Swatch : FAQ Technical Information

• WHAT IS THE LIFE SPAN OF MY NEW BATTERY?
  Between 2- 4 years depending on the size of the battery and the function of the movement (for example Chrono)

• WHAT IS A CHRONOMETER?
  A watch tested for accuracy and reliability at the official control centres.

• WHAT IS GMT – GREENWICH MERIDIAN TIME INDICATED ON MY SWATCH?
  Greenwich, England has been the home of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) since 1884. GMT is also called Greenwich Meridian Time because it is measured from the Greenwich Meridian Line at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. Greenwich is the place from where all time zones are measured.

• WHAT IS THE TELEMETER FUNCTION?
  The function Telemeter (Stormeter) is noted on the dial or bezel of the Swatch models “Take Some Minutes - YCS481” and “Rosso Furore - YCS494G” (from the professional dictionary of watch-making) 

  It is an instrument for measuring distances. In horology, it is a timer or chronograph with a graduated dial enabling distances to be read off on the basis of the speed of sound through the air at 0°C., viz.333 1/3 metres per second. The time that elapses between the flash of an explosion (firing of a gun, lightning) and the hearing of the noise makes it possible to read off on the dial the distance between the observer and the position of the flash.

  Concretely, it means that when you see a flash (ex. thunder) and you count the time with your Chrono (ex. 6 seconds). On the dial it appears the distance of the flash: 2 Kilometres! 

• WHAT IS SHOCKPROOF?
  The watches indicates as “Shock Resistant” are watches of which the residual effect on the precision after standardized shocks does not exceed 2 second per day for quartz watches and 60 second per day for the others, according to the standard ISO 1413, or NIHS 91-10 which is the equivalent standard for the Swiss watch industry.

• WHAT IS THE SWATCH LOOMI FUNCTION?
  The Swatch with the active, glowing face. An electroluminescent layer glows with energy from the battery.

• ARE SWATCH WATCHES WATER-RESISTANT?
  We are indicating that Swatch watches are ´water-resistant´ to an overpressure of 3 bar or 10 bar or 20 bar depending on the model of the watch. These indications correspond to the pressure exercised during the water-resistant test according the ISO norm 22810. The indicated values are equivalent to the hydrostatic pressure exercised in immersion at 30 m, 100m or 200 m in the water. Every Swatch watch will remain water-resistant provided that the crown, pushers, glass, case and gaskets remain intact. (Crown and pushers must never be manipulated under water!)

• WHAT IS THE SWATCH INTERNET TIME FUNCTION?
  Internet Time is a new universal time created by Swatch. With this new way of timekeeping, there are no more time zones, as the entire world is happening at the same time, at the same moment. Internet Time divides the 24 hours of a day into 1000 units called beats. 1 beat represents 1 minute, 26.4 seconds. Internet Time is displayed by @ and three digits, ranging from @000 to@999. The internet day starts at midnight (@000) in Biel, the home of Swatch.

• WHAT IS THE SWATCH TACHOMETER FUNCTION?
  The dial on the face of a chronograph used to measure the speed in kilometres/metres per hour (and not miles). On the majority of the Swatch Chrono models, the tachometric scale on the dials (bezel) allows the reading of a speed measurement, directly in kilometre per hour (Km/h). The speed measurement must be carried out inside a time interval of maximum 60 seconds for distances of 10, 100 or 1000 meters. For a measurement on 1000 meters, the figure read on the tachometric scale corresponds directly to the speed in km/h.For a measurement on 100 meters, the figure read on the tachometric scale must be divided by 10 to obtain the speed in km/h. For a measurement on 10 meters, the figure read on the tachometric scale must be divided by 100 to obtain the speed in km/h.

• WHAT IS A QUARTZ MOVEMENT?
  A quartz watch uses an oscillation of quartz to define the time. The quartz has the propriety of oscillation with a precise frequency when it is stimulated electronically. A crystal oscillator is an electronic circuit that uses the mechanical resonance of a vibrating crystal of piezoelectric material to create an electrical signal with a very precise frequency. This frequency is commonly used to keep track of time (as in quartz wristwatches), to provide a stable clock signal for digital integrated circuits, and to stabilize frequencies for radio transmitters and receivers. The most common type of piezoelectric resonator used is the quartz crystal, so oscillator circuits designed around them were called "crystal oscillators".  In other words: quartz is a stable vibration that gives regularly impulses. Through the “circuit integer” impulses are given to the wheels of the hands.

• WHAT IS THE SWATCH CHRONOGRAPH FUNCTION?
  The Swatch Chrono is a watch with a stopwatch function. This additional mechanism makes it possible to measure and record short times. By clicking on the push buttons, the hands of the chronograph (seconds, minutes, hours) can be started, stopped, or reset to zero.

WHAT IS THE SWATCH ACCESS FUNCTION?

The Swatch Access is the multifunctional, interactive Swatch with a built-in-memory. The Swatch Access houses a technologically advanced microchip that enables the watch to carry unique information. The first Swatch Access (Snowpass) was introduced on the ski slopes in 1995, and comes equipped with a microchip that stores ski pass information and other data. It can now be used in over 700 resorts worldwide. The watch has an antenna that communicates with a scanner system at the ski lift entrance. The Swatch Access watch can be programmed to open turnstiles, doors and locks of any kind. It has been used as entrance key for special events.

• WHAT IS AN AUTOMATIC?
  Mechanical watch that doesn’t need a quartz movement: the movement from your arm powers the mechanism. The energy does not come from a quartz movement with a battery, but arises from the moving of the arm. An oscillating weight, which rotates when the watch is worn, winds up the drive spring. Mechanical watches are more fragile than quartz watches. They react more sensitively to temperature fluctuations, knocks and the way they are worn. Therefore, a mechanical watch does not run as precisely as a quartz watch and inaccuracies of -5 to +40 seconds per day can arise. From experience we know that the mechanical watches tend towards inaccuracy as long as there are new. This usually regulates itself with the time.

• WHAT IS UTC - COORDINATED UNIVERSAL TIME INDICATED ON MY SWATCH?
  Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is a high-precision atomic time standard. UTC has uniform seconds defined by International Atomic Time (TAI), with leap seconds announced at irregular intervals to compensate for the earth is slowing rotation, and other discrepancies. The leap seconds allow UTC to closely track Universal Time (UT), which is a time standard based on the earth is angular rotation, rather than a uniform passage of seconds.

  Time zones around the world are expressed as positive or negative offsets from UTC. In this role as the zero-point reference, UTC is also referred to as Zulu time (Z). UTC is often referred to as Greenwich Mean Time when describing time zones, although strictly speaking UTC (atomic time scale) is only approximately the same as GMT.

• WHICH WATCHES CAN BE USED AS SNOWPASS?
  Please take note that the Snowpass watches with the 125Khz Technology are no longer working properly. Ski resorts are slowly renewing their chip-reading systems and this means that Snowpass watches with the 125Khz technology are less readable. Please contact your ski resort concerning all other Snowpass watches. If you would like to use your Swatch watch as a Snowpass watch, please use watches with 13.56Mhz technology. The following watches have been integrated this technology.

  13.56Mhz Swatch watches are:

  SUKB400 - SUKW100 - SUKM400 - SUKR100 - SUKI100