Omega Swatch Speedmaster
swatch.comEveryone here debating the speedmaster versus the swatch-speedmaster and there are those of us who have never spent north of $400 for a watch for various reasons, who think the designs are attractive and are considering if one would fit well into a pedestrian i-just-like-how-this-looks-on-my-arm collection.
These are some really interesting color combos and an attractive chrono. I'm considering one having seen them.
I'm a Seamaster guy (Aqua Terra 38mm w/ steel bracelet, blue dial, & date complication only). In my mind, this is _the_ perfect watch. It's classic and timeless, has the features you'd want with none of the over-the-top stuff watches tend to stack.
I'm finding this Swatch x Omega craze to be highly ridiculous. The new watches look like cheap fakes. At least with the weird plastic (sorry, bioceramic) and funky colors nobody will try to pass them off as the real thing. Still, it cheapens the brand and the mark of quality the Omega logo used to represent when these plastic / quartz / velcro pieces flood the market and perform like a Swatch and not an Omega.
People like Omega because it's the watch that first went to the moon, it's the watch of James Bond's wrist, and it's the watch that times the olympics. That's the classiness people want to be associated with. Not with the urban appeal of a bunch of people trying to scalp these like they're Supreme hats.
As someone who's not a marketing guy, this makes me feel dumb: there must be some genius thinking behind this thing, but I cannot figure out what it could be.
I agree that this cheapens the brand.
Fun fact: Bulova is the "other" moon watch, after an unfortunate mishap with David Scott's Speedmaster.
I'm not a marketing guy. But my understanding is if you are a luxury brand (real luxury, very high quality, very expensive). You can allow your brand on very cheap objects (including counterfeit) and nobody will get confused.
Maybe they want a slice of the sneakerhead market, somehow?
The ‘Moon’ edition is coloured like an original Omega speedmaster.
I don't think anyone is confusing the blueish plastic case of the moonswatch with the steel original ST105.012.
They look nothing alike.
Re: moonswatch; The hands are too short, the second hand is shaped incorrectly, the chronograph registers are in the wrong spot, the text is in the wrong spot, the case looks like chinese backyard forge pot metal, it’s on a cheap looking Velcro NATO instead of a bracelet, etc.
At a glance from 10’ away it might look like a speedy pro, but not up close.
> At a glance from 10’ away it might look like a speedy pro, but not up close.
I think we agree.
Whoever did the marketing on this is a genius, since the release created near-riots in Singapore:
https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/style-beauty/omega-...
The craziest thing is that this is not a limited edition, since the planned production run is hundreds of thousands, and probably more now given the hype.
these watches are gorgeous, but so are "real" omega watches.
unpopular opinion but crossing over these brands only makes sense if you think youre capable of targeting a lower income customer without risk of damaging your existing luxury brand, or if your existing luxury brand is floundering.
I suspect its the latter, and i suspect its confirmation that the last decade of rennaisance for Rolex is starting to impact the bottom line at Swatch. younger customers are going to gravitate to a smart watch, older customers are going to look for the pedigree of the movement and its lineage so where does this even fit?
Bioceramics and bioglasses are ceramic materials that are biocompatible, full stop. throwing this in is just a buzzword Swatch hopes its customer wont take the time to investigate too thoroughly. theres no real reason to have it on a timepiece.
call me a cynic, but mark my words...in 10 years time youll see the same phenomenon with these watches as you saw with Timex. repair shops wont touch them, and they exist as a valueless testament to disposable faux luxury.
> unpopular opinion but crossing over these brands only makes sense if you think youre capable of targeting a lower income customer without risk of damaging your existing luxury brand, or if your existing luxury brand is floundering. [...] I suspect its the latter, and i suspect its confirmation that the last decade of rennaisance for Rolex is starting to impact the bottom line at Swatch.
You've actually got it precisely backwards here. Omega, like most other Swiss luxury watch brands, has been absolutely killing it these past two years. Profits are up substantially. Omega is doing fantastic*. What isn't doing fantastic is Swatch -- their numbers are down substantially over the past decade. Smart watches are really killing them. An Apple Watch is not a replacement good for a $6k mechanical work of art, but it absolutely is a replacement good for a similarly priced quartz watch with fewer features, which is exactly what Swatch makes.
So I view this as a successful attempt at leveraging the brand value of Omega to prop up their lower-end brand.
> call me a cynic, but mark my words...in 10 years time youll see the same phenomenon with these watches as you saw with Timex. repair shops wont touch them, and they exist as a valueless testament to disposable faux luxury.
