When it comes to the Swatch brand, most of our mind share has been focused on their quite clever Sistem51. They do, of course, have quite a few other watches on offer. One of the more popular collections has been the Swatch Irony, and they just introduced a new extension of that line – the Swatch Irony XLite.
Why XLite? Well, Swatch feels that this is their lightest collection to date. To accomplish this, they made liberal use of aluminum and plastic, which will certainly keep the weight down. While the aluminum used doesn’t pick up any additional color, the plastic lends itself quite nicely to the color explosions what Swatch is known for. The Swatch Irony XLite is comprised to two main styles, a regular three-hander, and a chronograph.
The three-hander itself has four different dial designs, with three different date window positions making an appearance. While these watches are intended to be most of a sporty, or casual, nature, there are a few that could be considered dressier. One in particular, the “Go Cycle” model (yes, they have names such as “Go Cycle”, “Go Jump”, and “Endless Energy” assigned to the collection), which is ref. YES4003, features a black dial with white indices, and is paired to a leather strap. Sure, you may not necessarily pair it with a tux, but it could certainly do in a pinch.
As for the chronograph models, just about each different color scheme gives you a different look to the dial. Aside from the colors themselves, there are changes to the main markings (indices, Roman numerals, Arabic numerals) as well as to the patterns showing up in the sub-dials. Of this lineup, the one that struck me the most caught me a bit by surprise. It’s the “Yellow Squash” (ref. YYS4002AG), and it’s a small detail on the dial – not the color – that caught my eye. Here, they went with a round date window, which just fits so much better than a squared cutout with all of the other circles on the dial.
What route you would end up going – three-hander or chrono, bright and colorful or undertated – these are watches that won’t lighten your wallet a great deal. The Swatch Irony XLite is available now (both in-store and online) with pricing starting at $120, and topping out at $175. While we may be in the midst of winter here in the northern hemisphere, the Swatch Irony XLite seems like a solid way to inject a bit of light and bright color into the grey days. companyurl
Watch Overview
- Brand & Model: Swatch Irony XLite
- Price: $120 – $175
- Who we think it might be for: You’re looking for a lightweight, colorful watch that is ready for warmer weather to be on the way
- Would I buy one for myself based on what I’ve seen?: No, I don’t believe that these are quite the watches for me
- If I could make one design suggestion, it would be: It would be interesting to see a custom “mix-n-match” sort of program for these watches, allowing people to create semi-custom variations to their tastes
- What spoke to me the most about this watch: Frankly, that it’s another entry in what the core of Swatch seems to be – lightweight, colorful, and affordable watches
