Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. Swatch Automatic Chronograph
This is just amazing… Swatch released their first chronograph with automatic movement. Now you can buy a Swiss automatic chronograph for less than € 300,-. This perfectly matches with the whole idea Nicolas Hayek once had with Swatch.
News about Swatch producing an automatic chronograph came earlier this year. On October 15th swatch officially introduced five models with an automatic chronograph movement. The movement is an ETA caliber C01.211 that offers 46 hours of power reserve and with the typical subdial layout also found on ETA/Valjoux caliber 7750.
The five models in the Swatch Chrono Automatic collection have the for Swatch so typical plastic case. With a diameter of 42mm it’s available in different colors and with different straps and bezels. With steel bracelet it’s available for € 295 (or $380), with rubber or leather strap the price is € 285 (or $ 370).
In this time of economical crisis the watch industry faces heavy challenges. And right now Swatch comes with this new collection. Personally i’m very impressed to see an automatic chronograph for this price! Will this new move of Swatch bring some light for the Swiss watch industry? Let’s hope it will introduce the beauty of mechanical watches to a new and large audience.
When looking at Tony Li’s photo above, it looks like the sapphire crystal has an anti reflective coating, however i can’t find any solid information on this matter. Although the case is made of plastic, the crown, pushers and bezel are made of steel. The caseback has a crystal that is partially transparent to show the mechanical movement.
The Swatch Right Track has a black case and a black alligator strap. By the way I doubt it’s genuine alligator leather. With the tachymeter bezel it’s a rugged sports chronograph.
Another model, the Swatch Blunge, has a steel bracelet and blue dial. Under the dial it has a ring indicating cities in every timezone, which makes this into a more business style watch.
With the five new models Swatch actually has an automatic chronograph for every taste… and every purse!
18 responses
Hi Frank,
Nice post. I have a weak spot for Swatch, and perhaps you might not even knew this, I have quite a few of them. Mainly city-specials or limited editions, but nevertheless 🙂 Never wear them though.. The small ones are too silly on my wrist and the large ones.. well.. never wear them 🙂
This might be a nice one for Jorg, before he takes the plunge on a Sea-Dweller 🙂
Best,
RJ
Thank you for the good post!
I have always liked the design of Swatch watches. And the new chronograph models look very attractive.
@RJ… this would indeed be an ideal watch for Jorg! Are you gonna tell him or… 🙂
@Ann… i agree, Swatch has a very strong own look and feel, totally unique in the watch industry and in my opinion very refreshing.
hi there,
Have a question about the Swatch chrono automatic watches. Can you display the power reserve remaining? Can one determine how close the reserve is to zero – or to the max (approx 46 hours)?
@Chavdaman… the remaining power is shown by a power reserve indicator. This feature is actually invented for manual wind movements, so you know when to wind the watch again. Most mechanical watches don’t have such a power reserve indicator and personally think it’s obsolete for automatic movement, since they wind when wearing. The Swatch Automatic Chronograph does not have a power reserve indicator.
Hi Dears!
Last week I bought the black one and till now, I don’t have anything bad to report. It’s produced with more love and dedication, than I’d have expected and it runs very exact. I am still checking every evening 😉
However I have one question… Everywhere I have looked it up, it says, that the watches are water resistant. My question refers to that… To what extend are they WR? How many ATM’s. Neither Swach, nor any other report I’ve read so far can tell. Pls help me out, if you shoud dispose over more info than me.
Thank you in advance and Merry X-Mas to all of you!
Regards,
Philip
Hi Philip,
At Squiggly it says they are waterproof to 30 meters. So no deep sea diving with this Swatch 😉
Cheers,
Frank
@mono (19:33) I don’t think a power reserve indicator is at all obsolete for an automatic watch. If you don’t wear it every day it will stop winding in two days. It would be nice to see how much power is remaining so you know you need to shake it, wear it, or (if possible) wind it.
Orient make cheap automatics (no hand-winding capability) with a power-reserve indicator.
@Gavin… i agree it’s not entirey obsolete, especially f you have more watches.
However many people i know have a watch winder for their automatic watches which makes it an obsolete complication.
Yes, this was one of the best ever news I heard for a very very long time. And for € 300 an automatic swatch chronograph is certainly worth the deal. Thanks for the article.Cheers
My wife gave me the second model from left to right in the picture as a birthday gift (end of November 2009). I was really glad about it, because I always wanted to have an automatic chronograph, and this is mi first one. Today I was about to adjust the time and to my scaring surprise, the crown is now very heavy to pull out and to turn, in any of the three positions. Of course I don´t want to turn It applying to much strength to the crown, but I need to know what could be happening to my watch. The movement works really OK, but I don´t know why the crown became so heavy to be turned and hard to be pulled out. I tried the trick of slightly moving forwards and backwards the crown, before pulling it out, but it didn´t work.
Thank you very much.
Hi Gus,
First of all congrats with your new watch. Since it’s an automatic i’m not sure if the manual has some guidelines about winding and adjusting the time. Adjusting time may NOT be done between 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock (on the watch of course). When you set time between 10 and 2, this might go really though, like you describe.
Another thing to keep in mind is the correct order to start/stop/reset the chronograph… mechanical movements are beautiful… but also vulnerable.
Maybe it’s best to take the watch to a local watchmaker… Good luck and i hope you will enjoy it for many, many years to follow.
Shame they don’t make the limited edition gold Moon Phase with an automatic movement. Now that is a Swatch I would buy – even at a premium over the $450 battery version cost. By the way, the watch above could have a genuine alligator strap. They are not that expensive.
HI guys, review is right with only difference.
it of course doesn’t have not at all leather stip, because leather will not protect it from water. The designers gave it a look like leather, but surely its a plastic strip, but its good, no need to feel bad about it, i assure you swatch really knows what they do.
regards.
I am three weeks old of the swatch has bought correct way (the last one of left side to right) and three days ago the indicator of minutes of the cronografo (interior top circle) does not appear in his correct position but it marks approximately 58 minutes, this happened to me after using the cronografo with all normality, that is to say, the clock has not suffered any blow before it I prefer receiving the blow …
It is a clock bellisimo and I try to take care of it very much. The question is, since there adjusts the cronografo of an automatic swatch? In the manual there appears only the adjustment of clocks of quartz according to the model, but he does not say anything of the automatic ones.
A response would be grateful very much friends.
Peace and Good.
I’m sorry to hear about the problem of your watch. It looks like the chronograph minute indicator hand should be adjusted, but this can only be done by opening the watch. I suggest to take it to a watchmaker or the Swatch service center. Good luck.
Hi Mono,
I have just purchased the Swatch Right Track that is pictured on your site. I would like to know whether I should wind the watch and if so how often? I did wind it a little by using my right hand index finger on the bottom side of the winder and moving my finger from south (6) to north (12) direction. Is this correct?
Thanks for your help,
Brendan
@Brendan,
Like every automatic watch, it will wind alone while wearing it. But if the watch is stopped (if you don’t wear it for a few days) you have to start it using the crown on the right side, by turning it a few times (let’s says 10 times), indeed from south (6) to north (12) direction.