A Backstage Pass to the Production of the MoonSwatch and Scuba Fifty Fathoms(hodinkee.com)
hodinkee.com
A Backstage Pass to the Production of the MoonSwatch and Scuba Fifty Fathoms
https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/a-backstage-pass-to-the-production-of-the-moonswatch-and-scuba-fifty-fathoms
18 comments
The Swatch x {Omega,Blancpain} watches are fascinating to me. I wonder how much "brand damage" this inflicts on 2 iconic watch designs. For a long time it seemed like Swatch didn't really advertise their ownership of many premium watch brands. Now it seems to have shifted.
I own two proper Omegas and all the original Moonswatches. I don't feel it's hurt the Omega brand one bit in my eyes, I love both my Omega and Swatches for what they what are.
I like that Omega are happy to do this, I think it shows they don't take themselves too seriously, compared to say Rolex.
It also maybe helps that every interaction I've had with Omega sales people have been great, and every interaction with a Rolex sales person has been bad to awful.
I like that Omega are happy to do this, I think it shows they don't take themselves too seriously, compared to say Rolex.
It also maybe helps that every interaction I've had with Omega sales people have been great, and every interaction with a Rolex sales person has been bad to awful.
It’s very hard to do, but it is possible to have a high/low mix for a premium brand. The best example I can think of is Ralph Lauren. You can get their stuff all over the place, often at or under $50, yet it’s still a respectable brand in the couture world.
My favorite watch at the moment is a replica Moonswatch on a decent NATO strap. I am always quite tickled that wearing a copy of a copy that gets any street cred / sense of history. Two degrees of separation, two orders of magnitude less money out of pocket.
My replica Moonswatches cost $25US, looks fairly spiffy, hint at space history, are super lightweight, and keep time. I have a handful of nice watches but I have come to appreciate the combo of comfort / cheap / cheeky.
I also bought a fantasy Moonswatch based on a Japanese render artist's interpretation of Omega's "dark side of the moon" watch. It's a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy! (Moonwatch > dark side > swatch > render > rep.) As a designer of hardware products I think it's a super fun piece of commentary on modern branding and manufacturing.
My replica Moonswatches cost $25US, looks fairly spiffy, hint at space history, are super lightweight, and keep time. I have a handful of nice watches but I have come to appreciate the combo of comfort / cheap / cheeky.
I also bought a fantasy Moonswatch based on a Japanese render artist's interpretation of Omega's "dark side of the moon" watch. It's a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy! (Moonwatch > dark side > swatch > render > rep.) As a designer of hardware products I think it's a super fun piece of commentary on modern branding and manufacturing.
Kinda too late to think about "brand damage" since their parent company is already named "The Swatch Group", and this was actually already a talking point at the time the parent company was renamed: https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/swatch-name-nick-hayek
Thanks a lot for linking that piece, it's a great read.
That said, I don't believe that the fact that Swatch owned Omega and Blancpain was known outside watch nerd circles until very recently.
That said, I don't believe that the fact that Swatch owned Omega and Blancpain was known outside watch nerd circles until very recently.
Rolex manufactures and sells about a million watches a year. Omega sells about half a millions. I am guessing the strategy is to add a couple of zero to the sales. If you are targeting to sell 50 millions moonswatches, the premium watch sales might not matter much
As a watch nerd who has a nice watch(just one!) I know a bit about the moonswatch watches and their popularity and have not heard great things about their quality. Mainly the paint rubs off and build quality is pretty abysmal movements stops etc. You can(or could) get a used omega speedmaster moonwatch for around $3k and that watch will last you the rest of your life with regular maintenance. Or you could get a moonswatch and it will be in the landfill in 2ish years. I just don't see the appeal, for that price point I would get a GShock as they are sturdy and well built and will last quite a long time.
I've had one(mission to mars) and I was really excited about it, but sold it within few months, the build quality was just so bad. Mine had two specs of visible dust on the dial, the hands were not alligned correctly, and worst of all the quartz movement that they use is actually crap, you can hear it tick from across the room it's such a bad movement. I actually went back to the store to compare with several other moonswatches that they had there and they all had some kind of factory defect like this. But you know, in any other watch I'd probably pay a local watchmaker a tiny bit of money to open it up, clean the dust, align the hands and be done with it - but in this one, you can't - it's all sealed up, the movement is literally disposable.
I also have an actual moonwatch and for me personally I love the idea of a "fun" moonswatch to go with it - but at the quality currently presented it's just not worth it, I wouldn't buy one again.
I also have an actual moonwatch and for me personally I love the idea of a "fun" moonswatch to go with it - but at the quality currently presented it's just not worth it, I wouldn't buy one again.
I have a few Swatches (wearing one now, actually), but even if the Moonswatch was sold online and not only in their stores (none even remotely near me), I doubt I'd get one. I like some of the color ways, but the price is hard to justify for what you get, and the color leaking is definitely a concern. I haven't experienced it with other Swatch watches, so I don't know what they're doing different with this line...
$3000k... so a cool 3 mil? Just kidding, I assume that was $3K. I have a couple of old Swatch Irony mechanicals, they were pretty decent 25yr ago when I wore them regularly. Other than the style angle, I would be much more interested in a Sistem51 movement Swatch, if I was going to wear a cheap plastic mechanical again, but I have settled on a not-so-smartwatch with an e-ink screen as the sweet spot for my watch-wearing.
Can you post the eink smartwatch you got? I miss my Pebble and haven't found any good alternatives. I just want to see the time and notifications easily.
Fixed! yeah the sistem51 is interesting, it doesn't have the style stuff that moonswatch has has but I like the low part numbers for its movement and the fact that its entirely made by robots and a case that is hermetically sealed.
I’m not much of a watch guy, but I got a “rep” moonswatch for under $20 as my first watch. It’s actually fairly convincing from a distance, but some of the dials were not zeroed properly and the cheap crystal made it hard to actually read.
That then got me to buy an actual Moonswatch and an affordable Seiko Chronos. I can’t imagine myself getting more into the hobby (especially the high end), but I think I can appreciate a little bit more now. I think Moonswatch pulled a lot of new people in (riding the whole 2020s watch wave).
That then got me to buy an actual Moonswatch and an affordable Seiko Chronos. I can’t imagine myself getting more into the hobby (especially the high end), but I think I can appreciate a little bit more now. I think Moonswatch pulled a lot of new people in (riding the whole 2020s watch wave).
Since it’s a post about watches, obligatory link to Bartosz’s explainer of mechanical watches: https://ciechanow.ski/mechanical-watch/
I've been amazed at how popular these are. Walking around a few major cities, I find that I see more Moonswatches than almost anything else besides Apple Watches, at least on people (mostly dudes) that seem to be trying to look stylish.
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Plasticy-looking hype watch