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To
celebrate 25 years of plastic and the launch of a provocative
new line of ‘villainous’ Swatch watches, Swatch founder
Nicolas G. Hayek invited hundreds of Swatch fans, special
guests and journalists from around the world to a spectacular
multimedia party in Bregenz on 8th September 2008. |
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Guests
arriving at the PLASTIC ROYALE by SWATCH found a huge “Once
Again”, perhaps the most famous of plastic Swatch watches and
still very popular today, mounted on the Bregenz Festival’s
Lake Constance stage. |
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At a press
conference held the morning of the 8th of September, Mr.
Hayek, who inspired the creation of the world’s first plastic
watch some 25 years ago, led journalists from around the world
through a retrospective ‘history of plastic’, showing
highlights from 25 years at the top of the Swiss fashion watch
industry. Mr. Hayek also presented the first models in a new
line of plastic Swatch watches, the Swatch Plastic Chrono,
a series of bold, colourful and attractively priced sports
watches for men and women. |
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One of the new
Swatch Plastic Chrono models plays a role in the second major
piece of news announced to the festive crowd in Bregenz — the
launch of the new Swatch 007 Villain Collection. Each
of the 22 Swatch watches in the new collection evokes one or
more of the memorable villains featured in the 22 James Bond
movies made since Dr. No was released in 1962, and two
special guests were on hand to join the celebrations. Richard
Kiel, who played the metal-mouthed villain known as ‘Jaws’ in
The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker, joined Mr.
Hayek, accompanied by his colleague in cinematic crime, Mads
Mikkelsen, who played the notorious gambler ‘Le Chiffre’ in
the 2006 smash hit, Casino Royale. Bringing the two
components of the PLASTIC ROYALE celebration together, Mr.
Hayek (nickname: ‘Dr. Swatch’) presented
Swatch watch number
22 of the Swatch 007 Villain Collection, a bold, black and
white Swatch Plastic Chrono dedicated to the villainous ‘Mr.
Greene’ featured in Quantum of Solace, the 22nd Bond
film, due for release in November at cinemas everywhere. |
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Later in the
day, the more than 500 guests of Swatch from more than 30
countries were given a guided tour of a remarkable exhibition
of 250 Swatch watches, many of which are rarely seen outside
private collections. Together, these unique combinations of
advanced watchmaking technology, creative Swiss design and
avant-garde marketing tell the spectacular story of Swatch.
Exhibits run from the first plastic Swatch watches of 1983 to
the new Swatch Plastic Chrono collection. |
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Towards evening,
guests on their way by ship to the Gala Dinner were ‘attacked’ by a
menacing crew of Swatch Villains, who arrived from nowhere in two
speedboats and a helicopter! Star Swatch ProTeam Outlaw Géraldine
Fasnacht, who had joined the villainous crew, startled guests with a
breathtaking base jump from the chopper...
World-famous DJ Grandmaster Flash warmed up the crowd with a
sensational performance at the turntable. Australia’s electrifying
Midnight Jaggernauts and Finland’s notoriously entertaining
Leningrad Cowboys drove the crowd to the dance floor with a
fantastic selection of recent hits along with theme music and songs
from James Bond films. |
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L-R:
Richard Kiel (Jaws in the The Spy Who Loved Me and
Moonraker) Mads Mikkelsen (Le Chiffre in Casino Royale)
and Nicolas G. Hayek, Swatch-Founder, present their new
Swatches to the press, at the Swatch press conference on
Monday 8th September 2008 in Bregenz, Austria. (PHOTOPRESS/Gaetan
Bally)
[SLIDESHOW] Star Swatch ProTeam Outlaw Géraldine Fasnacht,
startles guests with a breathtaking base jump from a
helicopter. |
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