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Cutting edge designs from Swatch for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. |
SWITZERLAND. Swatch has unveiled the latest additions to its Olympic Collection.
The latest lines are part of the Swiss watchmaker’s celebration of the Olympic movement and the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.
Swatch is the official timekeeper of the Olympic Games, playing this role in Athens as well as the Winter Games in Turin in 2006 and Vancouver in 2010 as well as the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.
The latest additions to the collection feature materials and forms that highlight Swatch traditions, from precision technology to contemporary art, cutting-edge design and the latest fashion trends.
Here are brief details of the models:
Olympia 776 BC: Featuring the colours and forms of ancient Greek vase paintings, considered hi-tech products of their time and a canvas for artists. Decorative patterns form ornamental frames and borders for the figures. This watch commemorates the first Olympic Games in 776 B.C.
Athens 1896: Celebrating the first modern Olympic Games, held in Athens in 1896. The mechanical movement, which is visible beneath the face and from the back, features selected components made of coloured plastic – the coloured rings are those of the five interlocking rings associated with the Olympic Games.
Athens 2004: A slender, hi-tech design, 6.6mm thin watch to honour this year’s event. High-contrast blues, white and silver mark the hi-tech presence of time.
Special Moments: A commemorative trio of the watches mentioned above celebrates the past, the coming of age and the future of the Olympic Games. All three models are sold in special packaging shaped like the columns in a Greek temple.
Run Time: This new launch celebrates Swatch’s role in providing timing and measurement systems for every race and competition at Athens 2004. The watch is an Irony Chrono with a strap that evokes the “˜heat of competition, runners flying from the blocks at the starter’s gun and sprinting to a photo finish’.
Special packaging for Pheidippides Marathon watch: This watch honours the legend of the marathon – Pheidippides was the messenger who died after heroically running the distance of the marathon to bring news of a famous battle victory by the Greeks over the Persians in 490 B.C. This year’s Athens marathon will be run on that historic course from the town of Marathonas to Athens.
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The Pheidippides Marathon watch packaging comprises a black box holding the Diaphane Chrono watch. |
Swatch has designed special packaging for this watch. A black box holds the Diaphane Chrono, displayed at the base of long black steps descending on either side from the rim of the case to a solemn black stage. Opposite the stage is a three-dimensional map showing the route from the coastal battlefield to Athens. An inscription in Greek shows the route and the distance – 42,195km. Accompanying the map is a leaflet with the history of the event.
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