1999
• February-Launch of the Georges Pompidou Centre Collection in Paris
(France). Renzo Piano, the architect vvho designed the Centre, creates
the Jelly Piano. Two other new models - La Sirène et le Marin by
Pierre et Gilles and Time Tranny by David LaChapelle - are added to
the collection.

• 10-14 March - The World Cup ski competition comes to an end in
Sierra Nevada (Spain). Swatch is official timekeeper, launch of the
Swatch The Club watch Space Dreams, sun, snow, fun and a surprise
visit by Nicolas G. Hayek, for the members of Swatch The Club. The high-
light of the event: an unforgettable and racy show entitled Space Dreams
put on by Fura del Baus (1).

• 15 March-People travelling on public transport in Tampere (Finland)
can use three Swatch Access Tampere as bus and tram tickets.

• 8-11 April - Finals of the Swatch Boarder-X World Tour 98/99 heId in
Laax (Switzerland). The event includes live music, DJs and spectacular
performances by the Swatch ProTeam. For the first time ever, Club mem-
bers who went along were able to purchase the first Swatch .Beat
Access, produced in a limited series of 1000 pieces only.

• 22 April - At the European Space Agency’s control centre in Darmstadt
(Germany) the press follows the adventures of the Swatch satellite chris-
tened beatnik (2) on its space mission and meet the Spanish Astronaut
Pedro Duque. Fourteen Swatch .Beat Spacewalk models are produced
to mark the occasion.

• Swatch adds another model to its Olympic collection - the Swatch
Nova, designed by the Aborigine sprinter Nova Peris-Kneebone (3).

• 29 April - Over 120,000 fans follow the launch of the Swatch .Beat
line live on the net in a disco in Antwerp (Belgium).

• As official timekeeper for the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000,
Swatch announces a world first in sports timing during the regatta held
in Sydney Harbour - the site where sailing competitions will be held
during the Games themselves. Thanks to the DGP (digital geo-posi-
tioning) system used by Swatch’s engineers and timing experts it will
now be possible to record false starts (4) in relation to the actual start-
ing signals.

• The new Swatch .Beat Access to the Internet draws the admiration
of customers at the Swatch Megastores in Paris, New York and London
and the Swatch Store in Geneva, as well as Swatch Group shareholders
at their Annual General Meeting.

• Swatch sponsors Biker-X Championships in Plymouth (UK).

• June - Swatch’s Italian Internet site is on the point of bursting be-
cause of a storm of visitors. Reason: the most .beat competition of the
year !

• 12 June - Swatch dedicates a Swatch .Beat, the à, to the italian singer
Vasco Rossi.

• 19 June - The Swatch .Beat line is launched at a magnificent cere-
mony in Singapore under the rnotto ’YNOT2K’ (why not 2 K?), a motto
which Swatch recommends for enjoying the new millennium. Special
music and choreography - Swatch Soundancevision - inspired by
Internet Time.

• 23-24 June - Swatch Head Office welcomes a hundred Gold and
Pioneer Members invited by Swatch The Club International. The high-
lights of the two-day event are the presence of the Swiss artist Matthias
Winkler, who personalises each case for the Swatch Zeit2 model he de-
signed, and a fashion show (5) by the Swiss designer Antoine C includ-
ing fabrics used to make the Swatch straps.

• 26 June - Swatch participates in and sponsors the last Life Ball of
the century in Austria, all proceeds being donated to AIDS research or-
ganisations. Swatch gives five Golden Jelly Skin models to four well
known fashion designers - Vivienne Westwood (6), Paco Rabanne (7),
Daniel Swarovski (8) and Jeremy Scott (9) - who transform them into
unique works of art which are subsequently auctioned on the Internet.
The highest price obtained is CHF 15,555.- (for Vivienne Westwood’s
model) and the total amount raised is CHF 53,766.-.

• 1 July - In Soestdijk (Netherlands) the President of Swatch Watch,
Nick Hayek Jr, presents a cheque for USD 580,000.- to His Royal
Highness Prince Bernhard. This sum, raised through sales of the Swatch
Access Adamastor, will be used for the WWF project to preserve the
fauna and flora of the Bazaruto Archipelago in Mozambique.

• 4 July - Independence Day in the USA sees the launch of the Swatch
Empire State Building (10) in a special packaging modelled on this fa-
mous New York skyscraper.

• 9-18 July - A new Swatch Access model christened Umbria Jazz ’ 99
opens the doors to the 25th Jazz Festival at Peruggia in Umbria
(Italy).

• 16July - Start of the countdown to the new millennium in Singapore
on a gigantic Swatch .Beat in the presence of the Minister for Industry
and Trade, George Yeo. Swatch creates a pair of Special Millennium
watches for Singapore.

• 21 July -The famous Italian football club AC Milan celebrates its
100th anniversary with a Scuba, the 100 x 100 Milan, christened
in style at the San Siro stadium at a match between old and new
players.

• 23 July to 8 August - The Panamerican Games take place in Winnipeg,
Canada, with Swatch as official timekeeper. The Swatch Countdown ’99
is the official watch for the event.