(With apologies to Norman Cook.)
A new year, (and look, it’s February already!) means a post about time. Er, and it’s about time, as this has been sitting in my drafts folder for waaaay too long.
When I first started working at Thoughtworks way back in 2012 - it was my first experience of being part of an international team. We had offices globally, and colleagues in IT from all over the world… in contrast to Imperial College, where we only had one timezone to deal with but people from all over the world.
But it wasn’t until joining the Identity team - a remote-first team scattered all over the globe, that I really had to worry about timezones.
And somewhere, in the back of my brain, I was reminded of Swatch Beat time.
Swatch beat time you say?
Well, yes. Swatch’s take on decimal time (a concept originally proposed during the French revolution) - where a day is split into 1000 beats - with one beat being 86.4 seconds which is… well, it’s certainly a thing…
(you’ve no idea how much faffing was required to add Beat time to this website. This post was mostly finished months ago, but, no, “someone” got distracted by the possibility of adding some javascript code to my static site… oh well… it looks good though? Right?)
BUT - the clever (?) part was the idea that beat time had no timezones. So @416 Swatch beats is the same in New York, London, Paris or even Munich.
Which also disconnects Swatch beats from reality, as it’s not as simple as knowing that @416 Swatch beats are morning, afternoon or evening… they’re just a measurement of time.
I talked about this silly concept with my international colleagues for a bit. And, they smiled and nodded and forgot all about it. Whereas I’d managed to convice myself. Back in 2018 I hit eBay and found one of these unloved turn of the century curios.
And I wore it for a bit… although setting it up was baffling. And, of course, towards the end of 2017 I bought my first Apple Watch, which was a more exciting toy than a novelty Beat watch. So I started wearing it a lot less. And then the strap broke, the battery died, and I forgot all about it…
…until last summer.
Why was I faffing about with my old watch? This summer we went on a 2cv road trip and I couldn’t face trying to keep my smart watch charged whilst on the road. And besides, a road trip is always a good time for a digital disconnect - time to experience the world through a windscreen, not a phone screen.
intermission…
Did you know the lovely people at your local Swatch store will replace the battery for you, free of charge? (Or, especially if your battery is free of charge… ahem </coat>) - but alas, not if you have an early Swatch Beat watch, as they use a 350 battery, which is hard to find. My local Swatch shop was able to test my “new from Amazon” battery, to prove it was faulty - which got me a refund, so that’s a result but…
oops, I bought one again…
Unsure if there was something up with my Beat watch, or if it really was just a duff battery - I was browsing eBay again and… oops. Yes, I ended up just, er, buying another Beat watch. What can I say, it was an eBay bargain with a seller offer to sweeten the deal.
It also came with an instruction manual (that I should really scan and put online) which means now I finally understand how my original beat watch is supposed to work.
What I found most intriguing about the new watch though, is it was perhaps 5 years newer than my first one (It has an Athens Olympics 2004 strap!). And 5 years on, Beat time has been de-emphasised (is the best way I can describe it). My original watch has a “Beat time only” mode, where it shows Beats and the date - but you can also display “normal” time alongside Beat time.
On the new watch, Beats are only shown in the final mode. Sad, and on their own, the last of the many options, past dual time and stopwatch and timer… like Swatch themselves are kinda embarrassed by the whole thing, and are really just selling a funky chunky digital watch, to compete with things like a Casio G Shock.
However, the newer watch uses a standard battery. The lack of 350 batteries means my original watch will die completely eventually. And, when it does, I think I’ll miss it.
I mean all things 90s are fashionable right now, perhaps Beat time is ready for a comeback. I won’t hold my breath though…
further reading:
https://www.ablogtowatch.com/when-swatch-introduced-the-metric-system-of-timekeeping-with-beat-time/
https://gwil.garden/internet-time/