SWITZERLAND. In front of around 300 media representatives from all over the world – including The Moodie Report from the travel retail press – Swatch today unveiled its new Jelly in Jelly concept and collection in Lugano.
The concept celebrates the 33 millionth Swatch ever produced and continues a strong association with art that began in 1985 with Kiki Picasso.
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| Lake Lugano, suitably blue, was the picturesque setting for the unveiling of Swatch Jelly in Jelly and the artistic associaton with Blue Man Group | |
The first Jelly in Jelly lines – a ten-strong collection from Swatch designers as well as an 11th Swatch Blue watch conceived by musical performance artists Blue Man Group – were introduced today at Splashtival – a spectacular show and public festival in Lugano.
The morning launch will be followed this evening by a dinner and live concert, culminating in a live “˜performance-art’ appearance by Blue Man Group. At the concert a 12th watch will be created by the group through “˜paint drumming’ at their concert. Only 3,333 of these watches – Blue Man Group Art Special – will be produced, all numbered.
The Blue Man Group follows a tradition of artists, filmmakers and fashion designers to have been involved with Swatch Art Specials. They include Spike Lee, Pedro Almodovar and Vivienne Westwood.
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| Four of the 11 lines shown to date. But it’s the 12th, produced during a live performance by Blue Man Group, that is attracting most interest | |
At this morning’s press conference Swatch founder and Chairman Nicolas Hayek said: “We are commemorating a unique situation – some 333 million Swatches have been produced since 1983. There is no watch company in the world who has ever achieved this sort of popularity. It means the population of the earth loves our products.”
Matt Goldman, one of the founders of the Blue Man Group, said that it was exciting to have participated in Swatch’s world-renowned artists’ watch programme. “It’s been professional and artist-driven but it’s also been a lot of fun,” he said.
We’ll bring you comment plus more details of the individual watches next week on The Moodie Report.
MORE STORIES ON SWATCH AND SWATCH GROUP
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Gilles von Burg appointed Swatch Worldwide Travel Retail Manager – 12/04/06
Swatch Group buys sports timekeeping specialist – 07/02/06
Luxury demand boosts Swatch Group; inks Mango deal – 03/02/06
