Read from CNN:
Swatch, the Swiss watchmaker, is trolling the 39% tariffs that the United States placed on its home country by selling a watch that flips the location of the 3 and 9 numerals.
The tongue-in-cheek new watch — dubbed “WHAT IF … TARIFFS?” — is inspired by the “current events unfolding in today’s world,” according to the description on its website. Swatch jokes that the new watch is “hopefully just a limited edition.”
“The inversion of Arabic numerals 3 and 9 on the dial subtly references the number 39,” the page says. “Paired with the percentage symbol found on the battery cover, this inversion hints at the US tariffs imposed on Switzerland and the deeper narrative woven into the watch’s design.”
A Swatch spokesperson told CNN that the watch is a “positive provocation,” and the brand will stop selling the watch when a deal is reached between the United States and Switzerland. Demand is “so high that we are full steam ahead with production,” the company added.
“We need to wake up our government, which seems to have forgotten about this issue,” Swatch said in a statement.
Their needling is for good reason: The United States is the biggest customer of Swiss watches, with exports amounting to $5.4 billion in 2024, according to data from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry.
Swatch, the Swiss watchmaker, is trolling the 39% tariffs that the United States placed on its home country by selling a watch that flips the location of the 3 and 9 numerals.
The tongue-in-cheek new watch — dubbed “WHAT IF … TARIFFS?” — is inspired by the “current events unfolding in today’s world,” according to the description on its website. Swatch jokes that the new watch is “hopefully just a limited edition.”
“The inversion of Arabic numerals 3 and 9 on the dial subtly references the number 39,” the page says. “Paired with the percentage symbol found on the battery cover, this inversion hints at the US tariffs imposed on Switzerland and the deeper narrative woven into the watch’s design.”
A Swatch spokesperson told CNN that the watch is a “positive provocation,” and the brand will stop selling the watch when a deal is reached between the United States and Switzerland. Demand is “so high that we are full steam ahead with production,” the company added.
“We need to wake up our government, which seems to have forgotten about this issue,” Swatch said in a statement.
Their needling is for good reason: The United States is the biggest customer of Swiss watches, with exports amounting to $5.4 billion in 2024, according to data from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry.
