Swatch has always been the go-to brand for fun, simple, and functional timepieces. The brand’s new Sistem51 HODINKEE Vintage 84 combines the charm of vintage design with 21st-century technology, delivering on style and a significant movement at an affordable price. Swatch’s signature structure is still present in the translucent black plastic case and silicon rubber strap, but a new brushed aluminum dial and advanced Sistem51 movement give it a refresh.
The watch utilizes the brand’s Sistem51 technology, which revolutionized mechanical watchmaking when it was introduced in 2013. It is made up of only 51 components, assembled almost completely by machine. The transparent caseback allows owners to view the Sistem51 at work as its mesmerizing black and white pattern evolves with the winding rotor, charging up its 90-hour power reserve. Though technologically advanced, the design also incorporates traits from the first sports Swatch made in 1984, to which the brand pays homage, as is in the name. Updates like its reinvented bold luminous markers, sword-shaped hands, and an added date window at six o’clock all give it a distinctly modern feel.
This watch is a HODINKEE exclusive, designed especially for the HODINKEE shop with the Swatch creative team. It’s not a numbered collection, but quantities of the edition are limited, so grab one before time is literally up.