Omega MoonSwatch Pairs Speedmaster With Swatch Pricing And Bad News For Scalpers
Omega and Swatch have announced a partnership to produce a small collection of hybrid timepieces that incorporate the luxury of Omega with the more casual "street brand" of Swatch. These new watches, dubbed "MoonSwatch," are derived from Omega's Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch models, which were designed in a similar style to the watches worn by the Apollo 11 astronauts during the first moon landing.
Each of the 11 watches in the collection are named after celestial bodies in our solar system, use less common colors that reflect their associated planet or sun, and an image of that planet on its battery cover. They also include what Omega is referring to as a "spacesuit-ready velcro strap," to give them an extra layer of looking and feeling like something meant to be used by astronauts.
Perhaps the biggest lure, though, is that – despite the Omega name – the watches will be priced at under $300 each, a fraction of what an actual Speedmaster would cost. According to the announcement, the MoonSwatch will be available for purchase starting on March 26th, 2022, at a disappointingly small selection of Swatch store locations.
Even better news
Except the release of the MoonSwatch isn't, actually, being limited to just specific Swatch stores. The official Swatch Instagram account has confirmed that, while the initial release will be in predetermined physical locations, the MoonSwatch will be available for purchase in a much more open capacity in the future.
In multiple replies to queries about whether or not the MoonSwatch will be a limited edition release, Swatch stated this wouldn't be the case. "The watches are not limited or numbered," Swatch told Instagram user Ronald Chew (@horologym), "they will also be available online at a later date if you're unable to purchase from a store."
The lack of limited availability should make it easier to get ahold of a MoonSwatch even if you aren't able to get to one of the selected locations, as well as prevent (or at least discourage) opportunistic scalpers from buying up most of the stock and attempting to resell it at astronomical prices. No pun intended. Though they could still try to take advantage of Swatch customers and collectors that don't want to wait however long it might be for the MoonSwatch to see a general release online.