Ready, set, hop!

Days before the event, Swatch Philippines president (and fairy godmother to many) Virgie Ramos sent out invitations to her special guests. Swatch shopping bags were delivered to our doorsteps or offices, stuffed with a little card, a wind-up bunny, and a special Swatch watch that would match the recipient.

I squealed silently when I received the Jeremy Scott Swatch Opulence I had my eyes on.

And on March 5, we braved the very thick crowd at SM Megamall to witness Swatch’s unveiling of the Zebra and Snake lines as well as Jeremy Scott’s special collaboration with Swatch.

Robby Carmona directed the show hosted by Swatch endorsers Anne Curtis, Luis Manzano and Billy Crawford.

It opened with Zebra dancers parting as Billy Crawford walked onstage.

Then models walked the ramp, styled by Tina Daniac and her team. Complementing the new Swatch pieces were apparel by SM Department Store’s Fashion Forum.

Spotted were the Ramos family and SM execs in full force, the Philippine STAR’s Reggie Belmonte and Millet Mananquil, Kathy Moran, Martin Nievera, Rowell Santiago, three generations of Susan Joven plus Ginggay and Chloe dela Merced, Divine Lee, Inno Sotto, Andres and Atasha Muhlach, Matteo Guidicelli, Toshiro Morita; Albert, Liezl and Alyssa Martinez; Cris Villonco and Niccolo Manahan, the Swiss Ambassador Dr. Peter Sutter, among others.

As expected the crowd went wild whenever Luis, Billy and Anne would come out onstage, especially when Billy performed or when Anne sang a surprise number a cappella.

After the show some of us ran straight to the Swatch store to buy Swatches before they ran out.

While the Snake and Zebra Swatches had their own fans, it was the Jeremy Scott Swatches that sold out immediately.

No worries, you can put your name on the wait list at any Swatch store.

Meanwhile, take a look at this special Swatch spread and see what other eye candy Swatch has to offer right now, this season.

The Lady Collection

Inspired by those chic watches and bracelets wrapped twice around the wrist, Swatch presents the new Lady Collection, a colorful selection of watches and bijoux.

Ten new Swatches in long, slim silicone come in cool pastel colors of light blue, purple, peach, light pink, azure, yellow, green, pale crimson, beige and white.

Complementing the watches are a new line of Swatch Bijoux called “Colour Codes.”

Ten long, slim leather bracelets wrap around your wrist multiple times, in your choice of white, black, light blue, dark blue, red, yellow, purple, green, orange or pink. Each bracelet comes with a leather loop of the same color.

Find them at Swatch stores at SM Megamall, Glorietta 4, Greenbelt 5 and Trinoma; Swatch Kiosks at SM Mall of Asia, SM City North EDSA, SM City Davao, Glorietta 3, Greenhills V-Mall, Shangri-La Plaza, Robinsons Place, Ermita, Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall, Festival Mall and Ayala Center, Cebu; and Hole in the Wall Shops at Alabang Town Center and Ayala Marquee Mall, Angeles, Pampanga.

Jeremy Scott scores with three new Swatches

Swatch’s latest collaboration with Jeremy Scott is the hottest on everyone’s wishlist this season.

Jeremy Scott is an American-based designer who demonstrates a keen awareness of fashion history and ironic grasp of pop culture’s excess.

His talent for combining avant-garde and pop with high fashion and street wear has made him a hit among the young and artsy crowd.

For Swatch, Jeremy Scott has created three spectacular pieces called the Winged Swatch, Lighting Flash and Swatch Opulence.

Though the Lightning Flash Swatch initially sold out on its first day of release (March 4), you can still put your name on the wait list at Swatch stores at SM Megamall, Glorietta 4, Greenbelt 5 and Trinoma; Swatch Kiosks at SM Mall of Asia, SM City North EDSA, SM City Davao, Glorietta 3, Greenhills V-Mall, Shangri-La Plaza, Robinsons Place, Ermita, Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall, Festival Mall and Ayala Center, Cebu; and Hole in the Wall Shops at Alabang Town Center and Ayala Marquee Mall, Angeles, Pampanga.

The classy New Gent

One of the most successful Swatch collections of recent time is the Swatch New Gent, in 10 bold colors and inspired by the legendary Swatch Gent Originals.

Bigger than the original Gent, each model has a large, colorful plastic case with a generous, color-coded dial, a day/date window at 3 o’clock and rugged, matte silicone straps in complementary monochrome colors.

Comes in black, white, red, burgundy, petrol, blue, olive, brown, warm grey, and purple. Available in Swatch stores at SM Megamall, Glorietta 4, Greenbelt 5, Trinoma; Swatch kiosks at SM Mall of Asia, SM City North EDSA, SM City Davao, Glorietta 3, Greenhills V-Mall, Shangri-La Plaza, Robinsons Place, Ermita, Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall, Festival Mall, Ayala Center, Cebu; and Hole in the Wall shops at Alabang Town Center and Ayala Marquee Mall in Angeles, Pampanga.

Hoppy to win!

On March 5, the winners of the Annual Chinese New Year Art Competition, accepted their awards at the “Ready, Set, Hop” event at SM Megamall.

Entitled Swatch My Rabbit Story, contestants were invited to submit wearable art inspired by any Swatch.

Awarded PHP 50,000 each, plus a My Rabbit Story Chinese New Year 2011 watch were Angela Taguiang for her “Stargazer” headpiece and body accessory inspired by the Star Edition Swatch (2009); Jane Amanda See for “The Carrot Shoe”, a four-inch carrot-heeled shoe with green leafy straps, inspired by Color the Sky (2004); Happy Andrada for “Hip, Hop, Happy”, an avant-garde costume inspired by My Rabbit Story (2011); Gerecho Iniel Cruz for “Little Miss Sunshine’s Rabbit Foot”, a customized high-cut sneaker inspired by the Anne-Flore Swatch collection, and Luisa Isabel Taguiang for “Artificial Sweeteners,” nail art with rabbit design inspired by the Sweetened Swatch (1997).

Born to be wild

With animal prints taking over the runway’s clothes and accessories, Swatch presents five bright watches with fluorescent face on black and white zebra-stripe silicone straps. Choose from flourescent colors pink, yellow, orange, blue and green.

Or get “snaky” with a wild new range of colored snake-print plastic straps and cases set off by black aluminium dials.

Available in Swatch Stores at SM Megamall, Glorietta 4, Greenbelt 5 and Trinoma; Swatch Kiosks at SM Mall of Asia, SM City North EDSA, SM City Davao, Glorietta 3, Greenhills V-Mall, Shangri-La Plaza, Robinsons Place, Ermita, Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall, Festival Mall and Ayala Center, Cebu; and Hole in the Wall Shops at Alabang Town Center and Ayala Marquee Mall, Angeles, Pampanga.