I will wear a Swatch, the real thing, from the cradle to the grave. The Swatch of the future will be implanted into the wrist and will tell time with the blink of the eye.It will be biomechanical just like a pacemaker. I was on the resort island of Kos (Greek), when I noticed that my first Swatch, a present of Mia, was trying to get under my skin. It's battery, eroded by the salt water, was starting to corrode and feed on my wrist. Since I always wore the Swatch, even when swimming or showering, I only noticed the growing hole underneath it when I freed my aching wrist from the watch. Aside from that, it's perfect. No one has seen me Swatch-less since 1982.
A life without Swatch, for me, is unimaginable. It will be the only watch I wear until it falls off my wrist. The "plastic watch", as it's referred to by envious admirers, is simply perfect. Along with the army knife, fondue, Duerrenmatt and the Matterhorn, it is another high-quality product which promotes Switzerland. Moreover, it has saved the watchmaking industry from our country from bankruptcy. The Swatch, absolutely perfect in design and function, is so troublefree that one can just forget about it. This probably accounts for the fact that new variations are constantly produced in relatively small editions, inciting collectors mania. Since everyone can afford a Swatch, this mania hasn't diminished despite the recession. Swatchomania struck me around 1991. Since that time, I have been grappling artistically with the Swatch.

H.R.Giger ' 93



Watchguardian, head IV, 
1993, cast bronze, 
polyester and metal, 
50*50*50 cm

Zodiac sign, Pisces, 
1993, cast aluminium, 
115*70*65 cm

Memento Mori, 
bones with Crosswatch, 
bones and cast aluminium, 
30*35*5 cm

Watchguardian, head V, 
1993, cast aluminium, 
polyester and metal, 
50*50*50 cm

Summer Crosswatch, 
1993, cast aluminium, 
60*19*19 cm

Watchoz, 1993, 
blue ballpoint 
drawing, 40*32 cm

Lamp, 1993, 
colored polyester 
and rubber, 80*40*20 cm

Winter Crosswatch, 
1993, cast aluminium, 
64*20*14 cm

Crosswatch, 1993, 
different rubber models, 
23*23*1 cm

Design for Champagne 
Reims, glass and rubber

Chain combined with 
watch tables, blue ballpoint 
drawing, 30*21 cm

Exhibition Catalog,
112 pages, color

Giger's Chainswatch, 
rubber model and metal

Crosswatch

Watchcubes, 1993, 
cast aluminium, 
5*5*5 cm

Crosswatch Easter Eggs, 
1993, bronze and cast 
aluminium, 8*10*6 cm


Left: The Spell Maxiwatch 
(hologramm of Baphomet and Lilith), 1993,
hologram, polyester, plexiglass and metal, 
219*36*15 cm Right: Rusty Maxiwatch, 1993, 
plexiglass, metal, polyester and wood, 219*36*15 cm