Swatch & Art, a timeless love story
We believe that art makes the world a better place. From our collaborations with emerging or celebrated artists, designers and architects, to founding the Swatch Art Peace Hotel and from supporting renown art institutions, to partnering with famous museums to bring their reinterpreted masterpieces to your wrists, it is undeniable: our love for art runs deep.
THE ART OF COLLABORATION
1984: Swatch World Breakdance Championship
In 1984, we fused sport, art and music into a groundbreaking event that was truly ahead of its time. The first-ever Swatch World Breakdance Championship at The Roxy, NYC went down in history not only for its electrifying breakdance battles and music but also for its iconic poster, designed by Keith Haring.
1985: Kiki Picasso
Our very first Swatch Art Special is born from our collaboration with highly acclaimed artist Kiki Picasso. The 140-piece limited edition met with great success, paving the way for the "world's smallest canvas" and many impressive artistic collaborations.
1985: Swatch instigates street painting
During a “Street Painting Performance,” we invite European urban artists to put their vision of time on canvas around the Stadttheater in Basel, away from galleries.
Replicated in Paris, London and other cities worldwide, it sets us apart as true pioneers of urban art.
1986: Keith Haring
Keith Haring’s iconic, irresistible cartoon-like figures and unexpected juxtapositions of color, feature on his famous Swatch Art Specials. Pulsing with the energy of 1980s New York, MODEL AVEC PERSONNAGES, SERPENT, MILLES PATTES and BLANC SUR NOIR, instantly capture the hearts of high and low art aficionados alike.
1989: Mimmo Paladino
Italian conceptual artist Mimmo Paladino creates the minimalistic OIGOL ORO which we produce as a limited edition of 140 pieces. We offer the first watch from this edition as the first prize in the "Design your Swatch" contest, which received over 1000 entries, and gift another 99 to various personalities around the world.
1990: Alessandro Mendini
In 1996, Swatch takes on the role of the Official Timekeeper for the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta. Mendini is chosen to lead the Swatch O'Clock project, an ambitious project aimed to merge art and sports. He selects 12 artists one from each Olympic city, who create the 12 iconic Swatch Art Clock Towers.
In the following years, the renown Italian architect and designer creates several Art Special watches. COSMESIS (1990), METROSCAPE (1990), LOTS OF DOTS (1991), SWATCH THE PEOPLE (1992), FANDANGO (1994), TAMBOUR (1994), CRYSTAL SURPRISE (1994), MONUMENTO MENDINI (1998) radiate his deliciously relaxed and playful design style.
In 2016, he adds SPOT THE DOT, a color-happy, dotty design.
1991: Alfred Hofkunst
Alfred Hofkunst captures the art world’s attention with trompe-l’oeil depictions of everyday objects. Sculptural, shapely and unexpected, the artist’s creations for Swatch are small-scale works of pop art. His three unique Art Specials are sold in vegetable markets in Switzerland, Austria and Italy and instantly become a media sensation.
1992: Sam Francis
Known for his expressive, colorful artwork, American artist Sam Francis creates an action-packed painting in watch form. As if it were being painted directly on the wrist, this is a true Swatch Art Special – special art you can wear.
1994: Mimmo Rotella
Rotella creates his décollage works from torn posters, pictures and advertising prints. His Art Specials include MARILYN inspired by the famous pop culture icon and BENGALA, featuring a fierce tiger on the dial.
1996: Nam June Paik
American Nam June Paik is considered the founder of video art. His Swatch Art Special ZAPPING bristles with energy and buzzes with electricity. It is a clever, information-age timepiece infused with the Zeitgeist of the '90s.
1996: Annie Leibovitz
In honor of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, photographer Annie Leibovitz creates an Art Special that bears her own name. The ANNIE LEIBOVITZ features 10 photographs of athletes in training, and is a startling and wonderful tribute to sports.
