Nick Hayek Jr once made an often repeated statement, “The Swatch watch saved the Swiss industry”. With that in mind, meet the original plastic watch. The Tissot Research IDEA 2001, launched in 1972 as a budget mechanical to fight quartz. The hermetically sealed Calibre 2250 movement is mostly self-lubricating plastic – Astoundingly the only metal parts are the keyless works, pivots, balance, and springs. The idea behind the IDEA was to have a disposable Swiss watch that was super affordable.

The early 70’s was a heady time, as the industry was about to undergo radical change. The Neuchatel Observatory chronometer trials had just closed and the first automatic chronograph watches had emerged. Hamilton Pulsar had plans to launch their LED in the spring of 72 and LCD was on its way. At the onset of the quartz revolution, Tissot must have hoped they had a winner with this funky affordable Swiss timepiece, but history tells us it failed. Or did it?

The watch is a super comfortable featherweight at 26 grams, 38.7 mm wide and 44 mm lug to lug. The Roman numerals look dated, but the transparent bridges and plates reflect light interestingly and the inverted balance swings playfully. No oil painting, it’s a triumph of character over beauty. The movement contained just 52 parts compared to the usual 91.

The lessons of history teach us, that nobody learns the lessons that history teaches us – except perhaps Swatch, because just over 10 years later, the Swatch watch was released– a disposable plastic quartz with 51 components. That was a huge success. Then came the Swatch Sistem 51 in 2013 – a plastic mechanical watch with only 51 components. The Swatch group always had access to the original Tissot Research Idea 2001 archives – so it’s not too much of a stretch for Tissot to say, (Darth Voice), “Swatch and Sistem 51, I am your father”.