Following extremely strong growth in 2007, the Swatch Group based in Switzerland recently reported a further good year for 2008 with gross sales up 4.3% to SFr 5.966 million. The group’s core business – the segment covering watches and jewellery saw an increase of 6.6% to SFr 4.796 million – whilst the production segment also saw solid growth with sales increasing by 7.7% to SFr1.810 million.

The Swatch Group anticipates a challenging environment in 2009 but nevertheless expects moderate growth especially in the second half of the year. The group reported that January 2009 sales, as well as orders for February and March, confirm steady improvement in every month compared with the year end trends, and even compared with the extremely successful record first months of 2008.

The company was one of the first watch producers to adopt metal injection molding for its stainless steel Swatch Irony watch cases and bracelet parts, and its Micro Components subsidiary operates one of the world’s largest MIM plants in Grenchen, Switzerland.

Swatch also uses MIM at its Comadur SA subsidiary to produce Rado watch cases from ceramics, cermets, and hardmetals.