Time Travel to the '90s with Swatch

Swatch turned 25 this year and Gift Gate (the exclusive distributor here in the Philippines since the early '90s) celebrated the silver anniversary with an Ice Theme party last December 2 at Greenbelt 5. It was also the opening day of its new Swatch store inside the said mall. I was part of the production team that put up the event, which was directed by Swatch endorser himself Rowell Santiago. The idea supposedly was to turn the place into sort of an ice bar with an ice piano as the centerpiece. There were even two Alaskan Malamutes to add to the "winter ice" concept of the event. The concept was to put something like this (see photo below). This was a real playable ice piano unveiled in China sometime in January 2008.

Unfortunately given the two weeks notice for the event, the complicated engineering (nobody had the slightest idea how we would be able to smack an electric keyboard into ice) and duh the tropical climate that we have here, this ice fantasy had to melt away and instead was replaced with something like this...

That's Rico Blanco playing on the keyboards surrounded by huge blocks of ice. Good thing Rico Blanco didn't get electrocuted. Hehe. The ice was starting to melt and parts of the floor were already wet. Anyway... despite that little failed attempt, the party turned out okay. Although personally I think it could have been much bigger (hello it's the 25th anniversary) but I guess the Gift Gate people were simple folks. They were quite easy to please. It was just rather surprising to me that they had a very light approach to the event, considering that it was a milestone. I guess, I just got so used to over-demanding, over-critical, and hard-to-please clients. Despite technical mis-cues here and there. the Gift Gate people didn't seem to mind. They were just all happy to be there with all their celebrity friends. For a grand occasion like this, the Gift Gate folks were very relaxed. It was just too (delightfully) strange for me. Personally, I commend them for being true to the theme of the night -- BEING COOL!

And because I had the privilege of working on the event, I got my hands on some vintage Swatch photos that were going to be used for the video materials. Here's a quick trip to the early '90s...



Mikee Cojuangco (left), the first Filipino Swatch endorser, and Geneva Cruz (right). My gosh, I perfectly remember Geneva's first solo album which had Swatch splashed all over it. Remember the Swatch theme song she sang that time? Remember her very first music video for that song "I Like You"? It's on Youtube. Check it out. It will bring you back to 1992... Ahh, those were the days. Remember those colorful Swatch phones that didn't quite make it? Come to think of it, I guess Swatch was just practically ahead of its time. The idea of fashionable phones is actually not a bad idea. They should have just made it as a cellphone instead. They could have paved the way for all we know.

The '90s are definitely back! See... girls are wearing leggings again just like Mikee and Gen did back in the day. Check out Gen's leggings though. I haven't been able to do a lot of shopping lately. Are the stirrup leggings back? I won't be surprised if they are. But please I hope those hair scrunchies don't ever come back. They're the '90s version of the shoulder pads. Let's bury the dead shall we?

And do you remember this TV ad?

Yup that's TJ Trinidad circa early '90s in the infamous Swatch "kiss" commercial. I forgot the full name of this girl Joanne or Joanna something. That ad really made a good dent on me.



The '90s won't be complete without THE SMOKEY MOUNTAIN! Tony Lambino on the left photo and Jeffrey Hidalgo on the right, together with another Swatch endorser Alvin Patrimonio. Look at Geneva, still with the scrunchie. Hehe.

It's kinda funny that on Wikipedia, Swatch was labeled as an '80s fad, when in our case here in the Philippines, Swatch was very much a '90s icon. It was a must-have back in the day. Unfortunately, I don't have my old Swatches anymore. My condo unit was robbed sometime back in 2001 and the thief ran away with my entire watch collection -- Tag Heuer, Gucci, Anne Klein, Technomarine, G-shock, and yes the Swatches!

Anyway, it would be nice to build a collection again. However, I'm just not quite sure if it still matches my current lifestyle. I think I'm leaning towards investing in more classic pieces now. BUT if I had the money (which I don't, hehehe) I would love to give my husband this...

The Swatch 007 Villains Collection! It's a 22-piece collection inspired by the Villains in all the Bond movies. I've seen some of the watches up close and they really look nice. I think this entire collection costs something like $4000. Whoa! You can buy the watches separately. But it surely looks snazzy with the case and all. Anyway, if you're still thinking about what to give your boyfriend, husband or any one of those significant male characters in your life, I think one of these babies would be nice to give.