1996: Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono’s art for Swatch is at once mutely, understatedly elegant and delightfully provocative. Despite its aloof, grayscale beauty, on closer inspection FILM NO. 4 reveals a film-reel series of a derriere.
1997: Arnaldo Pomodoro
Esteemed Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro is known for his geometric bronze works. ROTOR, the first Art Special in stainless steel, packs the punch of the artist’s powerful hand into a small and elegant work.
1997: Huntley & Muir
Su Huntley and Donna Muir’s creative partnership has produced impressive images across a range of artistic disciplines.
Their Swatch Art Specials are no different: WINDMEAL is a tribute to housewives, while LIPSTICK deals with the puzzle called conversation.
1999: Renzo Piano
The architect behind Centre Pompidou’s inside-out design, Renzo Piano brought the same aesthetic to his Art Special, JELLY PIANO. The watch is built inside out and is a celebration of the pure allure of watchwork machinery, and is rendered in cool, collected transparencies.
2011: Swatch Art Peace Hotel, Shanghai
Located in the heart of Shanghai, the Swatch Art Peace Hotel brings together diverse artists from around the world. Residents from a wide range of disciplines stay for periods of 3–6 months, united under one common goal: to create and collaborate.
2013: Mika
Lebanese-British singer, composer and producer Mika, creates the Swatch Art Specials KUKULAKUKU and KUKULAKUKI just in time for the holiday season in 2013. In 2016, he creates the beautifully unique MUMU-CUCURRUCUCU which shines with a luxuriously engraved, gold-colored dial and bright geometric designs.
2013: José Carlos Casado
Multimedia artist José Carlos Casado brought common themes from his work to his Swatch Art Special, OFF: a combination of new technologies with traditional arts, and a confrontation of the real with the unreal and unconscious. He also makes creative use of the Swatch AR’t smartphone app and enhances OFF with an "augmented reality" experience.
2019: Pigcasso
In 2019, we push the boundaries of creativity and positive provocation by collaborating with Pigcasso, a talented pig, and release the exclusive and limited watch, FLYING PIG BY MS. PIGCASSO.
2024: Verdy
We've joined forces with iconic Japanese graphic artist VERDY! The result? A collection of 4 unique watches and one MAXI featuring the artist's most iconic characters and projects.
ICONIC MASTERPIECES REIMAGINED
1988: Fondation Maeght Set
Belgian artists Pol Bury and Pierre Alechinsky join forces with Italian painter Valerio Adami to create the Foundation Maeght Set of three abstract and now highly prized watches.
Swatch x Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York
In the mid ’90s, MOMA acquires a Swatch watch and adds it to the museum’s prestigious design collection which now boasts 3 watches: the GB100 (1983), Jelly Fish (1985) and Jelly Skin (1998). Our collaboration with this influential institution grows over the years, and leads to special exhibitions such as the Workspheres (2001) and Items:Is Fashion Modern? (2017). In our most recent venture, we bring many masterpieces to people’s wrists, including works by Gustav Klimt, Vincent Van Gogh, Henri Rousseau, Piet Mondrian and Tadanori Yokoo, among others.
Swatch x Louvre, Paris
Our collaboration with this historic Parisian landmark started in 2001 with the opening of a store in the Carrousel du Louvre. A few years later, we celebrate Leoh Ming Pei, the architect behind the museum’s unique design, with a Swatch X You canvas, and share a collection that playfully reinterprets Louvre masterpieces.
Swatch x Centre Pompidou, Paris
This Parisian institution is where our love affair with art officially began. Starting with the launch of our first Kiki Picasso Art Special in 1985 and following many successful ventures over the years. Our relationship continues today with the Swatch x Centre Pompidou Collection. The Collection features some of the Centre’s most iconic artworks by reknown artists such as Frida Kahlo, Piet Mondrian and Amedeo Modigliani.