You're being over-dramatic here. And you don't generally repair cheap quartz watches like a Swatch anyway; you replace the battery as needed, and eventually in some number of decades they stop working entirely and that's that. You could do a movement swap at that point if you really wanted.
* See https://watchesbysjx.com/2022/03/morgan-stanley-watch-indust...
Omega did very well out of the Craig and Brosnan series of Bond films. Outside of a few special editions, an Omega won’t appreciate like a Rolex, but it’s also not gonna run you $25k.
> I suspect its the latter, and i suspect its confirmation that the last decade of rennaisance for Rolex is starting to impact the bottom line at Swatch.
Not even close, Swatch Group is the largest part manufacturer and was previously required by Swiss Anti-trust authorities to supply their own competitors with parts. It’s only in the last decade Swatch Group has been able to begin terminating contracts to supply competitors with the goal of not supplying any brands outside Swatch Group. These changes have hurt everyone but Swatch.
Pretty much in the last 2 years every luxury Swiss watch has set their own sales records, and Omega is no different, they can’t meet demand.
The bioceramic (i.e. plastic) MoonSwatch is about meeting the demand for Omega while being able to sell it under the Swatch brand. Rolex has the same problem not being able to meet demand, but they don’t have the luxury of being able to print and sell plastic watches.
My understanding is that Omega is very confident in its brand’s strength and staying power. I believe they put out a substantially larger number of watches than, for example, Rolex, and as a result Omega resale value hasn’t grown like crazy like Rolex watches have. But still, they sell a ton of watches and the brand remains popular.
> My understanding is that Omega is very confident in its brand’s strength and staying power. I believe they put out a substantially larger number of watches than, for example, Rolex
Nope. Rolex produces significantly more watches than Omega. Rolex is in a class of its own year -- no other manufacturer commanding such a high price is making remotely as many watches.
Thanks for correcting! https://italianwatchspotter.com/brands-podium-2020/?lang=en
They're trying to shut down the replica market
Then they should have gone with an ETA automatic movement. They have access to them, and at this point the high end rep market is using high quality automatic movements.
Besides, the whole point of the replica market is to have an omega on your wrist, not a Swatch.
An ETA automatic chronograph movement would have put this watch over $1000, maybe less if they kept all the other materials and manufacturing the same, but still a significant multiplier over what it costs as it stands.
That would have dramatically increased the cost of the watch though, to the point that I don't think it would have made such an interesting proposition for customers.
Sure, but Swatch have been adding auto movements to watches for 30 years. The Sistem51 is almost good enough to be COSC certified. All cheaper than the MoonSwatch pricepoint.
IMO they could have put an auto movement in, but then it becomes waaaay closer to a Speedy and way more likely that people start going "is the 5k price difference worth it?"
Sistem51 isn't a chronograph movement though - and my experience of the longevity/durability of it left a lot to be desired (yes, yes, N=1)
You're right though - not only does it put the price up, it would then beg the question of "Why the extra for a 'real' speedmaster?"
In Spain, it's traditional for couples to give each other engagement presents, not just for the woman. The woman gets an expense ring and the man gets an expensive watch. (People will immediately ask you to show it off when they find out you're getting married, like they do with engagement rings, it's fun.) My ex-wife spent around 8,000€ like 20 years ago for my Omega Speedmaster because I grew up in the time when Astronaut moon watches were the pinnacle of cool.
In fact the first thing I did when I got an Android Wear watch was create a custom face which looked like a Moonwatch (Omega is twitchy about it, so you can't just buy one, apparently.)
Am I converting the price correctly? Are these less than $300!?! [Edit, Yep, $260] Wow. It sorta makes my watch - now owned by my son who has never worn a watch in his life - a little less special, but hey. If more people can own one, I'm all for it.
Here's an article in Wired: https://www.wired.com/story/omega-and-swatch-moonswatch/
> Am I converting the price correctly? Are these less than $300!?! [Edit, Yep, $260] Wow. It sorta makes my watch - now owned by my son who has never worn a watch in his life - a little less special, but hey.
If anything, I think this makes your real moonwatch more special. This was the biggest watch release in many years, and its success redounds to the reputation of the real deal moonwatch. The two aren't remotely comparable. You have a hand-crafted luxury mechanical chronograph (which is a few steps up from your basic mechanical 3-hander). The Swatch is a plastic, quartz, mass-produced disposable consumer good. The only thing they have in common is they look similar. Even functionally, they aren't the same; the Omega beats at 6 ticks per second and can time up to 12 hours, whereas the Swatch only beats at 1 tick per second (thus making it look like a cheap quartz) and can only time up to 60 minutes.
The only way I can see how this might've reduced the reputation of the real deal would've been if it had flopped.
