Personally, I'd rather my fashion-concious twenty-something niece buy one of these than a $500 Guess or Michael Kors or similar with a $2 chinese movement inside and think she was getting a "really good" watch.

 

With you on that Al, I'm old enough to have destroyed some of the early ones... in the 90's

I draw a bit of an issue with anything that can't be repaired... and is made of a material that doesn't degrade, and isn't infinite... but heck... coffee cups... what's a few million swatches.

 

Interesting in that a steel or aluminum case is much more easily recycled than a plastic case is, so from that standpoint these are better than the plastic Swatches. In terms of things that can't be repaired at all, if you think of items that can't be repaired economically (effectively making them unrepairable) then there are plenty of more pressing products out there. For example, when was the last time you visited a TV repair shop? Probably never I'm guessing - I'm old enough to remember when we had such things...fond memories of going into Mike's TV Repair (Mike was a big guy of Polish descent, sort of a gentle giant) when I was a kid back in the late 60's and 70's. He even made house calls to fix our old TV a few times since it was a huge wooden cabinet with a small screen in it and not easily moved.

In fact the price point of the common alternative given in this thread (Seiko 5's) make them effectively unrepairable. Much more cost effective to slap in a new 7S26 or whatever they use in those watches these days than to pay someone like me 2 times the watches value or more to service it. And don't get me started on the solvents and chemicals used in the servicing of mechanical watches...I deal with them every day. Disposal of them is an issue certainly, since I'm not one of the watchmakers I see who suggest pouring the used cleaning solutions on their property for weed control...

If I was going to choose something to be concerned about from a serviceability standpoint for the environment, Swatch watches would be pretty low on the list.

Cheers, Al

 

As always Al... fair point.

 

I'm almost certain that our grand children will be wading around up to their ankles in disposable watches that aren't bio-degradable! My newest watches are a 2000 vintage Bulova railroad model, and the equivalent in a Rodania. Aside from those, my newest is 26 years old, and my oldest is 150 years old! And chances are they wil mostly live on in the collections of others when I cash it in. Can't change the world, I guess!

 

As Archer says, our disposable society creates far more unrecyclable stuff than the Swatch.

Smart phones, and electronic gadets in general, not just TV's are now a huge problem in most developed countries, Then there's all the sundry devices that are too expensive to repair even if it is technically possible, like toasters, vacuum cleaners, power toolsand the like.

No to mention the packaging that is used and discarded on a dialy basis for just about everything.

Some things are starting to change- EPS and Polyethylene is being replaced by paer products in some situations.

At least the income generated by Swatch goes into the coffers of our favourite brand.

They then fund the likes of the generational pieces that will be here and working for generations to come.

I'd like to think there's a balance to that.

 

if anybody has one of those new 3d printers maybe they could just service there plastic swatch for free!

 

I would already own a sistem51 if it wasn't for the prohibitively large size (42mm, I think?).

 

Cool idea, but it would require either some 3D scanning and then extrapololation of the original, unworn shape or the extensive modeling of the original part in 3D software. I guess you could ask Swatch for their design

Then there's the problem that currently affordable printers only have a resolution of around 100 microns and are limited to a very few materials, and would take many hours to do

So kudos where its due that they have an automated line that can build an tire watch from 51 components without any human interaction

I've got two just because I thought that was pretty cool.

 

Hmmm the sistem51 is ok I guess but for the money I'll take a Seiko5 please.

 

I went to see them today to check out the new SS ones .... Didn't like any of them, they looked to shiny/cheap looking ( I know ... But they look even cheaper ...)

I did, however, like this one quite a lot :

 

The Astrolon, an early attempt at a Tissot plastic watch. Hard to see that the System 51 has higher prospects for success!

http://www.tissot.org/plastic-watch.htm

 

I'm kind of digging this one

 

A bit late to this, but I wandered into a local Swatch shop yesterday and tried out a couple of the new SS Irony line. Dammit, but they are pretty nice, especially this one.



It was surprisingly light, comfortable and seemed not to wear too big for it's size. I also liked the see through caseback and the funky movement finish. The winding was also smooth as silk. The major downside for me is the proprietorial strap issue. With regard to price, it's online in the UK for £127.00, so not overly expensive. I was also informed that Swatch will service these (as opposed to the plastic cased models).

It may not appeal to all, but I think it's a pretty good effort. If you are passing a Swatch retailer, have a look - you might be surprised

 

I think by that, Swatch will service your Irony by replacing the whole head, at your "service" cost.

I've seen a number of SS Irony watches, they are NOT serviceable.

 

I got the original information from Hodinkee (maybe not the most revered of sources) - to quote

"There is one very significant update though: Beginning with the Irony collection, Sistem51 watches will be able to be serviced at certain authorized Swatch watchmakers instead of being completely disposable. Previously you had to just toss the watch when it stopped keeping good time, but now you can keep a Sistem51 going much longer with some simple repairs and part swaps. Bravo to Swatch on this one."

I also had it confirmed at my local Swatch store. What exactly this means I didn't explore. I suppose Swatch could be asked directly about this if anyone is really concerned.

 

Irony, not S51.

 

Did I misapply some descriptions? I'm referring to the potential serviceability of the new System51 Irony range. The ones with stainless steel cases.

 

My apologies. I thought the S51 was all plastic. The only Swatch Irony Stainless Steel watches I've seen require a grenade to open them.

I shall now and go and have a wee dram of Johnny Walker Red as penance.

I shall of course wash that down with a wee dram of The Singleton 12YO.

 

I find interested to learn some Swatch will be serviceable. But I guess there will not be many serviced Swatch as it would quickly cost about the price of another watch.

I have an ETA 2842-1 based skeleton Swatch. It looks good and was the one that get me into watches - so it was a good or a bad present depending on the point of view! It is not supposed to be serviceable, which is a pity because the movement is robust - maybe except the plastic parts such as the Delrin escape wheel (I do not know). When I will have to service it - as it was a gift I will not throw it away and would prefer to keep the original movement - I will have to break the glass (probably the movement side one)...

But, for the moment, I regret I cannot regulate it: the movement is running exactly 20 sec fast a day, and a simple regulation would permit it to keep very good time. But I am not going to break and change the glass to do that...