Swatch x Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
In 2018 we collaborate with Rijksmuseum, an icon of the arts in the Netherlands. For this collaboration, we reinterprete three watches based on masterpieces from historical art, complete with contemporary touches.
Swatch x Thyssen Museum, Madrid
In 2018, we also collaborate with the Thyssen Museum to create unexpected yet respectfully contemporary interpretations of three of the museum’s masterpieces by Balthasar van der Ast, Franz Marc and Piet Mondrian.
Swatch x National Museum of 21st Century Arts (MAXXI), Rome
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Swatch Art Peace Hotel, we team up with the MAXXI. During the 12-month collaboration several creative projects emerged: artist talks, exhibitions and even a Swatch X You design dedicated to the 21st century art museum.
Swatch X You – Château De Versailles
Swatch celebrates the 400th anniversary of the magnificent Château de Versailles with three Swatch X You designs depicting the palace’s architectural grandeur, beautiful gardens, and iconic characters. The watches’ customizable designs also come in ready-to-wear editions, where art and history converge.
Swatch x Gallerie degli Uffizi
In 2023, Florence’s iconic museum Le Gallerie degli Uffizi and its renowned Renaissance collection take watch form with two timepieces inspired by Botticelli masterpieces. NASCITA DI VENERE BY SANDRO BOTTICELLI and ALLEGORIA DELLA PRIMAVERA BY SANDRO BOTTICELLI are two romantic, pastel-colored odes to beauty and nature.
Swatch x Louvre Abu Dhabi
The result of this collaboration is a unique mash-up of eras and styles. Hokusai’s traditional Japanese art and Al-Battûtî’s astrolabe meld into one watch to create a watch masterpiece: THE GREAT WAVE OFF KANAGAWA BY KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI & THE ASTROLABE.
Swatch x Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York
Swatch x Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New YorkIn the mid-’90s, MoMA acquires a Swatch watch and adds it to the museum’s prestigious design collection, which now boasts three watches: the GB100 (1983), Jelly Fish (1985) and Jelly Skin (1998). Our collaboration with this influential institution grows over the years, and leads to special exhibitions such as the Workspheres (2001) and Items:Is Fashion Modern? (2017). In 2021 we collaborate with MoMA for the creation of watches inspired by Gustav Klimt, Vincent Van Gogh, Piet Mondrian and Tadanori Yokoo. In 2023 inspired by the works of Roy Lichtenstein we launch two watches REVERIE BY ROY LICHTENSTEIN, THE WATCH
GIRL BY ROY LICHTENSTEIN, THE WATCH.
Swatch x Magritte
In 2023, to mark the 125-year anniversary of René Magritte’s birth, we reimagine two of the surrealist’s famous paintings into two watches: LA TRAHISON DES IMAGES BY RENÉ MAGRITTE echoes his iconic painting questioning the way objects correspond to words and images. LE FILS DE L’HOMME BY RENÉ MAGRITTE pays homage to the artist’s own surreal world, where reality and illusion blur.
Swatch x Jean-Michel Basquiat
In 2023, we pay a powerful tribute to Neo-Expressionist painter/graffiti artist Basquiat with three colorful watches inspired by some of his most iconic artworks. HOLLYWOOD AFRICANS BY JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT, UNTITLED BY JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT, and ISHTAR BY JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT showcase his dynamic imagery and social commentary, and make for a highly desirable collector’s set.
AT THE CENTER OF ICONIC ART EVENTS
Swatch, a main partner of Biennale
We have been the main partner of Biennale Arte in Venice, the world’s most iconic contemporary art exhibition that stands at the forefront of research and promotion of new art trends, six consecutive times. Our support manifests through exhibits we host at the event, as well as a dedicated Swatch Art Specials.
Swatch x Locarno Film Festival
For 75 years, the Locarno Film Festival has illuminated this Swiss town’s summers with cinema, bringing together the most daring productions and talents. Starting in 2023, after supporting the festival for many years, we are excited to become one of its main partners.
