The MoonSwatch Mission To Moonphase featuring Snoopy was just released on on the second anniversary of the MoonSwatch and I'd like to explain just why this product isn't just a success, but is something we genuinely needed.
Two Years On, The MoonSwatch Is Still Genius
The new Snoopy MoonSwatch Mission To The Moonphase was released last week and frankly it's the best one yet. I have to have one and I definitely shall have one, with a detailed review coming at some point in the future.
As a long-time Speedmaster fan, having bought my first 145.012-67 in about 2012, I loved the MoonSwatch on release for what it is, a playful and fun tribute to a legendary timepiece at a price low enough that it makes absolute sense.
Initially, I wanted a Neptune or Uranus from the first release, but every time I secured myself one, a family member or friend desperately wanted one and I passed it on at MSRP, just for the opportunity of potentially converting another person into a watch fan.
The MoonSwatch Mission To Moonphase Snoopy Edition - Image by Omega SA
That really is the genius of the MoonSwatch. It's cool and fun but it sits at a price point where it is a highly giftable item, to friends, to kids, nephews & nieces, even business associates. It's a low risk purchase that brings joy and opens the door, and with the latest release, you can see just how much the MoonSwatch matters.
That low price does increase slightly with the new Mission To Moonphase, coming up to $310 USD, or $500 AUD from the usual $270 USD or $435 of the regular MoonSwatch line, but for that you get an interesting complication and presumably the cost of Peanuts licensing. It remains a rather compelling package, albeit one that is now slightly above several entry level vintage Omega models in cost.
The MoonSwatch Mission To Moonphase Snoopy Edition - Image by Omega SA
The specific choice to go with a moonphase indicator is an interesting one, as this complication is seen in many real Speedmaster variants and is at least perceived as a feature found on high end watches, yet is easy to implement on a quartz piece. It is something less useful than it is fascinating, helping bring buyers to learn about the possibilities in the world of horology.
The canvas it creates for Snoopy's rather fabulous appearance, lazing on a crescent moon with text on the dial above a is beautifully executed idea, mimicking the playful handwritten text found on the Seamaster Ultra Deep Summer Blue release of last year.
This is really something I love about this release, and about other recent watches that have been more playful and fun. The Swiss watch industry has a rather painful habit of taking itself far too seriously, with watch releases steeped in history, tradition and convention in an effort to keep prices and exclusivity high.
That doesn't entice anyone to want to be a part of this world, especially younger people, and that is a problem.
A 2020’s Gateway Drug For Young & Future Fans
My first watch, like so many collectors from my country was a cheap second hand TAG Heuer Formula 1. A product of TAG Heuer’s recovery in the 80’s these were the definition of entry level, featuring fibreglass bezels, basic case and bracelet designs, and a quartz movement.
It was about as far from a high end watch as you could reasonably describe, but is still a Swiss watch and most importantly, it was proudly strapped to my 13 year-old wrist in the year 2000. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world wearing that to school, and I knew that I would never again not have a Swiss watch in my life, even though I still had to ask for lunch money from my parents.
An Example Of My First Good Watch, The Blue Bezel TAG Heuer F1 Chronograph On Bracelet - Now Lost Somewhere In The Pacific Ocean
I was far from alone. Several of the boys in my class also had TAG Heuer F1s, with bright colored bezels and matching straps. Many years later, when my two nephews were old enough for their first watch, I gave my old blue TAG F1 to the elder and bought a green one for $200 for the younger, while their older sister received a used quartz Aqua-Racer for not much more. Today all three are still watch fans, the boys wearing automatic divers while my niece rocks an 116520 Daytona. It was great that the boys got to learn with these very cheap used TAGs. Sadly two green examples were ruined by Zac, while Jett lost the blue chronograph in the surf at the beach.
Examples of the green TAG Heuer F1 I gave my nephew, I had to buy a second, because he destroyed the first, but that's a cheap lesson to learn
I mention 80’s & 90’s TAG so heavily because for so many they were that first step into a Swiss watch, and their ultra-cheap starting price was the gateway drug that got so many of my generation addicted. That hasn’t been a real option though since the 1990’s which is why we were recycling those same old TAGs into the 2000's.
The MoonSwatch, released in 2022 was a gateway drug for this generation. In the first year of production alone, it put 1.5 million Swiss watches out into the world and most importantly, putting a huge chunk of those onto the wrists of Gen Z.
The value of that is simply immeasurable.
These are the next generation of watch collectors, and to have them take their first step into this world early and passionately is a benefit to all of us, keeping it alive and assuring its future. My only hope is that they are welcomed as warmly as I was when I first started participating in watch culture online with my lowly TAG.
The Omega Speedmaster Has Not Been Diluted, It Has Gained A Legion Of Fans
It saddens me somewhat that so many from within the community take the rather myopic view of seeing the MoonSwatch as a dilution of the Omega brand, or the Speedmaster name.
It really couldn't be any more to the contrary.
No MoonSwatch has ever been mistaken for a real MoonSwatch, with its distinctively colorful styling and clearly Omega X Swatch branded dial. The MoonSwatch is widely known and recognised for what it is, a fun tribute to its namesake produced by Swatch, powered by a quartz movement.
Three MoonSwatch Variants On Three Wrists, Images By @amiriqbal, @savka & @sratansi
It does not dilute or lessen real Omega watches any more than a Ferrari hat or shirt dilutes the value of their cars. It is a key opportunity for fans and enthusiasts to become involved.
Major Swiss watch brands are constantly seeking to find unique and novel marketing approaches to promote their product above others, and to move the needle. That commonly leads to much cynicism within the collector world these days, and it is genuinely rare that any watch brand manages to market in a way that has a true global impact.
The MoonSwatch was the exception that well and truly moved that needle.
In the last two years I have had so many friends, family members and colleagues ask about the MoonSwatch, who have never shown any interest in watches before in the time I have known them. I have only ever seen two watch releases make it onto international TV news around the world, the first was the Apple Watch, and the second was the MoonSwatch.
This was a Swiss watch release that drew a crowd so enormous that on March 26 2022, the NSW Police Riot Squad were deployed to restore order at one of the Sydney Swatch boutiques.
The flow-on impact for Omega and the Speedmaster was enormous. Traffic increased to Omega Forums for weeks, and the initial spike was bigger than for any Omega product launch or Baselworld in history. We even created a dedicated Swatch forum for people to discuss it in.
Several Omega boutique staff told me of their difficulty in keeping the actual Speedmaster Pro Moonwatch in stock with the increase in demand, with Omega estimating a 50% increase in Speedmaster sales globally following the MoonSwatch launch. We even saw a substantial increase in sales and prices of used Speedmaster models on the forum.
How then can people be offended by it? To me that question is as baffling as it would be to see a Porsche owner annoyed by someone enjoying building a model version of their car.
If you wear a Speedmaster every day and see someone with a MoonSwatch on their wrist, I really think you should compliment them on it, and show them how it compares to your version. Encourage that passion and see them as you once were before you had one of your own.
The next generation of collectors are the ones who will keep independent watchmakers in a job, who will ensure there is a market for your collection when you finally pass it on, and who will ensure the demand for and value of the watch on your wrist remains what it is in the future.
Far from diluting the brand, their involvement protects it.
Discussion thread on Omegaforums can be found here:
