Brand Watches

Swatch is celebrating 25 years of existence these days.

The company which brought back to life the Swiss watchmaking industry when Nicolas Hayek released a whole new line of plastic watches consisting of 12 eye catching designs, is not doing anything too special to commemorate its quarter of a century of pioneering.

With over 5000 watch models released over 25 years, there are no rumors that Swatch may prepare any particular watch model to celebrate its birthday, unlike its competitor Casio who’s celebrating the 25^th year of its G-Shock brand by releasing new models almost every month.

I’m a little disappointed, but it’s still possible that we may see some surprising releases soon.

Casio Europe and its parent company Casio Computer announced last week that it will be exhibiting at the world’s leading watch and jewellery show, Baselworld 2008, which will be held from 3 to 10 April in Basel, Switzerland. The theme of Casio’s booth at Baselworld 2008 will be Moving time forward: intelligent timing, smart design, unrivalled brands.

A total of 70 watches will be displayed: models in the Edifice brand of metal watches, which are well endowed with time measurement functions and embody the pursuit of speed; solid metal case, solar-powered radio-controlled Oceanus watches featuring the sea as a theme; shock-resistant G-shock watches, a line-up that is about to celebrate its 25th anniversary, and outdoor Pro Trek watches, which feature outstanding sensor capabilities.

The exhibit will convey Casio’s unique approach to watch development, which always aims to provide new benefits to users by combining the company’s proprietary timepiece movements, which make the most of digital technologies, and its superb designs, which use the special features of those movements to their best advantage.

Citizen Watch Co. Ltd. has implemented ENOVIA SmarTeam’s product lifecycle management software and SolidWorks 3D CAD software as part of a company-wide transition from 2D to 3D product design.

“We aim to reduce costs and development time by 30 percent using SolidWorks for product design and ENOVIA SmarTeam for data collaboration,” said Masayuki Watanabe, assistant manager section 2, business process management dept, watch business control center, Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. “We’re very satisfied with the usability and direction of SolidWorks 3D CAD.” A faster design process that encouraged innovation was a key goal for Citizen in choosing a PLM system as it sought an effective way of maintaining a steady stream of new products while staying ahead of the heavy competition in the watch industry.

Citizen Watch Co., Ltd uses ENOVIA SmarTeam as the central repository for product information created in SolidWorks 3D CAD software. Consolidating all product information in ENOVIA SmarTeam enabled Citizen to institute collaborative design processes that shorten the design process. Using ENOVIA SmarTeam’s concurrent engineering processes, multiple designers can now work on the same project at the same time without risk of conflict or error because they are referring to the same product information files.

ENOVIA SmarTeam users at Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. share product data in real-time across processes such as design, production engineering and manufacturing. Collaboration throughout the process enables the design teams to create products that are easy to manufacture. Designers spot and correct problems virtually, rather than in prototyping or production.

“We are proud to have enabled a high-end customer such as Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. to produce high quality products that are quick and affordable to develop,” said Alex Zeltcer, general manager, ENOVIA SmarTeam, Dassault Systemes. “Citizen Watch has taken a phased approach to PLM, gradually and cost-effectively deploying a PLM program over time, with real business benefits at every phase. With flexible and robust PLM functionality, we offer customers an opportunity to achieve a substantially low total cost of ownership.”

“It’s rewarding that a company like Citizen Watch Co., Ltd., so focused on precision and advancing the quality of its products, has standardized on SolidWorks as the foundation of its PLM strategy,” said Rainer Gawlick, vice president of worldwide marketing for SolidWorks Corporation. “We are committed to helping companies like Citizen embrace 3D design in way that leverages the considerable expertise they’ve developed in the 2D world.”

Timex, the country’s second largest watch brand, is focusing on selling watches only in the top end of the market. The company has already phased out all the products below Rs 1,000 price point to boost its bottom line.

The company is also bullish on tapping the new media for products promotion amongst the youngsters. Salil Sadanandan, senior vice-president, sales and marketing, Timex said, “By the year-end or early next year, the company would cut down on products below Rs 1,000 price points.

Initially, the company saw a dent in volumes but it has managed to increase the average price points, for better realisations.” Analysts estimate that the company’s focus on the mid and premium segment would enable it to improve average realisations, increase sales and expand margins.

During the first quarter of this financial year, Timex registered a net profit of Rs 3.8 crore compared with Rs 8.9 lakh for the corresponding period last year. Sadanandan mentioned that Timex is stimulating impulse buying by strategically locating the products in the retail space.

For instance, the company does not display watches below Rs 1000 in the Time Factory. In the long run, the company expects the core business to come from price points between Rs 2,500 and Rs 5000. He said, “There is a need to have control over retail as it has emerged as the biggest marketing medium.”

It plans to open about 150 Time Factory stores by the next year. Similarly, Timex has identified new media as one of the effective communicating mediums with the customers. Sadanandan said, “The increasing cost and fragmentation of the conventional communication tools has made new media a lucrative option.

From the consumer’s perspective companies have to adopt to the emerging mediums as they are the deciding factor in the brand connect.”

The G-Shock Mudman features shock resistant and mud resistant buttons as standard so you can enter any adventure race knowing that you’ll still be able to tell the time at the other end.

