Swatch opens spectacular new Headquarters

The new Swatch headquarters in Biel BE was officially opened this month. The 220 million-Franc building is aimed to be the home of creative people and those who work with their hands, the company's CEO Nick Hayek said.

Swatch has never had a propper home, using rather many rented buildings. Nick Hayek said at the official opening of the new headquarters in Biel BE. "For the first time, we have all the brands of the Swatch Group under one roof."

The transparent serpentine building is 240 meters long and made entirely of Swiss wood - it cost 220 million francs to build.

The building has over 400 solar panels. It was designed by the renowned Japanese architect Shigeru Ban. Already 270 employees are working in the new building that though constructed of wood, is without pillars. It is planned that more than 400 employees will work in the open-plan office. Managers have small individual offices behind glass windows.

The attraction of the building is already noticeable, says Nick Hayek. "More young people want to work with us." The Cité du Temps, as the Hayeks call the site, is located at the long-standing headquarters of the Omega brand, where today the new Swatch and Omega museums were opened simultaneously. "Individual admissions are free," says Nayla Hayek. Groups need to book in advance and pay a small fee.

«We want the emotions of our customers, not their data»

Though the  business performance of the Swatch Group is not at its peak,  "Consumption and demand are very good in almost all countries," said Nick Hayek. In addition, he revealed that there will soon be news on the Smart functions of Tissot watches. The watchmaker has not yet launched a smartwatch on the market.

Nick Hayek has never been very enthusiastic about digital watches, "as opposed to the world out there, that believes that digitization can solve all problems, only a creative person can create".

Switzerland and the World  look forward to the next great Swatch innovation!