That's actually probably exactly right, thanks!
People get uptight about this, but from my point of view: 1. I really admire Omega watches, but have not had the income to pursue the high end mechanical watch hobby. I stick to the lower end. I have some career goals that I will celebrate with a Hamilton and a Speedmaster, but they are not coming up soon. 2. I have a long connection with Swatch, having had (still have, somewhere) several of their iconic line in the mid to late 80s.
So to get a hybrid, combining one of my favorite watch style/designs with one of my favorite watch brands at a price point that I can afford on my current salary? Count me the heck in. I can buy one of each of this set and still not have spent as much as I would on a new Speedmaster.
You know who this probably hurts the most? Corgeut, Phylidae, Pagani Design. I'll bet their Speedmaster homages are going to be far less popular now that we can get a legitimate watch with Omega Speedmaster on the dial.
I don’t get why Omega would do this - my initial reaction is it’s dilutive to their brand and I’m happy I’ve never bought one.
I don't understand this sentiment. I own an Omega Speedmaster and I could not care less that they did this. It's great. They look great.
Don't worry, I just went to check, and it's still a good watch.
Likewise, although I own a Seamaster. To most people it's just a piece of jewelry and might as well be from Fossil. Those who know, know. Other than the occasional fascinating conversation about what's in their collection, I don't know why it should matter they know (a partial truth given I once lived in Hong Kong where to a certain class it did matter, but generally speaking it does not). This collaboration won't change that.
>I don't understand this sentiment.
You are paying a substantial premium for the name Omega on the front of the watch.
Here is one website that can give you an idea of how much a watch should cost built out of premium materials, but not with a luxury brand name. Steinhart watches being a great example of quality from a non luxury brand. [1]
No one really believes the parts that make up a Rolex Submariner are worth $12000. It's worth that much because it's a Rolex. You can actually buy quality forgeries for under $1000 that you'd likely need to take apart the entire watch to prove it's a fake.
I'm more like a TAG Heuer guy, so. Partially because I could never justify Omega's prices for myself. I do love mechanical watches, once I had a chat with specialized limited-edition mechanical watches dealer. Man, did he have nice ones. He also appreciated those non-limited edition ones being worn everyday.
I would never ever buy a new Rolex. Maybe a really old one, an antique, but not a new one. To cite the famous actor Nicolas Cage from the master piece movie Gone in 60 Seconds: "I saw three of the at McDonalds yesterday. And that tells me that there are too many people with too much money and not enough taste in this town". Rolex, to me, is like a golden Bentley, only their to show even the poorest dude that you are rich. Money doesn't buy taste or style so. Some Rolex are nice, most seem to be bought by people only to show of wealth.
Not to judge so, because there are certainly enthusiasts out there that own the Rolex of there dreams.
I’ve never seen a nice looking Rolex.
I owned a tag, it was partially made from rubber, it was a formula 1 series watch, the rubber perished, was bad.
Do you remember more about the exact model? I can see the band being made of rubber (which is a wear part, and you just buy a replacement for), but the watch case itself should be steel and last decades. I'm not aware of any rubber-cased Tag watches.
> I’ve never seen a nice looking Rolex.
Fwiw, this is not a commonly held opinion. You can't argue taste, but most would disagree. What kind of watches do you like the looks of?
I agree, but to be fair:
1. It has generated significant attention- which has value.
2. Like a BMW 1-series, I imagine the idea is that once people have the "beginner" version, they'll aspire to upgrade to the real thing. It gets people "on the boat".
3. Rolex sells a cheaper version of their flagship watch under the Tudor brand- it's virtually identical and hasn't diluted Rolex's brand value.
4. The funky colors is probably less to do with style and more a guarantee it'll never be confused for the "real" version.
That all said, I would definitely still be salty if I owned a Speedmaster. But I applaud Swatch for making bold and interesting moves- which doesn't exactly happen much in the luxury industry.
I own a speedmaster, I don’t feel salty at all. I think these look pretty cool
Omega is a subsidiary of the Swatch Group, it's all the same company.
Next you're going to try to tell us that Lamborghinis are made by VW.
This isn't the greatest analogy, post-Murcielago they largely are made by VW/Audi - even the V12.
Salty about what exactly? Put it in words please.
Because it’s a marketing stunt involving an investment I made; an investment I made with the implicit understanding there’ll be some protection for the brand’s dignity.
How would the brand lose "dignity" by doing a coop with their mother brand? Do you perceive the value of a OMEGA watch by the marketing instead of the watch making?
Let's not be naive, if the market gave a shit about substance over marketing, we'd all be wearing Seikos and driving Toyotas.
