Swatch AquaChrono Watch List (History, ETA Movements, Model Numbers)

I've been a fan of these watches since I got my first in 1995 and I later bought four more as NOS (New Old Stock) around 2004/5. In fact I've worn these almost exclusively since as the stretchy bracelets are very comfortable and they're a very tough and reliable watch.

Faults are relatively minor:

• They're very thick and the face can scuff up over time (but polishes up easily with T-Cut)
• Bezel rings can snap when removing to clean, as I found to my cost the other week!
• At least half of the designs are garish/ugly and even the more masculine ones still look a bit childish in formal situations
• The chrono hands can get stuck through lack of use but agitation with the buttons in counter reset mode eventually unsticks them

A brief history is as follows. Swatch diversified hugely during the 90s and brought out many new classes of watch beyond their basic 80s models. Around 1990 they introduced both chronographs and the Scuba line (a chunky divers style watch).  For some reason it took them until 1993 to combine the chronograph movement and Scuba design into the AquaChrono.

For the first couple of years all used a cost-reduced (but still 22-Jewel) ETA 251 movement labeled 251.282 and I don't think this was ever sold/used by anyone else (ETA is part of Swatch group).  Impressive that a watch retailing at £50 contained basically the same movement as other Swiss watches costing 10-20 times as much!

Things started to change in 1995 when a mid-size AquaChrono was launched with the same dimensions of the Scuba. This can't have been very successful as they were dropped for 1997. These used a new cheaper ETA G10 4-Jewel movement and the following year (1996) all models switched to the G10 (which is still used in all Swatch chronos to this day). While the ETA 251 offered seconds, minutes and 12 hours of timing, the G10 offers 1/10th of a second timing up to 60 minutes.

In later years some models also included date display but the number of designs dropped rapidly in the late 90s as Swatch moved away from plastic to metal "Irony" models. This is a shame as their watches became very bland. In recent years they've reintroduced a chunky plastic chrono watch to the range but it's far less distinctive, with a cheap fashion-brand look. The final couple of designs released in 2000 seem to be specials clearing old stocks of 1994 models and they're very rare.

In terms of accuracy there's nothing to choose between the different movements but on the single 4-Jewel/Date model I have the crown and buttons have a noisy, clunky action. Hence when I recently started hunting for others I was mainly interested in tracking down earlier models with the original 251 movement. As it turns out there aren't many left around, mainly neglected used examples or NOS at crazy Buy-It-Now prices. Seeing as I went to the trouble of finding all the models and their codes/specs I thought I'd share it.

I'm probably missing a couple of special models issued but this is the best I can do with the information/pictures out there. Model codes all start SB (SE for mid-size) with the third letter giving the case colour, and a number in the 400 range means a date window. Models in bold are the ones I own.  Armed with the names/codes you'll easily be able to find pictures of each via Google :-)

Year Released	Model Name	Model Code	Movement Jewels	Comments
1993	Black Rudder	SBB 100	22
1993	Red Harbour	SBG 100	22
1993	Blue Sky	SBN 100	22
1994	Silver Moon	SBK 100	22
1994	Sirena	SBK 101	22
1994	Bagnino	SBK 102/103	22
1994	Lillibeth	SBK 104	22
1994	Waterpower	SBM 100/101	22
1994	Seppia	SBM 102	22
1994	Big Blue	SBN 101	22
1995	Space Chill	SBB 101	22
1995	Overboard	SBK 105	22
1995	Point Break	SBK 106/107	22
1995	Happy Landing	SBK 109	4	Exception to the rule, first full-size model to get the cheaper ETA G10 movement
1995	Blue Wings	SBL 100	22
1995	Onda Nera	SBM 103	22
1995	Cool Water	SBN 102	22
1995	Sea & Sun	SBN 103	22
1995	Nikiphoros	SBZ 102	22
1995	Black Jack	SEB 100/101	4	Mid-Size
1995	American Dream	SEK 103	4	Mid-Size
1995	Orange Juice	SEK 104	4	Mid-Size
1995	Red Sun	SEK 105	4	Mid-Size
1995	Game Over	SEL 101	4	Mid-Size
1995	Golden Rivet	SEM 100/101	4	Mid-Size
1995	Slamma Jam	SEN 100	4	Mid-Size
1995	Commendatore	SEN 101/102	4	Mid-Size
1996	AC Brown	SBB 102	4
1996	Truck Driver	SBB 103	4
1996	Pool Side	SBK 111	4
1996	Fluosite	SBK 112	4
1996	Control Panel	SBM 104	4
1996	Red Snapper	SBM 105	4
1996	Waterwhirl	SBN 104	4
1996	Fluowave	SBN 105	4
1996	El Leon	SBN 106	4
1996	Yucca	SBN 107	4
1996	Mark Spitz	SBZ 103	4
1996	Sun Garden	SEG 100	4	Mid-Size
1996	Bleu Royale	SEK 106	4	Mid-Size
1996	Space Trip	SEK 107	4	Mid-Size
1996	Said Aouita	SEZ 101	4	Mid-Size
1997	Big Red	SBB 104	4
1997	Deep Silver	SBB 400	4	Date
1997	Cartographic	SBK 113	4
1997	Assualt	SBK 114	4
1997	Assualt Nagano	SBK 114	4
1997	Blue Ring	SBK 117	4
1997	Fluo in Water	SBK 401	4	Date
1997	Inky Water	SBM 106	4
1997	Silver	SBM 107	4
1997	Rivets	SBM 108	4
1997	Mareggiata	SBS 100	4
1997	Wake Up	SBZ 104	4
1998	Radar	SBB 106	4
1998	Steering Unit	SBB 107	4
1998	Free Dive	SBB 401	4	Date
1998	Ice Diving	SBB 402	4	Date
1998	Roughneck	SBM 109	4
1998	Oval	SBM 400	4	Date
1998	Balastic	SBN 108	4
1998	City Control	SBN 109	4
1998	Tracking	SBN 400	4	Date
1999	Laser	SBB 109	4
1999	Bananarasp	SBJ 400	4	Date
1999	Halfpipe	SBM 401	4	Date
1999	The 7th Wave	SBN 110	4
1999	Tableau De Bord	SBN 401	4	Date
2000	Terra Verde	SBK 119	22	1994 Sirena with different bezel/bracelet
2000	Paradiso Perdido	SBK 120	22	1994 Lillibeth with different bezel/strap