It is a little known fact that during the Swiss watch industry’s most terrifying years in the quartz revolution, Swatch came to its rescue and took on the three giants in Japanese watchmaking. This resistance gave high end Swiss watchmakers a chance to come up with a winning strategy to safeguard the industry. Since then, Swatch has sold its 6,000,000th timepiece to their very loyal fan base. Swatch has always been at the helm of innovation and has made owning a Swiss timepiece mainstream.
The System 51, which was released early last year, has been responsible for a surge in watch sales for this Swiss made brand. The magic of this watch lies all in the movement. This watch represents a world first where the entire movement is assembled using automated processes. Also what is fascinating about the System 51 is that it only contains 51 components. Most other watches need at least 200 parts to create a functioning self-winding movement. 51 happens to be Swatch’s lucky number.
The components are welded together to form a single assembly around a central screw. This amazing movement is made completely out of ARCAP, which is an alloy of copper, zinc, and nickel. This alloy exhibits exceptional anti-magnetic properties and is sealed to prevent the interference of dust and moisture. The escapement is devoid of a regulator; instead Swatch lasers the escapement, which sets the rate. This negates any adjustments needed by a watchmaker. Swatch endows the System 51with am incredible 90 hours of power reserve.
The case is made from plastic and allows for an exhibition case back where one can view this groundbreaking movement. Another great feature is the transparent oscillating rotor, which gives an unimpeded view of the whole movement. The Swatch System 51 is fitted with a black rubber strap with contrast stitching complementing the color of the plastic case.