That's like saying selling prints of an artwork devalues the original artwork.
Unless you're saying the entire watch collectors market is a scam driven by companies and not collectors.
I don't really understand what you're talking about- but yes, the watch industry- like all luxury industries, is primarily driven by marketing. It's not a scam, it's just the nature of the industry.
Have you ever collected anything?
Do you think Action Comics #1 would drop in value if DC reprinted it? No. It's worth $3 million because the collectors care about the history that represents and the rarity of finding the original. Otherwise it's just ink on shitty paper. Collectors are deciding the value of the original and it can't be manipulated by merely making a new version. Omega would have to start selling the real thing for less money to tank the price. A clone can't do that.
People aren't going to stop buying the original either. Think about knock off designer handbags. It's easy to get a really high quality fake. But no one is buying the fakes if they can have the real thing. A watch collector sure isn't buying the fake since the movement would play a big part in owning that specific model. You want the same model that went to the moon. Not the plastic version.
Even if the supply of the clone is not constrained, I bet some colours are more popular than others, leading to some natural rarity. And in 50 years if they stop making these things and regular people throw them away, that Pluto watch will be worth more than the Mars and a complete collection will be worth even more. All they have done is create another thing for watch enthusiasts to collect.
Let's not get into a long-winded debate about something that's well established, researched and at this point, proven.
There's a reason why Patek doesn't sell a $1000 version of their watch, or why Porsche doesn't make a Corolla competitor.
If you disagree, then you're free to do so. Just understand you're disagreeing with people with a lot more practical experience, knowledge and skin-in-the-game than you.
I don't know about watches, but Porsche does make a Corolla competitor; the VW Golf. I'm sure the analogy isn't perfect, but obviously large manufacturers want to compete across market segments which is why the same company makes Audis and Bugattis as well.
Also, as someone who's not that into watches - the Neptune and Mercury Swatches are gorgeous.
Porsche:VW::Omega:Swatch is a pretty good analogy, actually. In both cases you have a large conglomerate with different brands targeting different price points.
But they didn't compromise the Porsche brand to do so.
Brand prestige is huge. A much better example here is the Volkswagen Phaeton. A truly stunning product at a great price point - significantly better than the luxury cars it competed with - but it failed because no one wanted to spend their luxury money on a brand associated with affordable normal products.
Phaeton existed in a weird segment, it was like a gimped S-class for the price of an E-class.
It failed because there wasn’t a huge market for gimped S-classes among the E-class buying segment.
The only people interested in Phaetons ended up being corrupt mid-level politicians in eastern Europe, they had full time drivers but didn’t want to be seen in a S-class.
Also keep in mind that for the price of a V8 phaeton you could’ve had such cars as a V6 LS.
Had the phaeton been just a bit nicer, it could very well have survived. But that’s not the car VW built.
That's the point; VW puts out the "VW Golf", not the "Bugatti Golf", for a reason.
I agree it's not a perfect analogy. That said, I doubt you would sell me an Omega at a discount due to the existence of this new watch.
> There's a reason why Patek doesn't sell a $1000 version of their watch, or why Porsche doesn't make a Corolla competitor.
The minimum cost for an Omega watch is around $5,000. The Moonswatch that we're talking about here in this discussion is a Swatch. It may additionally have the Omega name on it, but anyone and everyone knows that it is a Swatch, produced to normal Swatch standards, on a Swatch assembly line. It has nothing to do with the line of mechanical Omega watches besides having the name on it.
The existence of an officially licensed Porsche toy car does not degrade the value of a real Porsche. Same for this Swatch.
You are using the same logic that would cause somebody to make statements like "Ads don't work on me because I know they're ads".
Don't treat people like they are rational, because they aren't. If you seriously think the Moonswatch isn't canabalizing Omega's brand cache- just ask yourself: If Casio put out the exact same product with the exact same design, would people be lining up to buy it?
You don't actually need to answer that, because as somebody else pointed out, the Pagani Speedmaster already tried it, and it clearly didn't work.
People aren't buying this because they like the design, they are buying it for the Omega logo.
Try to justify it however you will, but at the end of the day, that $250 watch is an Omega watch in the eyes of those who buy it. It might not be a "real" Omega, but it'll still be an Omega watch. And that's too bad for those with "real" Omegas. Because nobody wants to be lumped in with a bunch of hypebeasts and dead-beats who spend an afternoon lining up for a toy watch.
Are we not?
I have a more expensive watch but my daily d(r)iver is a Seiko SKX009. Indestructible and with a bracelet upgrade it looks great. And here in Asia you see a lot of marketing for Seiko, and tons of shops. And there’s always Grand Seiko if you want to make watch snobs STFU. Or mods if you want to out-nerd the watch nerds.
