Swatch founder Nicolas Hayek dies

28 June 2010 Last updated at 23:33

Nicolas Hayek is credited with saving the Swiss watchmaking industry

The founder of the Swiss watchmaker Swatch has died at the age of 82, the company has announced.

Nicolas Hayek, who was still chairman of the company, died unexpectedly at work on Monday.

Mr Hayek has been widely credited with saving the Swiss watch industry when he founded Swatch in 1985.

It is now the world's biggest watchmaker and is expected to record sales of more than 6bn Swiss francs (£3.7bn; $5.5bn) this year.

"Nicolas Hayek's extraordinary vision enabled him to realise and ensure the sustainability of a strong watchmaking enterprise with high Swiss added value," the company said in a statement.

"He is rightly recognised as a leading entrepreneur in this country," the group said.

Swatch was formed from the merger of the Asuag and SSIH watch companies in 1985.

The cheaper plastic watches developed by the new group under the Swatch brand helped the industry to compete with the increase in cheap Japanese exports.

The watches' simple design and relatively low prices made them an international success, with an estimated 300 million sold worldwide.

Their popularity also drew attention to the luxury end of the Swiss watch industry.

Mr Hayek stepped down from the role of chief executive of the group in 2000, handing over to his son Nick.

He remained involved in running the company as chairman, however, and also became involved in a number of other projects including the design and development of the Smart car, owned by Daimler.

RSS

• HMRC 'failing to check tax reliefs'

  The UK's tax authority has been accused by MPs of failing to properly monitor the system of tax reliefs.

• Oil prices surge on Yemen airstrikes

• France cuts budget deficit target

• 'Two brothers' behind Brussels attacks
• Trump and Clinton win big in Arizona
• Ash tree set for extinction in Europe
• Child sex abuse handling 'inadequate'
• BHS faces crucial vote on its future

• Tuesday's devastating attacks in Brussels show IS's European network is still at large, despite a year of intensive efforts by security forces to close it down.

• Scientists are debating whether it's possible to harness the power of gravity for interstellar space travel.

• The four-year-old boy who has become the centre of a controversy between India and Pakistan - and between his father and mother.

• Why, almost 60 years after he first appeared in the Daily Mirror, is a layabout lout from north-east England still so loved around the world?