About Swatch group

Swatch Group

THE WATCH FILES

Swatch Group

This selection of Europa Star articles trains the spotlight on the world largest watch group, look at its strategy, plans and performance, as well as its most emblematic timepieces.

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“We must highlight Longines' pioneering role in watchmaking”

“We must highlight Longines’ pioneering role in watchmaking”

INTERVIEW

Last year, Matthias Breschan took over the top job at Longines from the legendary Walter von Känel, who turned the brand into a commercial “war machine”. As (...)

Hamilton, calibrated for a new era of watchmaking

Hamilton, calibrated for a new era of watchmaking

INTERVIEW

Hamilton, which offers affordable mechanical neo-vintage watches, and which committed early on to e-commerce, seems to have a better profile than other (...)

Jaquet Droz, man and machine

Jaquet Droz, man and machine

EXHIBITION

From the end of November, the Swiss brand will take part in a retrospective on robotics at the prestigious MUDEC in Milan. For nearly three centuries, the (...)

With the Spirit collection, Longines pays tribute to pioneers

With the Spirit collection, Longines pays tribute to pioneers

COVER STORY

What do Amelia Earhart, Paul-Emile Victor, Elinor Smith and Howard Hughes have in common? Two things: they showed an admirable determination to set new (...)

A complete review of Omega's new timepieces

A complete review of Omega’s new timepieces

REPORT

Omega, which is champing at the bit after the cancellation of Tokyo 2020 and the postponed release of the latest James Bond movie, has chosen to physically (...)

“Collectors won't be enough for Swiss watchmaking”

“Collectors won’t be enough for Swiss watchmaking”

FRANZ LINDER, MIDO

Mido, a Swiss volume brand specialising in automatic watches, plays a key role in the watchmaking ecosystem as a “transmission belt” between the bottom and (...)

Walter von Känel and François Thiébaud: two “rocks” of Swiss watchmaking

Walter von Känel and François Thiébaud: two “rocks” of Swiss watchmaking

CROSSING PATHS

Who could have imagined, in early 2020, that we’d be where we are today? The pandemic crisis is accelerating change everywhere. Two “rocks” of the Swiss watch (...)

Hamilton: the Pulsar is back – at last!

Hamilton: the Pulsar is back – at last!

PORTRAIT

An all-too rare sign of optimism in a chaotic world? Now the time has come to start thinking about the post-coronavirus world, the new PSR model, a (...)

Swatch: New headquarters and a lot of questions

Swatch: New headquarters and a lot of questions

WHAT’S NEXT

The magnificent “serpent” designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban for Swatch took more than eight years to rise out of the ground and unfurl its coils in (...)

Hamilton: “We're making the most of the vintage trend”

Hamilton: “We’re making the most of the vintage trend”

STRATEGY

While smartwatches are visible absolutely everywhere in the United States, Hamilton, that most American of Swiss watchmakers, is experiencing a strong (...)

Swatch Group: the “vintage & silicon” strategy

Swatch Group: the “vintage & silicon” strategy

INTERVIEW

Mido’s Ocean Star is 75 years old, but its new version, the Ocean Star Diver 600, is equipped with silicon. It’s an embodiment of the Swatch Group’s (...)

Mid-range dilemma: quartz or mechanical?

Mid-range dilemma: quartz or mechanical?

INTERVIEW

While volumes for quartz timepieces continue to decrease in the Swiss watch industry, Certina, one of the oldest brands in the mid-range segment, is (...)

One giant leap for Omega

One giant leap for Omega

EUROPA STAR ARCHIVES

For 50 years, Omega has been capitalising on the extraordinary adventure that made its Speedmaster the first watch to be worn on the Moon. In our July 1969 (...)

Manager or entrepreneur?

Manager or entrepreneur?

EDITORIAL

“Today, lots of brands are led by technocrats who talk about emotion,” says Jean- Claude Biver. We investigated in our archives to find how the figure of the (...)

Glashütte Original, Saxon to the core

Glashütte Original, Saxon to the core

RETRO-PERSPECTIVE

Glashütte Original draws its inspiration from its roots in 1845, from the 1920s with the work of Alfred Helwig, from the 1960s, from its rebirth in the (...)

Streetwear Swatch

Streetwear Swatch

COLLABORATION

For a long time, the Swiss brand has wanted to translate a form of colourful urban culture into watchmaking. It finds natural ties with the Japanese (...)

Jaquet Droz and the Grande “small second”

Jaquet Droz and the Grande “small second”

RETRO-PERSPECTIVE

It was only in the mid-2000s that Jaquet Droz regained a strong identity by delving into its archives and rediscovering a watch from 1785 – a model whose (...)

Blancpain: The unsinkable Fifty Fathoms

Blancpain: The unsinkable Fifty Fathoms

RETRO-PERSPECTIVE

Like many brands in 2019, Blancpain is capitalising on its 20th century icons, and particularly on the adventure of the Fifty (...)

Breguet's unchanging codes

Breguet’s unchanging codes

RETRO-PERSPECTIVE

The imprint left by Abraham-Louis Breguet was so strong, technically and aesthetically, that the successive houses that bore his name have never deviated (...)

Rado: a futuristic brand explores its past

INTERVIEW WITH MATTHIAS BRESCHAN, CEO

Since his arrival in 2011, Matthias Breschan, who manages this Swatch Group brand, has focused on new formats and materials and mechanical calibres to (...)