It will not have the cold feel of stainless steel and the matt finish won’t reflect light like a polished ceramic bezel or case will either. I’d say not as the majority of the material is zirconium dioxide. You can argue whether “bioceramic” is a plastic material or not. The second group was the secret watch snobs whilst the third group were the wait and see then give an honest appreciation.Īs soon as the watches were on people’s wrists it became the “plastic” watch. There are podcasters and YouTubers who were clearly upset that they weren’t top of the list for a review watch or couldn’t get one on day one. The response to the MoonSwatch has come in three main flavours. The building expectations phase was short-lived but the peak of inflated expectations was very high. For the MoonSwatch the stages were Stage 1 leak, stage 2 is the hype (Peak of inflated expectations), Stage 3 is the trough of disillusionment, Stage 4 was when the watches became available for review and Stage 5 is the mature response which is where we are now. The Gartner media cycle shows that there are stages to social media hype. It was inevitable that there would be a backlash against the MoonSwatch. If a $260 watch can make the royalty of the watch industry irrelevant then I’m all for it. Omega and Swatch completely dominated Watches and Wonders in 2022 and they weren’t even there. It’s a media event whose greatest service is to provide content for a month or so. Very few of the watches launched or showcased are of interest to me. However, Watches and Wonders leaves me cold. Most people would probably biggest watch event of 2022 was Watches and Wonders. Flippers were undoubtedly a problem, and that a receipt dated for a day one purchase is worth more than the watch itself surprises me even more. The fact that Swatch was surprised and only had 100 or so watches per boutique was a problem. A fun, colourful Moon watch for $260? What could go wrong? The actual demand on launch day was a problem. Did I miss any?Īfter two grim years the chance to go and buy something that had significant buzz and was accessible was unmissable for many. You could buy something that looked like the “icon” at an affordable price. It had the same case as a Speedmaster Professional. There was a lot of surprise elements to the MoonSwatch launch. Excitement drives buzz, buzz drives sales. For product marketing surprise has great value. For a watch that looks as good as this what else does it need to do? Why is it so exciting? Does the movement even matter? It tells the time and acts as a stopwatch. It’s not a mechaquartz, they’re made by Seiko after all. We should all know that this is a quartz chronograph. Swatch haven’t explicitly revealed what movement powers the watch but this is rather immaterial. The case is a copy off the Speedmaster case and the use of coloured crown and pushers helps keep the design homogenous. The use of the Omega x Swatch with the Omega logo placed prominently at the top are a perfect reminder of the inspiration for the watch and who made it available. The sub -dials have moved a bit but the overall look is classic chronometer. They are a clear homage to the Speedmaster Professional. In general, each watch is coloured to match the latest images of the object it is named for. This material can be coloured and has a soft, slippery feel. This is a blend of zirconium dioxide (2/3rds) and a polymer derived from castor beans/ricinoleic acid. They are three sub-dial, no date, quartz chronographs.
The watches use a very close facsimile of the Speedmaster Professional case with a diameter of 42mm and a lug width of 20mm. The Omega x Swatch is a range of 11 models named after celestial objects in the solar system. There’s also one thing that hasn’t been talked about how the MoonSwatch poses a problem for Omega. The watches are still in short supply and although a lot of buzz has subsided there’s still a lot to talk about. Day 1 MoonSwatches with dated receipts were the new thing. What was the source of this craziness? Well, the MoonSwatch of course. Lines formed outside Swatch boutiques the night before launch and the small number of watches available sold out within hours of the doors opening. GQ UK may not have been the first to talk about this collaboration but the world surely paid attention when Hodinkee published an article about it on the 23 rd. The watch world was taken by storm on 21 March 2022, when images of a collaboration between Omega and Swatch were leaked to an unsuspecting world.