Aside from the watch the Mudman features the usual G-Shock options including World Time, Double Stopwatch, Countdown Timer and 5 multi alarms.

Those worried about losing it mid race or exercise needn’t, the watch features a dual catch on the strap for double protection.

Not as big as some of the G-Shock models the only complaint we have is the electro-luminescent backlight which will, for some, make the display (and time) hard to read.

In real terms what this means, is that rather than having the numbers black on white, it’s white on black. There is a backlight, but you still want to clearly see what it going on without having to press a button - that’s what those binary watches are for.

When it comes to personal electronic devices and neat gadgetry, it’s hard to beat the long track record of Japan’s Casio Computer Company, which has always found ways to squeeze more miniature functions into wristwatches than seems possible.
So it is with the new Pathfinder model which is geared to outdoor and weather aficionados.

This neat watch, officially known as the Pathfinder PAW1300T-7V, works as a digital compass, barometer, thermometer and altimeter. Oh yeah, it also tells time. Flawlessly, because of a technology it calls Waveceptor Atomic Timekeeping.

Somehow, those Casio engineers and designers have figured out a way to run this thing through solar power and through a super miniature antenna built right into the watch, it makes radio contact with the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology , and its military counterpart, the U. S. Naval Observatory.

Once you set the time zone the watch automatically adjusts itself several times a day with the Naval Observatory signal. That means when we here in Michigan go off Daylight Savings Time on Nov. 4, the watch will automatically fall back an hour.

Cost is $300 for a watch with a heavy black or green resin band or $350 for a titanium band. More info can be found at pathfinder.casio.com

Sports watches are a great training aid, but what about getting them to do something else, like controlling your iPod? We get out on the track with the new iControl from Timex. Should you tune-in or change the channel? Read on to find out.

Based on the company’s Ironman watch, the iControl adds, with the help of a dongle, Play, Pause, Track skip and volume controls to your watch so you can control your iPod even if it’s out of sight.

Two new dedicated buttons add the iPod control features, but Timex has made sure that the watch features have remained untouched.

There is still a plethora of stopwatches, spilt times, and features such as a 50-lap memory recall chronograph, the ability to store training logs, two interval timers for speed and endurance training, three alarms and 100m water resistance alongside its INDIGLO night light included for sports fans.

Connection is achieved using a Timex branded Belkin wireless dongle and the unit plugs into your dock connector on your iPod, and then allows you to control the MP3 player wireless via your watch.

Aside from the shuffle (it lacks the dock connector), the dongle will work with all the current iPod models including the newly announced nano, classic, touch and the even the iPhone when in flight mode. We tested our unit on an iPod 5th Gen video and a nano.

In practice and the system is incredibly easy to use, turning the unit on instantly pairs the two units and from there away you go saving you messing around with the iPod mid-run.

The results also mean you can lose it in a pocket, shoulder strap, or backpack.

Pressing the dedicated keys on the watch give you the required response and the only things you can’t do is access menu screens, or see the name of the track on the watch screen.

Seiko enhances the Arctura collection with the addition of the new G.M.T. model.

The marriage of Kinetic with a G.M.T. function makes this watch ideal for travelers. The hour hand can be set without disturbing the accuracy of the kinetic movement.

The Arctura G.M.T. features a stainless steel case, sapphire glass and has a water resistance up to 10 bar.

A unique combination of style & technology, The Timex outdoor collection provides you with the watch you need to enhance your lifestyle.

This season, Timex introduces the E-instruments series, a collection of high functionality watches like the E-compass, E-chrono, Ana-digis etc that are designed to perform to the highest level in the outdoor environment.

Expedition Chronograph with INDIGLO Night Alarm and Easy Set Alarm are as follows 4 hour chronograph measures 1/20th second, seconds, minutes, easy set alarm, easy time zone change, INDIGLO night -light, quick-date feature, stainless steel case, adjustable stainless steel bracelet or water resistant leather strap, water resistant 100 metres.

TIMEX Watches Limited announced the launch of its NEW exquisite collection of Ladies Watches inspired by the world of luxury and style.

The NEW collection offers a variety of bold case-shapes including ovals, tanks, rectangles and tonneaus, the collection is united in its modern styling that’s backed by elegance and sophistication.

A unique combination of style and technology, the E-Instruments collection provides you with the watch you need to enhance your outdoor lifestyle.

This new series of Expedition watches introduced by Timex are high functionality watches designed to perform to the highest level in the outdoor environment.

Sanyo will sell its 45 percent stake in a money-losing joint venture to partner Seiko Epson Corp. which aims to quickly turn around the world’s third-largest maker of small- and medium-sized LCDs used in cellphones and digital cameras.

The sale will leave Sanyo, which has already withdrawn from the organic light-emitting diode business and makes no cathode ray tubes or plasma panels, with no display operations.

The firms did not provide financial details of the transaction.

Some analysts said the loss-making status of the venture makes it difficult to estimate the size of the transaction, but terms of the deal could be quite unfavourable to Sanyo.

“There is a chance that Sanyo may have paid Seiko Epson to take the stake,” said Tetsuya Wadaki, an analyst from Nomura Securities Co.

“This is not a positive for Seiko Epson unless they really reshuffle and restructure the joint venture, including job cuts. They have to improve their marketing tremendously,” he said.