Goodbye to the Swatch inventor

Nicolas Hayek, chairman and former chief executive of the giant Swiss watch-manufacturing firm Swatch, died on June 28 at the age of 82. Hayek's greatest merit was his contribution to the saving of the Swiss watch industry, after its deep crisis in the Seventies, thanks to the launch of the famous, colourful, light and modern-looking plastic watches. The first model, marketed in 1983, was made up of 51 pieces instead of the 91 (and more) common in standard watches. Although a number of models and collections, in different materials, were successful year after year, the plastic series had its greatest boom in the Eighties and Nineties thanks to the low cost and attractive design.