• SwissInco, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Tuesday, June 29, 2010 9:55 AM

Nicolas Hayek, whose idea for the Swatch is credited with reinventing Swiss watch-making in the 1980s and saving the industry, died unexpectedly of heart failure yesterday in Biel, Switzerland. He was 82 and saw himself as an "artist-entrepreneur," Jessica Dacey and Morven McLean report. Le Temps newspaper gave over its first three pages to eulogizing his accomplishments.

The two main manufacturers were on the verge of bankruptcy when Swiss banks commissioned a report from Hayek's consultancy.

Hayek maintained the venerable firms could compete with digital watches made in the Far East by making less expensive products and charging a premium for top-of-the-range timepieces that were "Made in Switzerland."

The companies merged to form SMH, in which Hayek took a controlling interest. It was renamed the Swatch Group in 1998. "A watch is something people carry on their bare skin, sometimes 24 hours a day," Hayek once told the Sunday Times. "We have to convince every individual that this particular watch fits his or her personal style and lifestyle to the best."

Read the whole story at SwissInco, Bloomberg BusinessWeek »