Swatch Group Chairman Nicolas Hayek Passes Away At 82

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed)
Jun 28th 2010 at 7:01PM

One of the richest men in the world and often cited "savior of the Swiss watch industry" Nicolas Hayek has recently today. His history is closely linked with the Swiss watch industry that he helped pull out of doom by creating the Swatch Group. Forming the low-cost Swiss Swatch watch brand of quartz watches helped fund and keep alive the mechanical watch industry that Hayek adored and fought for since the 1980s. If you own a Swiss watch, chances are it was somehow influenced or made possible by Mr. Hayek. Read more about him here on Wikipedia.

Born in Lebanon in 1928, Hayek moved to Switzerland early in life. A series of clever business moves and initiatives brought him to a fateful time in the early 1980s when the quartz crisis (as the Swiss call it) was threatening the mechanical watch industry with much cheaper quartz movement based watches from places like Japan. It was a key time of "do or die" in Switzerland, and Hayek really did an incredible job of keeping Switzerland's most famous export alive, and even thriving.

His death was sudden and unexpected. He remained working until his final moment. As far as I know, his death was without much or any prior medical notice. Hayek prided himself on being the soul voice of the Swatch Group. Giving interviews and answering questions daily. I unfortunately had some interview questions with him pending at the time of his death, which I doubt will answered posthumously. While it is not clear who will take over for Mr. Hayek, it will likely be his son Nicolas Hayek Jr. Switzerland and the entire world of watch lovers mourn on this day for the late and great Nicolas Hayek.

See the official announcement here from the Swatch Group.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: chairman, death, died, dies, hayek, nicolas hayek, swatch