I don’t own a Toyota yet but I probably will buy one soon!
I still don't understand what you mean with the loss of dignity what is the loss of dignity? Do you mean that the arbitrary value you put on OMEGA watches should not be compromised by offering a cheaper version?
I'm not sure what there is to not understand? But yes, Swatch should not have released a cheaper facsimile if they wanted to maximize Omega's brand value.
Investment in what way?
In the way that it's an asset that you derive value from.
And how is the value you derive from it being lessened by the existence of this Moonswatch?
by the simple fact that nobody will think more of Omega with this collaboration, some people will think less of it. Net-of-net, it'll be a decrease in general opinions, which leads to a general decline in market value.
If anything I think this will increase the market value of Omega by bringing in massive interest to the brand.
Anyway, this is a testable hypothesis. All we have to do is wait and see.
Rolex sells a cheaper version of their flagship watch under the Tudor brand
Cheaper in this case means starting at around 3-5k$ not 300$. Also you have to be pretty into watches to know that Tudor is a Rolex brand. It's not really something they advertise.
A real Omega moonwatch is so different from the moonswatch that it's not a substitutable good at all. No one who was previously interested in buying a real $6k+ moonwatch is going to instead buy the 1/25th price Swatch and call it a day. The Swatch is an homage to the real thing. Homages are common in the watch industry (look at, e.g., the Invicta Pro Diver vs the Rolex Submariner), and here we see a conglomerate leveraging its lower-priced brand to profit off an homage to its own brand rather than leaving that exclusively to others (see e.g. the Pagani Design Speedmaster).
FYI if anybody cares, the Invicta Pro Diver might not be a Rolex, and some watch guys will openly mock you for putting a NATO band on one, but it's a fine watch for the price and gives you 80% of the look without having to gamble on a replica if you can't/won't buy a Rolex. I like mine a lot.
Omega is owned by the Swatch group.
Omega (along with all other luxury Swiss watches) have had record years/sales since the the lockdowns started in 2020.
Omega specifically can’t meet demand and while that might sound like a good problem to have, they can print these moonSwatches, I’m sure the upside to this is significantly greater than any perceived knock on their luxury brand.
The industry is talking about this as a marketing tactic to get new watch buyers in the market, but I think that is a bigger unknown than any potential perceived dilution of the brand only if because retail has prepurchased Omega’s future production for the foreseeable future.
Market segmentation. People that buy these watches are more likely to buy an Apple watch than a >$40k watch. The people that do will still buy it for fun sake. It might slightly dilute their brand, but the cash cow is going to be massive to justify.
This is the same strategy used by single malt whiskey brands. They have bottles that defined them as company, but they also sell tons of un-aged whiskey to the mass audience. They gobble it up because it's got the brand name. Most of their revenue comes from these lower end, higher margin whiskeys.
I think this is a brilliant idea. I can imagine this would be a fantastic start watch for the younger crowd. Much better than the Rolex shenanigan that's going on their were a mass produced $6.000 costs you $35.000. People are starting to look for alternatives for Rolex. Why $35k when you can get a nice Patek or Lange for the same price with much better build quality and finishing?
Isn’t a Patek even more impossible to obtain than a Rolex?
That's not my experience as long you don't want the Nautilus etc.
But can't the same be said for Rolex as long as you're not after their more popular stainless steel sport models?
While not "easy" per se, you could probably score a precious metal or two-tone Rolex at a dealer without a ridiculous amount of difficulty. I'd say you could get a SS Oyster Perpetual or DateJust (barring certain exceptions - i.e. the Tiffany dial) without too much difficulty too, unless things have changed drastically in the past few months.
A Patek is for guys who want to impress the Rolex guys.
Huh. So you're glad you didn't buy a really expensive watch that people may no longer think is really expensive?
There's no mistaking the Swatch for the Omega for anyone who has any clue about watches at all. The Swatch has a plastic case and comes on a Velcro strap, for starters.
But even beyond that, many people who're into watches really don't care what other people think about them.
>But even beyond that, many people who're into watches really don't care what other people think about them.
that's been precisely opposite of every interaction I've had with watch enthusiasts.
in fact, that's been opposite of every interaction I've had with any luxury-goods enthusiast, cars/watches/planes/art , you name it; if it was expensive and rare you're likely going to hear about the purchase at lunch.
people don't tend to want to bring up their new 9 dollar Casio or their 1997 Corolla, go figure.
