Horological Meandering

Some people idolized him as a demi-god; others reviled him, but I can think of no one who, with any objectivity, could disagree with the statement that he was a great man.

Biel/Bienne, 28 June 2010 - With deep sadness and regret we inform you that Mr. Nicolas G. Hayek, Chairman and Delegate of the Board of Directors of The Swatch Group Ltd. unexpectedly passed away today due to heart failure during work at his beloved Swatch Group.

 

I had the great honor to interview Mr. Hayek a few years back, and what comes through today as clearly as it did those many years ago is the power, the vision, the humour of the man.

click here to read ThePuristS' interview of Mr. Nicolas G. Hayek

 

May he rest in peace.

TM This message has been edited by MTF on 2010-06-29 06:11:21 This message has been edited by ThomasM on 2010-06-30 16:55:11

RIP

I was just reading about him in the WSJ.com weekend magazine that came out  afew weeks ago. 

Wow, he certainly had vision and was instrumental in horology. 

This message has been edited by ocwatching on 2010-06-28 10:29:14

Lie with his family and friends.

He shall be sorely missed,throughout the horology world.

my condolences and deepest sympathies to his family...

Nobody can stay indifferent to Nicolas HAYEK.

I'm sad to hear that news.

Best and friendly thoughts to his family.

Nicolas

Even though this man leaves this world, he left us with the mission to live a creative life full of dreams. Let each one of our acts take us further.

May God be with him and his family.

(Interview referred on one of the first posts)
magazine.wsj.com

for the loss of this truly magnificient personality, endowed with character, wisdom, vision and courage.


Without him, the watch landscape would be a different one.

Without him, Switzerland, but also Germany and many other countries would be different entities.

Without him, the world would have been without an important critical and often dissenting voice.

Without him, society would have to do without a great entrepreneur, rejuvenator and philanthrop.

His influence entends greatly beyond the horological world.


I would like to bow before Nicholas G. Hayek.

In this sad moment, my sympathies to his family, friends, colleagues and employees. May he rest in peace and have a watchful eye on us.
Magnus

to his family & friends....

He will be missed, but, also, be remembered....

May he rest in peace....

to the Hayek family and all at the Swatch Group.

Though he single handedly created a huge conglomerate he was the "person" and "face" behind the company.

I had the privilege of corresponding with him a number of times regarding matters of horological interest.

May he rest in peace and be remembered for his contributions in saving the Swiss watchmaking industry back in the 1970's.

With my personal sympathies,
Jack Freedman

P.S. There were numerous interviews done but here's one from a fellow Purist:

www.thepurists.net

And let's also remember he had vision outside of watches. I never met him directly regrettably but had small involvement via the very early concept days of the MCC Swatch car project that ultimately became the Smart. Clearly one of the great autocrats.

Condolences to his family.

Velociphile

Mr. Hayek and Swatch has meant a lot for the whole watch industry.

 

My sympathies to his friends and family.

 

Blomman

.... I think it is safe to state that without Mr. Hayek, the Swiss watch industry would have shared the fate of its competitors in France and Germany. His boldness and energy should be remembered forever!

Regards,
Marcus

NT

His explosive vitality, his crystalline qualities, his magnetic charisma, make it - simply - an immortal.
Arrivederci Nicolas!

From every interview he seemed to live live fully and with passion - I'm sure he was happy to have passed away working at his legacy firm.  Sympathies to his son Nick and family.

read WSJ interview 2 weeks back, article ended with another infamous Hayek quote, which left a deep impression

"think about your home; practically everything you have is electornic - dishwasher, TV, radio, phone, ipod, computer - even your memory is now in a computer. You have nothing anymore that reminds you of the timeswhen human beings were making objects of art with their own hands. And that is why I am doing it. Our watches are not measuring instruments to know what time it is. You can do that,but our watches are more - they are art. We put in all our watches, Switzerland."

 

 

 

 

The fact that he was a polarizing figure in the industry means he did something right IMO.  We must give credit where it's due.  Mr. Hayek Sr. was a visionary and had a huge impact on the industry around which our hobby is based.  There is no denying that.  I would've liked to have known him personally.  My favorite quote of his from your article --

"I don't manage time. I love time and I hate time. I hate time because you cannot grasp it, you cannot close it, you cannot stop it. And I love it because it gave me so many happy moments of my life. I don't manage time, never tried to manage time."

That, friends, is the profoundly bittersweet wisdom of a great man.

In sympathy,

Daos

(not only) watches. I will miss his controversial thoughts and statements, for sure.

Have met him in person, with his lovely wife and really hope to be as happy as they have been. They still looked like enamoured teenagers - gorgeous.

My condolence to his family.

Oliver

May he rest in peace ... and my deepest regrets to the family.

Filip

Nothing will be the same in the watch industry, that's for sure.

My condolences to his family and friends.

May he rest in peace.

Vte.

nt

I can just say congratulations and thank you Mr Hayek for all what you've done for your industry.

Condolences to his family.

Dje

No message body

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His contribution to the industry is undeniably huge. We will sorely miss him!

 

He will be greatly missed. I'll be visiting his building in Ginza to pay my respects. I'll be wearing my Swatch there in his memory too.

it started with a swatch and now......

 

thank you thank you thank you

to his family and friends. He will be sorely missed as the godfather of the modern Swiss watch industry.

Br,
Dirk