Swatch Partners with MoMA on a New Collection Inspired by Great Modern Art

Swatch has announced a new series of watches that are part of their long standing partnership with New York City’s Museum of Modern Art. MoMA is a natural partner for Swatch, which has championed modern art throughout much of its history, working with creators to make a variety of limited edition watches that have become highly sought after over the years. And MoMA even has historically important Swatch watches in their permanent collection, so new watches from Swatch bearing the MoMA signature are an exciting thing for collectors. This series of six watches takes inspiration from six works of art in MoMA’s collection, and offers a look that is uniquely Swatch in every way. The star of the show, however, might be the way Swatch and MoMA have implemented the collector’s set in a completely charming presentation box.

Each watch in this collection takes a painting and essentially transposes its most characteristic features to the form factor of a watch. The artworks that have been used are The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh, Hope, II by Gustav Klimt, The Dream by Henri Rousseau, Composition in Oval with Color Planes 1 by Piet Mondrian, The City and Design, The Wonders of Life on Earth, Isamu Kurita by Tadanori Yokoo, and New York by Tadanori Yokoo. The artwork used as inspiration is highly varied, and spans a period of nearly 100 years. The Dream, The Starry Night, and The City and Design, The Wonders of Life on Earth, Isamu Kurita are built in Swatch’s larger 41mm case size, while New York, Composition in Oval with Color Planes 1, and Hope, II use a 34mm case. 

Of course, each watch is available to purchase individually, but art lovers, collectors, and folks looking for a great MoMA souvenir will definitely want to opt for the boxed set. Swatch and MoMA have partnered to create a special box design inspired by the museum’s distinctive Blade Stair. The four story steel stairway is part of the recent addition to the museum’s campus which opened in 2019, and is dramatically suspended and viewable from outside the museum. It has a sculptural quality to it all its own, and has immediately become recognizable as part of MoMA’s facade. 

In addition to news of these watches, Swatch has also used this release to announce the inclusion of three new artworks by Beatriz Milhazes in the brand’s Swatch X You platform, which allows collectors to create their own customized watch using any of a number of pre-selected designs. All three pieces by Milhazes featured on Swatch X You are part of MoMA’s collection. 

The new watches announced this week will be available on March 4. Keep an eye on Swatch’s special landing page for the collection, which is where you can expect pricing and ordering information once the watches are released.