I guess we hang in different crowds then. It sounds like you're hanging out with people who are big on showing off and projecting wealth, rather than real watch nerds who are in it for the "love of horology".
This. OP’s username checks out though.
I’m around people who spends thousands on a single garment from brands that the unacquainted wouldn’t know about, but the trained eye can tell the difference. There’s a saying in fashion, “if you know, you know”. Some people just like well designed and nice clothing, and yes, they want to look cool, but they don’t need people to know it’s expensive.
It depends on what OP think of as “luxury”. Maybe for fashion, OP will think of Louis Vuitton, Gucci, but those are Veblen goods as other commenters have mentioned. Ann Demeulemeester, Raf Simons, Dries Van Noten, Maison Margiela, basically all the Antwerpen fashion designers are equally expensive as those “luxury brands”, but the untrained eye would not recognize them. Dover Street Market, not Sak’s Fifth.
Vacheron Constantin is an analogy with watches ( in terms of brand familiarity ).
With this said, the real elitism is the people who buy expensive stuff with the intention of being esoteric or that people don’t understand/recognize.
> people don't tend to want to bring up their new 9 dollar Casio or their 1997 Corolla, go figure.
But people do bring up what’s great about Toyota. I think you’re projecting. I’ve spent $200k worth of men’s wear over the past 5 years, but I’ll still praise and highlight Uniqlo, especially Heatech.
It just happens to be that stuff from H&M and Zara is trash. And niche, therefore expensive, products are making an interesting or artistic statement, whether that is functional or not. No one is buying these thousand dollar watches for the function. A Toyota is about function. It’s literally designed to be utilitarian, and utilitarian is usually not the most provocative as with art.
> and comes on a Velcro strap
Fun fact, the real Omega Moon watches given to the Apollo astronauts was also a Velcro band.
Plenty of folks also put their watches on NATO and Zulu straps if they think they'll be in 'rough and tumble' situations:
Apparently there was a huge queue outside the Swatch store here in Melbourne and they sold out all of those "Omega" models in less than 7 minutes. As far as I can tell, this is just another Swatch with quartz movement. Does anyone know why this is so popular apart from the Omega branding?
It's your typical Flippers (Already showing up on 2nd hand marketplaces for 10x the price), FOMO, Hypebeasts, See and be seen people, people who gotta have it first. It's not even a limited release and will be available online in a few weeks.
An official quartz version of one of the most iconic watches of all time and super cheap comparatively. Though some serious collectors would still say overpriced for what it is (quartz/plastic).
Yes, exactly my thoughts. You're right, a bunch of these appeared on Ebay the next day with 1000% mark up.
I’m a huge fan of the moonwatch both for its beauty and history with the space program. Ever since I was 10 I’ve wanted one. However, I’m a PhD student and there’s no way I can afford to get a “real” one. The Swatch release is really attractive to me since it captures the spirit of the watch while making it accessible.
For reference, there’s a very popular variant of the Speedmaster Professional that uses a sapphire crystal rather than a hesalite (basically plastic) crystal. Despite never having been used in space (since the shattering crystal is a risk) the sapphire model is still considered a “professional” edition and highly sought after. People who wear it enjoy the aesthetic of the spacefaring version with the earthly practicality of scratch-proof sapphire. The Swatch version’s desirability is just the same logic a taken a few more steps. It’s made by Omega, has the same basic design, and evokes the imagery of the space race.
Alternatively, consider the popularity of the Tesla toy car for kids. It’s not anything like the real Tesla in terms of functionality but is still a cool electric vehicle, especially if you already have a Tesla.
If that's the watch you want, you should get it one day. And when you do, you will value it for the rest of your life. One of the benefits of not being rich enough to just buy one because you can.
I never wanted a particular watch, just a nice mechanical one. I finally got one of my grandmother's inheritance money, an entry level TAG Heuer. It got refurbished twice in the last 14 odd years, I wear it daily. And it is basically my only piece of jewelry. It is also absolutely impractical when compared to a modern Garmin smart watch, the combined refurbishment costs so far could have financed a top-of-the-line Garmin. Which I'd assume is a lot more robust than the fragile mechanics. I'll never get one of those Garmins then, because a good mechanical watch is piece of art.
Getting a nice Omega (lovely watches, especially the Moon one) would feel like betrayal of my TAG.
Fair enough. I totally understand. I'm employed full time as a data analyst and I still can't afford an Omega. But it's the engineering behind the manual movement that fascinates me.
Just like the mechanical/automotive engineering behind petrol/diesel engines fascinate me more compared to electric motors on EVs. I'd still own an EV as that's the future but I'll always appreciate those mechanical gasoline powered engines. I get you analogy! :)
Probably just because they are fucking gorgeous.
