My name is Gio and I’ve always been very much interested in the horological phase during which battery driven time pieces were introduced and massively interfered with the multi-century old tradition of mechanical refinements of portable watches, especially in Switzerland.
Researching the watches related to these developments made me realise, that the history and stories behind each singular watch merge to a complex and massively interesting, historical network, combining politics, science and social history. However, not satisfied with the sometimes contradictory resources found online or in books, I started to expand my researches to horological archives.
The proximity to the cradle of Swiss electric and electronic watch developments, mostly situated within the triangle formed by La Chaux-de-Fonds, Neuchâtel and Bienne, has facilitated my access to archival content and has also gradually allowed me to meet with engineers, who witnessed these developments first hand. Latter encounters have fuelled my motivation further to bring the revolutionary work of these engineers to a broader public.
Thus, to enable fellow collectors, horological researchers or just interested people to access the info, I have decided to publish my findings online. The first early prototypes I was able to successfully research were made by Omega, which lead to the creation of the site ‘Omegaprototypes‘. Afterwards, I have considered it more appropriate to split the entries and to also create ‘Electricwatchprototypes‘ to concentrate more on the initially targeted topic of the development of Swiss battery driven wrist watches in general.
The most recent electronic, Swiss, wrist watch phenomenon constitutes ‘Swatch’. In order to describe its origins and developments, I have reactivated, extended and modernised the site ‘Swatchprototypes’.
‘Omegaprototype’s and ‘Electricwatchprototypes’ are complemented with a corresponding Instagram profile (@omegaprototypes, @electricwatchprototypes), where new publications on the respective websites are announced and new findings are presented. The Instagram entries for ‘Swatch’ related topics are integrated into the Instagram feed of @electricwatchprototypes.
Enjoy the trip through the evolution and history of Swatch.
Swatch Prototypes 