easyWatch targets Swatch

The easyGroup will start selling watches exclusively on the web in June to try and capture the "disposable watch" market vacated by well known brand Swatch.

Called unsurprisingly easyWatch, the online shop will sell watches in the £10-£15 bracket, a market no longer serviced by Swatch, according to easyGroup founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou.

The company has signed a deal with British watch-maker Zeon to make the watches, which are made chiefly of plastic. Zeon already makes watches for Elle and Playboy.

"We're going to fill the gap Swatch created," Stellios told Reuters, adding he was taking "the biggest risk" in selling the watches only on the Web. "It's the first time a watch-maker will ignore the retail trade but this is the cheapest way to sell watches."

He believes that watches will become disposable items with consumers replacing them at least once a year.

According to easyGroup director of corporate affairs James Rothnie, easyWatch represents "a leap forward" for the company that has always tried to push consumers towards online sales but has offered a premium rate phone number alternative. easyWatch will be online only but the site has yet to be built so sales are not expected to kick off until June.

Stelios, who currently wears an orange Swatch watch, is aiming to give the first easyWatches out to passengers of his first easyCruise in late May.