About us | Flik Flak® International
Flik Flak, the Swiss watch for kids that helps them to tell the time since 1987.
Heritage & Origins
Flik Flak was born in 1987 in Biel, the watchmaking center of Switzerland. It is a member of the Swatch Group, so it integrates the experience and expertise of the world’s leading watch producer into its development. All Flik Flak watches are created in the workshops of ETA, one of the Swatch Group’s largest manufacturing companies in Switzerland.
From day one, the brand was committed to being much more than a watch. It incorporates a unique concept to teach kids all over the world to tell the time on an analog watch. Three decades later, the world’s favorite kids' watch is available online and via a retail network encompassing 100 countries. Across all five continents, we spend our time making sure that learning meets fun while using safe, durable products. When it comes to our planet, Flik Flak is continually searching for new ecologically sound substances and processes, keeping the kids of today and tomorrow in mind.
Learning to tell the time
Flik Flak is commonly praised for helping kids all over the world to learn to tell time with a tried and tested concept. Teachers are closely involved in the development process to ensure that each product doubles as an attractive, wearable educational instrument. The keystone of the Flik Flak approach is that learning must be fun to be effective and sustainable.
Brother and sister duo Flik and Flak are the time-telling buddies for younger kids. Tall brother, Flik, acts as the minute hand and his sister, Flak, is the hour hand. Flik’s long legs mean he can move pretty fast. It may be a sixty-minute walk for him to circuit the dial, but Flak is happy to point out that it’s only one hour according to her measurements! These two “teachers” also pop up on a cardboard practice watch contained in the standard packaging, as well as in a free game-style app, “Telling the time with Flik and Flak”. For older kids, each of the stylish Swiss-made watches also integrates color-coded time reading. They display 12 clearly written numbers and interim intervals marked by dots for easy timekeeping on the move. The common denominator is a design that makes sense 24/7.
Once upon a time…
Flik and Flak make up a dynamic brother and sister duo that’s always in the now. They both lead very busy lives and are always on the go, but they never head off in different directions. Their passion for helping kids everywhere to tell the time makes them inseparable and together they are simply unbeatable. There’s nothing they like more than playing tag on watch dials.
Who is Flik?
Flik and Flak are a real dream team!
Flik takes care of the minutes. He’s extremely well qualified for the job. And not just because he’s Swiss. He loves sport and is cool with taking a strategic step forward every 60 seconds. He’s never in a rush but always on time and knows that every minute counts – especially when his favorite pizza is in the oven, or his number one team goes into extra time. Always dressed in his funky blue and white gear from head to toe, he salutes the fashion savvy designs of the watches that he does his version of circuit training on. He’s super-fit and knows that every second counts when you’re counting the minutes for kids on the go.
Who is Flak?
Flak loves to keep her brother on track by constantly reminding him that 60 minutes make up an hour. She sometimes finds it weird that bedtime seems to come round faster than a cookie date with friends, when both are one hour away. But she knows a Flik Flak Swiss watch doesn’t lie. She tries to be patient and waits for her brother to take 60 steps before she leaps ahead, even though she’s often tempted to flip around on her skateboard to fill the time. Her fiery red outfit signals her love of action and you’ll often catch her whizzing off to the play park to try out some stunts or put a new ice cream to the test. She’s as tough as the watch she calls home and knows exactly what she wants – to teach kids all over the world to tell the time while having fun.
Quality & Safety
Flik Flak watches are high-end, Swiss-made timepieces, committed to surviving turbulence anywhere from the adventure in the playground to the washing machine. Before distribution, they spend a month in a dedicated quality control lab, undergoing various chemical and mechanical tests. They enter the market with quality standards that exceed legal stipulations worldwide and with Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) certification.