Yes, but Swatch watches are beautiful without the Omega branding. :) I own an Irony model that I bought in 2007 and it's quite beautiful just with the Swatch logo.
Swatch owns Omega.
Yes, I know. :)
About a million years ago, I was a younger buck with an itch for sales.
I got hired at the Times Square store as a floor rep. I had this grandiose design in my head that I'd just sell my you-know-what off and rise to the top.
You needed to be bilingual to work there, and I had just moved to the city from a yeehaw nowhere-town, so I just claimed to be, got the job, and started hustling.
I moved watches. Like you wouldn't believe, sometimes 2-3 in an hour!
About six weeks go by, and I'm brought downstairs into the admin office area, several of the managers (there were like 7 levels of mgmt throughout the store) were waiting for me. The head lady at the time looked me dead in the eyes and spoke a whole Spanish paragraph. Of course, I had no idea, so I was speechless.
She said: "That's what I thought, furtivo." I was no longer welcome in the store, and they even made me take off my store shirt and walk to the train in my undershirt.
I didn't walk away thinking "I'll never lie again" but rather, I learned the difference between bs-ing a little, and outright lying. We all bs a little, particularly on the resume and in the interview, but I make a point not to outright lie anymore.
I visited the store nearly a decade later, and only recognized one person there, someone I had never directly interacted with. Nobody stuck around, anyhow. Hope they all moved up somehow.
Great story.
I have a friend that my wife met in language school. This girl was from New York and she had an insanely good CV, best uni education from Yale, investment bank and hedge fund experience. But do you know what, she kept getting fired on the corporate gigs she took here. The trouble was, she thought lying a little is okay. Which it clearly isn't in my Northern European country. Schmoozing while a great party lubricant very easily becomes lying and that is very heavily frowned upon in most Euro places.
Oh wow, I've never had to consider the cultural implications abroad. That's fascinating. With hedge fund and investment experience and all, I find that particularly striking that they'd just cut her loose.
I'll surely heed that lesson should I ever find myself with EU compadres. That makes me wonder how it happened. How America became the lie-on-your-resume place, and how those European countries became the tell-no-lies-you-heathen countries. I wonder how long it's been that way.
I mainly stick to typical resume bs now. At my age, I don't generally have to do that bs-ing, and thankfully, I don't really have to do that much job searching. Still, I've always thought it was okay to exaggerate small things. Sat through a Hadoop workshop? Yeah, you know Hadoop. I once spent a year and a half or so in a cube next to someone who was a Powershell wizard. He'd always try and enchant me with his tricks and wizardry. I took some notes and maintained a mild interest in it. I put Powershell on my resume. As long as I don't claim too much expertise, seems counterproductive to just sniff out liars during the hiring process.
Whenever I get too old to attract good work, I'll probably just retire.
Sign me up for the mission to Uranus!
Juvenile is good. Upvoted.
lol, I downvoted you before I actually scrolled down the product page and realized that yes, I 100% agree. Guess that just proves that I'm the juvenile here...
What I don't understand is if these fancy watches are so premium why don't they have longer warranty. I was gifted a fancy omega, didn't wear it much and in 3 years the motor died, cost of repair: 40% of the new price. 1.5 years later its dead again.
These are "almost Veblen goods" for middle-income people. Veblen good is a type of luxury good for which the demand increases as the price increases,
The price for a brand must be high to create value and quality does not affect demand significantly. It's only the appearance and brand image that sells.
The Swatch Group is the world’s largest watch company that owns over 10 brands. They sell mass produced brand where the value is almost 95% immaterial and non-functional (it's all in the mind of people). It's all about marketing.
Does someone remember the "1987 Rolex Air-King with Domino's Pizza Dial" (see https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/vintage-watches-oct-20-202... )?
Does someone remember these Panasonic cameras with Leica's red dot on them (they where slightly more expensive that the native Panasonic models, which were identical except for the red dot)?
I really don't get the appeal. It's not even mechanical.
You're paying just for the branding.
I think the point is that you're not paying for the branding, you're getting a watch with an Omega logo for 5% of what it'd normally cost you.
Makes you think, maybe Pluto lost the battle but won the war in the hearts and minds.
Beautiful looking, nice branding with nice colors and small details in the different models that make you want them all. In the age of NFTs, these Omega Swatch space themed watches are a nice investment.
Maybe if you keep one for 50 years it would be a good investment. It's not a limited release and swatch has said they're not going to artificially limit supply like other well known manufacturers do.
