Computer & Digital
Swatch Internet Time
1,000 .beats a day · one world, no time zones (1998)
A 1998 Swatch invention splitting the day into 1,000 .beats with no time zones — one global time, measured from Biel, Switzerland — meant to coordinate the early internet. It never caught on.
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At a glance
- Type
- A clock — 1,000 .beats a day
- Origin
- Swatch, 1998
- Day
- 1,000 .beats of 1 minute 26.4 seconds each
- Counts from
- Midnight in Biel, Switzerland — UTC+1, with no daylight saving
- Where it’s used
- Historical — a curiosity of the early web
- How it’s worked out here
- Exact from your device’s clock: Biel Mean Time is UTC+1 all year
Does something here look wrong? Tell us about the Swatch Internet Time calendar.