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This Exclusive, $175 Watch Could Be the Most Controversial Release of 2025

This dial will make you do a double-take.

Square wristwatch with a blue face, white hour markers, and white hands. The watch case and strap are cream-colored, and there is a ridged crown on the right side. The time displayed is approximately 12:08:30.Swatch
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By Brad Lanphear

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Swatch Group is the biggest brand in the Swiss watchmaking industry, grossing CHF 6.7 billion in 2025.

The corporation owns top-tier brands like Omega, Longines and Blancpain, but the entry-level brand that started the company is turning heads well beyond the watch enthusiast market.

Square wristwatch with a beige strap and case, featuring a blue dial. The dial has white hour markers, including numerals at 12, 3, 6, and 9, and white hour, minute, and second hands. The brand name "Swatch" is printed below the 12 o'clock marker.
The What If.. Tariffs? swaps the 3 and 9 hour markers to read “39.”
Swatch

Swatch is making a cheeky statement about the import tariff rate set by the U.S. Government on Swiss-produced goods, and its own government’s lack of progress in brokering a more favorable deal.

A limited edition reference of the square dial, Bioceramic case What If… collection features the three and nine hour markers swapped to read “39,” referencing the 39-percent tariff rate that went into effect in August.

It is one of the highest rates the Trump administration has placed on any international trading partner, and it has a massively disruptive effect on the watch industry in Switzerland and beyond.

A beige Swatch wristwatch with a square face, featuring a unique design where the watch dial is a small blue circle with a white percentage symbol (%) in the center. The watch has a matching beige strap and a crown on the side. The background is a gradient of dark to light blue.
The battery cover on the caseback features a percent symbol.
Swatch

The flip-flopped numerals on the dial may cause a double-take, but the battery cover on the caseback gets straight to the point, instead of the printed watch face found on standard What If… references, there is simply a large percent symbol.

A cheeky statement

In a statement to Reuters, a Swatch representative explained the What If… Tariffs? was designed as a “wake-up call” to the Swiss government, which has yet to negotiate a more favorable rate.

Square-faced wristwatch with a blue dial, white hour markers, and white hands, including a second hand. The watch has a white strap with a buckle closure. The background is a gradient of blue shades.
The What If… Tariffs? is an altered version of the Beige reference.
Swatch

It is a limited edition with a very specific parameter. Swatch will cease distributing the watch as soon as the US government lowers Switzerland’s import duty.

The Swatch spokesperson declined to share the number of units sold but told Reuters that the release has been “a huge success.”

Domestic production

The joke is also on American watch consumers, because the most hyped Swatch reference since the latest MoonSwatch is only available in Switzerland.

It costs CHF 139 (~$175) and can only be purchased at Swiss Swatch boutiques and online in Switzerland. Americans are being teased with an active product page that does not allow us to buy the watch.

I, for one, applaud this extra layer of spitfullness to Swatch’s joke. But the most effective aspect of all is that the What If… Tariffs? is a good-looking watch.

Square wristwatch with a blue dial, white hour markers, and a white strap, worn on a person's wrist. The watch has a silver frame and the brand name "Swatch" is visible on the dial.
It is an altered version of the What If… Beige?
Swatch

It is an altered version of the What If… Beige? with the day-date removed from the dial to accommodate the swapped hour markers.

Swatch’s trolling of its own and, presumably, the US government is compelling and entertaining, but it is no laughing matter. Swatch Group enjoyed record sales growth in the American market in 2024, but the current tariff rate will, at the very least, reverse those gains.

As one of the most prominent players in the game, Swatch Group is fighting for all the smaller brands behind it that could go under if nothing changes.

Well done, Swatch. Well done.

About the Author: Brad Lanphear is an associate editor at Gear Patrol covering watches and style. Before joining the publication, he previously wrote for Heddels and Men’s Health. Now, he’s on a never-ending quest to find the perfect pair of Japanese denim.

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