Swatch Puts the Tate’s Masterpieces on Your Wrist

For Swatch, the humble wristwatch has long been more than a mere timekeeping device. Instead, the Swiss brand has positioned its affordable, Swiss-made timepieces as shrunken canvases ripe for creative expression.

This subversive, art-meets-accessory ethos reached new levels in 1985 when Swatch launched its first ‘Art Special’ collection. Fronted by a decorated Kiki Picasso design, it heralded an ambitious artistic partnership program that would eventually encompass icons like Keith Haring, Nam June Paik and architect Renzo Piano.

Nearly four decades on, Swatch’s egalitarian ambition to “democratise” art and design remains undimmed. Its latest master stroke? Collaborating with none other than London’s cathedral of modern art, the Tate.

The Swatch x Tate Gallery collection spans seven quirky, colourful plastic watches, each one a miniature homage to a canonical work housed within the Tate’s hallowed galleries. From Fernando Léger’s cubist ‘Two Women Holding Flowers’ to Louise Bourgeois’ swirling red ‘Spirals’ sculpture, iconic pieces are shrunken and reinterpreted in kitsch Swatch style.

At just £90 a pop, the playful timepieces bring a new meaning to accessible art. Though crafted from humble plastic, resin and silicone, they represent a rare opportunity to adorn one’s wrist with museum-grade masterworks.

This affordability broadens Swatch’s already democratic appeal. Since 2018, its ‘Museum Journey’ series has partnered with titans like the Louvre, Rijksmuseum and New York’s MoMA to create budget-friendly artistic status symbols for the masses.

Of course, some highbrow critics may bemoan the ‘commercialisation’ of great art by putting revered works on a throwaway plastic watch. Yet such snobbery arguably misses Swatch’s thoroughly modern point: that art should be remixed, reinterpreted and opened up for everyone to enjoy, not wrapped in velvet ropes.

In bringing the vibrancy of modern masters like Joan Miró and Marc Chagall to the streets, Swatch is championing an inclusive, joyfully irreverent celebration of creativity. For that reason alone, the Tate collection feels like a fitting, democratic homage to art’s power as a great flattener and uniter.