by the industrious Swiss watchmakers

When the Swatch watch first came out a couple of decades ago, it was touted as the Swiss industry’s answer to the Japanese challenge and inroads into a market that had been traditionally “owned” by the industrious Swiss watchmakers.

Thus, one found solid but funky designs that sold for as low as $20 a piece, prompting many young buyers to get three or four models that they would switch or match with their clothes.

However, over the passage of time, the Swatch watch – still avant-garde in design – has edged away from its former niche, making it more expensive than probably intended in those early years of the brand. It is still a good brand to have and I happily sport a Swatch watch that my son brought home from one of his many product launches – I am the happy owner of many hand-me-downs from my son and am not ashamed to admit this – together with a couple of other inexpensive brands that would not worry me if they got misplaced or lost.

Having demoted my wrist-watch to mundane duties, it is clear that one need not spend too much on watches unless one is really fond of them or wants to show the world the real value of his or her net worth. Watches are, after all, just another tool in the game of one-upsmanship.

Enter now watchmaker Altanus, one better known for coming out with fine timepieces made of steel or precious metals like gold. It seems that this Geneva-based watchmaker has come up with a new raw material for its new line of PATCH watches: Paper! Altanus claims that its watches are both biodegradable and environmentally friendly, but also last long because of a special coating that is both hypoallergenic and which prevents wear and tear or seeing the watch dissolve from a combination of water and acid-sweat.