.
The reason this watch is not in the hybrids section, as the description above would suggest is: the case and the strap are prototypes! The case is made using other moulds then for the other Swatches, the same used for the “Original Jelly”. This is visible when attentively looking on the reverse: the thin battery hatch ring is shaped differently on the bottom right part and the circular impression over the inscription “water-resistant” is more to the left then in all other watches. Moreover, the transparent, brown color of the case and the strap is an early attempt to produce colored, transparent cases and straps, as used the first time for the Art-model “Kiki Picasso”. The difference being, that for the “Kiki” they have used a special pigment inside the plastic, which makes the case and the strap changing color (from brownish-purple to greenish-grey) when exposed to different light. This imitates the effect of the mineral “Alexandrite” used for jewelry.
A second attempt to introduced hologram dials was launched in 1985, but also then the idea was scrapped.
GR 700, GN 700, GT 702 Proto-Variant
Many different prototypes with different color combinations of the first 25 Swatch models have been made. We would just like to present a few with special features or with special purposes. The version shown on the picture has a non marketed combination of tan case and blue dial. As explained in the definition section, this is another example of an existing watch, which was planned to be re-issued later.
The special feature of this prototype, a part of the non-existing combination of case color and dial, is the mate dial as compared to the shiny ones used for the market models.
The hands seem to be the same tan color as the case, which would point to a color variant never used in Swatches. Unfortunately the hands would be white and have been darkened because of the exposure to light for almost 30 years.
Unfortunately this piece has been worn and is no longer working.
GN 400, GT 402, GT 403 Ladies Version Prototype
The development process for ladies models began already in 1982, about at the time when the first models have been shipped to the USA to test the market. Because of the difficulty of creating even smaller watches with harmonic design and proportions, the designers also made modifications to already existing models in order to conquer also the market for ladies watches.
The version shown in the picture has a pink painted dial and all-white hands. The painting on the dial is flawed showing some accumulation of pigment in some spots. As we all know Swatch had small ladies models ready for late 1983.
The case used for this prototype is the one for the GR 103, with the only difference of having a date.
This watch is unfortunately a non-working prototype with a replaced crystal.
Tennis Stripes (Patriotique) Prototypes
Both of these prototypes have also been developed by the “Schmüllers” and have never been produced, but they represent two versions of the prototypes made for the model ‘Tennis Stripes’. There were some different designs: one concerning the United States of America with stripes and one or more stars, and one version shows the swiss cross and is held in red and white.
To the same group of prototype belongs also the next modelmaybe the closest of the prototypes for the “Tennis Stripes” model.
Effectively some regard the ‘patriotic’ prototypes as variants of the ‘Tennis Stripes’ model. We prefer to list them separately as they seem to have served different design purposes.
The dial of the watch on the left shows one of the many variations of the configuration for the stripes for the ‘Tennis Stripes’ model. One of the reasons not to take this design was, that the red Swatch logo is not clearly visible on the dark blue vertical stripe.
Both models work and have no codes on the back.
GB103 Proto-Variant and Prototype
This model represents the most successful piece in the 1983 line. As most of the dials of this era it was also designed by Schmid-Müller. It was so successful, that it was considered to re-issue the model with a different colored case (white, yellow, green, red, blue), the same strategy as used for the ‘Don’t Be Too Late’ one year later. The version seen here is the white cased one, which is a working model and has the production code for early 1984.
Another way of re-issuing the same model was to invert the colors of the dial and produce the ‘negative version’ of the GB103. The watch on the picture bearing this version of colors is a non-working study-piece with paper dial and also the production code for early 1984.
As for the ‘Don’t Be Too Late’ Swatch decided not to re-issue the models and to go for completely new lines of watches.
GR103 Prototypes
As for most of the other prototypes of this year, also the GR103 went through many different color combination trials. The right version has the dial color of the GM700, but please note that the font for the numbers is the one used for the GR103, which is slightly different to the ones used for the GM700 and GN001. Moreover it lacks the date opening as well. The dial of the left version remained unpainted and has a slight coppery color. Both watches are mock up’s, that means that cases with no movement are used and the elements are glued in place. The right version retains the ‘sample’ stamp on the back, the left one doesn’t. Both have pre- market chromed, small crowns attached. The left one lacks the crystal.
Unique Gift to the President of the ‘Schweizerisches Rotes Kreuz’ (Red Cross) Prototype
This non-working model is an example of a ‘mock-up’. The case is solid plastic with no recesses for the movement and thus this piece is intended solely as design study. The hands are glued in place.
This prototype had been made for the development of a unique Swatch given as a gift to one former president of the ‘Schweizerisches Rotes Kreuz’ (Swiss Red Cross) in Basel (Switzerland). Most probably the definitive version of this watch has been offered to Mr. K. Bolliger, who was president of the Red Cross in Basel from 1982 to 1988.
The Red Cross Organization had been founded by Henry Dunant and colleagues in Switzerland in 1863 after having been whiteness of the bloody battle of Solferino (1859) which made almost 40000 victims.
Nurse Swatch
To diversify the selection Swatch also targeted specific professions which would take up specific Swatches fitting their field of work. One such field was the use of watches by nurses, to be used as counters for calculating the heart beat frequency.
Swatch also made prototypes to be used by the Swiss military and some watches bearing the names of important companies such as Ferrari, Bugatti and later Coca Cola (see hybrid section).
Swatch Prototypes 