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Remember when: Swatch watches

Filed under: Accessories

Back in the awesome 80s, one of the coolest things you could own (or at least that's what they say on VH1's "I love the 80s" ) was a Swatch watch.

People often assume that the word Swatch is a contraction of the words "Swiss Watch." But it's not -- Swatch is supposedly the shortened version of "Second Watch," which actually describes what the company intended to do with the line when it was first introduced in 1983. Swatches were supposed to be literally your second watch (and sometimes your third, fourth, fifth or sixth) -- the casual one or ones you wore on weekends when your dress watch seemed slightly out of place.

And because they were relatively cheap, people bought them up feverishly. But the popularity burned up after a few years. Eventually, the Swatch went the way of so many other trends from that decade by disappearing into the tight rolled ether.

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