Are Swatch Watches Good? Why I Think Swatch Is Just MEH.
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Swatch is one of these brands that I look at and just think…meh. On one hand, they’ve got some history and the infrastructure that some fashion brands would kill for. On the other, they make some bizarre choices with many of their watches, that keep them from becoming a strong recommendation of mine.
To be clear, I’m talking about the mainline Swatch brand here, rather than the umbrella Swatch Group; which owns a bunch of popular brands.
This brand was launched in 1983 and saw tremendous success by capitalising on the quartz crisis of the 1970’s and 80’s with their bright, colourful battery powered fashion watches. 37 years later, they’re very much still here. You’ve probably seen these floating around on social media and in department stores at some point.
I’ve tried a couple of their watches before, one steel model and another plastic one.
Are Swatch Watches Good?
They’ve got that Swiss stamp on the dial but are these watches any good?
Erm, kind of. A lot of there watches are about £50 on Amazon, so I guess you can’t expect much for that price; however, there are definitely some things that frustrate me. I think if they made a couple of alterations and stopped being so lazy, I could recommend them more readily.
Swatch Designs
So, a big upside of these is that they do come in a wide array of dial designs and colours; meaning you’re likely to find one that you like the look of. Undoubtedly, many of these are very polarising - there are some crazy ones out there, but others are much more basic. Both of these fall into the latter category, with simple minimalist designs and I think they look pretty good. I find that with cheaper watches, the simpler designs tend to look the best, without looking too tacky and overcomplicated. Something I will credit Swatch for is their ability to come up with unique and creative designs; there are some homages in there, but generally, they have plenty of dials that you won’t see anywhere else.
Unfortunately, I think the aesthetics of many Swatch watches are somewhat spoiled by the materials they are constructed with. Specifically, the case construction. You’ll notice this green watch is translucent, you can see straight through to the movement from the rear and the strap connection from the front. That’s because this, like the majority of Swatches, is made from plastic. In my eyes, this makes them feel toy-like. On wrist, they do feel comfortable and light, but in a cheap way; like a child's watch. Unfortunately, I struggle to get past that feeling. In some situations, this approach may work well, such as in some of their transparent jellyfish models, but for others it’s underwhelming.
Obviously, they’ve done this because it’s easy to produce plastic in different colours and it’s cheap. Nevertheless, loads of Chinese brands have showcased how easy it is to produce stainless steel cases for a substantially lower price point than this. For a brand as big as Swatch it’s disappointing that their steel models start at a notably higher price point. I think even Timex, with their polished brass cases, do a better job in this regard. If I wanted a plastic watch, I’d spend way less and get a Casio instead.
Swatch Steel Irony
The stainless steel ‘IRONY’ ones are infinitely superior. I have to say I do like the smooth lines on this one and though it is more expensive; it feels like a better way to spend your money on a Swatch. These cases are both sealed but do feature a handy battery compartment, so you can easily switch that out; which I like. This sealed design is great for quartz watches, not so much for their Sistem51 mechanical ones though, where the internals are inaccessible.
Movement
The movements in these are kind of 50/50 for me. On the one hand, these are Swiss-made, which generally means you can expect higher levels of quality control compared to most low-end Chinese quartz movements, used in many cheap fashion watches elsewhere. Also, the resale value doesn’t seem to be too bad, as you can list them as having a Swiss movement and being Swiss-made; which tends to draw more potential buyers. On the other hand, these quartz movements are loud. I’m talking Timex Weekender levels of loud. This could be partially attributed to the plastic case, but it still leaves me with the feeling that these just aren’t very decent. Surely it wouldn’t cost Switzerland’s largest movement manufacturer a ton of money to make something a bit quieter.
Swatch Straps
When it comes to straps these vary. The plastic ones come with silicone straps by default. Which are actually of pretty good quality. They have a ribbed inner to increase the level of comfort and they wear surprisingly well on-wrist. The buckle is only constructed of plastic, which doesn’t fill me with confidence.
I can’t comment on the leather straps, which are supposedly quite good, as neither of these used ones came fitted with them.
Frustratingly Swatch watches are fitted with unusual lugs, that require proprietary straps. In my opinion, this just seems like an anti-consumer money grab, to get people to buy official Swatch straps, rather than reusing existing ones. I’m unsure what their excuse is for this, maybe the lugs on the plastic watches are more prone to breakage without the added support of the extra prongs? Maybe they think it looks better integrated? It might be somewhat understandable on the plastic ones, but I don’t see why the steel models need these. You can buy third party Swatch straps, but there’s just far less choice than with standard lugs.
Why won’t they address any of those previous issues? Because the profit margins they have right now are probably really big.
Watch Sizes
You can get these Swatch watches in a couple of different sizes. Unfortunately, each style seems to only come in a single size, though the most common sizes for each style include 34mm for ladies and 41mm for men. They also do some models at 42mm and over, so larger wrists have a plethora of options to choose from. If you’re a guy with small wrists like mine, there are a limited number of 38mm options, some of which actually look pretty nice. However, they’re far less common at most retailers and they’re harder to track down at affordable prices too, which is a shame. Before researching this post, I was under the impression they didn’t make any smaller men's watches, which shows how limited the options are.
Both of these models have 30m of water resistance, which surprises me, given how easily the battery compartment is removed.
Should I Buy A Swatch Watch?
Interestingly, I don’t know a single person who wears Swatch watches. In the time I’ve been interested in watches, I can’t ever recall seeing one on someone's wrist. Maybe that’s just my local area, who knows?
So, where do these fit into the scheme of things in the watch world? On paper, these are among the cheapest Swiss-made watches money can buy. I see the plastic ones as a bit of a gimmick, I don’t think I’d wear them myself. The steel quartz ones I think are a fairly good alternative to some of the other fashion watches out there. From personal experience, the overall finishing and build quality is, without a doubt, better than the likes of MVMT and Daniel Wellington and the resale value for some models is higher too. So, I think these Irony models make for pretty good fashion watches overall. They come in so many colours and styles, you’re bound to find one you like.
Spec-wise, these are low-end watches and that’s fine, so long as you don’t pay too much. As I alluded to earlier, you can get these cheap on Amazon, but if you’re paying over £60 or so for the plastic ones, or over about £120 for the steel ones, I’d reconsider unless you really like the design in question. There are some great Japanese alternatives out there, both quartz on mechanical, around both of those price points. Bear those in mind when making your purchasing decision.