I’ve got a 20 year old Swatch Irony chrono that has given up. I’m buying one of these, but given my (anecdotal) experience, I’d be shocked if it lasts longer than 10 years.
No joke, I see them for $1500 and up on eBay. Many have more than 10 bids.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/OMEGA-x-SWATCH-Moonswatch-Mission-T...
The best way to use these as an investment is to flip them immediately, when they're still going for a substantial premium. These are non-limited models, and the supply is eventually going to catch up to the demand. Swatch has a lot of available production capacity, and it's a no-brainer for them to use it on this model for as long as it continues to sell (as Swatches, generally, are not otherwise jumping off the shelves like this one is).
The current aftermarket price of the Moonswatch is as high as it's ever going to be.
I like the yellow one... Though I don't think I'll ever want to wear a traditional watch again. I gave up on those in the 90s. And it's too expensive to buy just for the sake of it :)
I didn't even spend more than 72 euro on my smartwatch (Amazfit GTS 2 Mini).. Together with the open-source gadgetbridge app (preserving privacy) smartwatches are a great option IMO.
Ha, Swatch still has its beat time (@beats) on its homepage, nice. That brings be back to the early, early, early internet days.
It went a little crazy over in Singapore, crazy crowds form and reselling immediately, being non limited I wonder why people are rushing for it
https://mothership.sg/2022/03/omega-swatch-carousell-scalper...
It's not only selling like crazy in Singapore, it's actually selling like crazy everywhere.
This is the link I posted yesterday but somehow it did not pick up any interest [1].
[1] Low-Priced Omega Speedmaster Prompts Global Swatch Store Chaos:
Everything is limited edition in 2022.
I have an old Speedmaster which I love but rarely wear (since having kids, I’m always picking them up and don’t want to scratch them with the band) and I think these are super cool. It will increase the exposure of the original brand to a new generation, and I can sell mine before they find out you have to wind it every day ;)
Going to get one when I can buy them at the local Swatch store or online. I am happy to add it to my collection.
Sounds like these are in-store only :(
Only the initial release.
Sold out and for 10x the price on ebay...
They're not limited. Wait a few days and it will be back in stock everywhere.
Everything is limited if there are enough bots and scalpers.
You have a point, but I don’t think Swatch is selling these online. All I’ve read is that they’re not a limited edition, but available in “select stores only”.
but available in “select stores only”.
Only for the initial release. Swatch has said that they'll be available from the online store at some unspecified point in the future.
edit: although I can't find that statement on their homepage any more.
For 10x the price you're getting close to a used 'real' speedmaster and well over the price of a speedmaster reduced.
used to wear lots of automatic watches but switched to apple watch completely 4 years ago
I have a two nice mechanical watches, one which used to be a daily wear. Once I got my Apple Watch I just never wear them anymore. The few times I'm at a black tie event and wear the nicer mechanical one I feel slightly limited. It's a dumb little problem, but I kinda feel like my Apple Watch ruined other watches for me.
I've got a few bands I rotate on it to make it feel a little more special though.
Interestingly, I went the other way. Once I found myself ‘addicted’ to screens I got a nice automatic to check time with, and found that it really helped wean me off screens (I can set down my phone now and not look at it all day, and my quality of life and sleep have improved)
On the contrary, I've had a pebble and two Apple watches (You think I'd have learned after the Pebble, but no)... after few months of wear the smart watches languished in the back of a drawer until I eventually sold them. I'm connected enough without my watch being connected -- for me watches are jewellery and a mechanical marvel that I take personal pleasure out of wearing.
Luckily for me, I have an Apple watch I wear on special occasions only (if I go somewhere too shady to wear the real Omega, or in rough waters since my butterfly clasp is a little loose and has a tendency to come undone in water), and every single time I hate it and can't wait to get back home and switch back to the real mechanical watch.
Get the Hermes edition
I have a few quartz watches. I have a bunch of stuff from Apple as well but never could live with an Apple watch. For some weird reason I've always thought that I need to know the time reliably if I even get lost somewhere. I live in the city and there is almost 0% probability of that happening. hahahha..
So I went with a Garmin Instinct Solar watch that lasts nearly a month even with basic tracking. With all those smart features turned off it can theoretically run forever just with solar power. :)
Still all I wear. I have one very simple auto that I wear every day, and no desire for anything much more complex. It’s a Maratac Mid-Pilot.
I kinda-sorta want a Hamilton with a day/date complication, but I’m not in a hurry for it.
Wish I had heard about this sooner. Are they going to produce more or is this it?
It's not a limited release.
More are coming, and they've announced it will also be sold online. The in-store-only thing is just temporary.
Who is going to wear the First Swatch on the Moon?