Every single component is checked to ensure that it is both durable and chemically safe. This involves testing to ensure the absence of over 100 hazardous chemical substances. Flik Flak watches are 100% free of phthalates and bisphenol A (BPA). They undergo traction, torsion, compression, impact and flammability testing. In addition, they are checked for resistance to sweat, swimming pool water, washing machine cycles up to a temperature of 100°F, water pressure of 3bar, and UV and humidity stains.
Flik Flak has always been about creating time for tomorrow. That means producing products that are built to last and integrate materials and processes that have the protection of the environment top of their agenda. The watches’ cases, loops, tongues and buckles are made from an innovative new bio-sourced material created with castor beans. We also give empty PET bottles a second life by turning them into our textile straps. Even the packaging has its eye on the planet and is fully compostable. A two-year global warranty is the icing on the cake for the consumer, while customer care superheroes are on hand all over the world to look after any “life-threatening” repairs made necessary by wearers’ extreme adventures.
Product Offering
Flik Flak is the world’s favorite kids’ watch. This diverse family of Swiss-made timepieces meets the different timekeeping and wearing requirements of kids ages three to ten. Distinct product groups target everyone from wannabe princesses and superheroes, to wannabe style-conscious grown-ups. Their shared must-haves are quality, ecological soundness and fun. For an added touch of individuality, a selection of the popular models with textile straps is available for personalization with an embroidered option. These can be ordered online and delivered to most countries.
Flik Flak’s range comprises two main categories. Some watches help younger kids grasp the essentials of telling time. These all have hands in the shape of time-telling buddies, brother and sister duo Flik and Flak, to clearly distinguish between the hours and minutes. Tall brother Flik acts as the minute hand and his sister Flak is the hour hand. Flik’s long legs mean he can move pretty fast. It may be a sixty-minute walk for Flak to circuit the dial, but she is happy to point out that it’s only one hour according to her measurements. This range of watches has color-coding, easy-to-read numbers, and textile straps that cleverly double as wearable and washable “storytellers”.
The second family of watches is geared to the growing sophistication of older kids. These have three standard hands, with the minute hand on top, as well as dials displaying 12 clearly written numbers and interim intervals marked by dots. The hour hands’ colors always match the hour numbers, while the minute hands are the same color as the minute numbers. Some models have stylish rotating bezels to complete time’s big picture. Textile, TPU and silicone make up the range of strap materials for this age group.
Every watch tells a story, but the storytelling continues off the wrist via beautifully illustrated and packaged hardback storybooks. These weave the concept of telling time cleverly through the stories of adventures that Flik and Flak share with other buddies. For the more digitally driven, there is the “Telling the time with Flik and Flak” Android or iOS app, available in 10 languages. Developed with teachers, this free, game-style app logically meets learning objectives. Customization means it can be suited to local needs and there is no commercial content to distract from the learning.
The Flik Flak World
The Flik Flak universe embraces kids all over the world. Our watches reach them via a retail network throughout 100 countries across all five continents. Flik Flak products can also be ordered without leaving the sofa through the online shop on www.flikflak.com. You will find us in all Swatch stores and the kids’ section of selected department stores. And wherever you buy your Flik Flak watch, you can be sure it will come in bio-sourced packaging that is 100% compostable.
Time is all about experience and we love to make kids feel at home when they’re in-store with colorful, dedicated furniture adapted to their height. We also organize events in our points-of-sale that give a fun and memorable twist to learning to tell time. And to make sure grown-ups are kept happy too, we offer free glass polishing, battery replacement, gift boxes and bags in our store to make giving time extra special and long-lasting.
Keeping in touch is important to us at all times. Playful learning, the brand’s common language, is accessible to kids everywhere, around the clock. The DIY @ home page on the Flik Flak website has a selection of downloadable coloring templates and puzzles to while away the hours. There is also a free Flik Flak app to learn to tell time. You can find the latest news about our products and activities by following us on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. We have a newsletter that you can subscribe to here. Our dedicated customer care makes the Flik Flak world go round, so if you have any questions or feedback, why not drop us a line here?