Swatch credits Apple Watch for convincing young people to wear something on their wrists

Swatch Group’s chief executive Nick Hayek says that Apple Watch could lead more young people towards the traditional watch industry because they get used to wearing something on their wrists to tell the time.

In an interview with CNBC this week, Mr Hayek reminded reporter Silvia Amaro that the Swatch name was created to mean ‘second watch’. “The idea of Swatch, and that’s why Swatch has this name, is that you are not owning only one watch. You change your watches,” he said.

Owning an Apple Watch, or some other connected timepiece, could lead to people wanting something else on their wrists, Mr Hayek believes. “When Apple decided to bring the Apple Watch, it was fantastic for us because nobody buys an Apple Watch to keep it all the time on the wrist. You change it,” he said.

“So this will make the market grow. And there is space for Apple, there’s space for others and there is of course a lot of space for us,” he suggests.