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A Backstage Pass to the Production of the MoonSwatch and Scuba Fifty Fathoms

16 points by wallflower 2y ago

gerikson 2y ago
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.
- NhanH 2y ago
  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
- qzw 2y ago
  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.
- ricc 2y ago
  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 https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/swatch-name-nick-hayek
  - gerikson 2y ago
    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.
- LandR 2y ago
  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.
- davee5 2y ago
  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.
frankfrank13 2y ago
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.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
mafuyu 2y ago
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).
subsubzero 2y ago
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.
- blacksmith_tb 2y ago
  $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.
  - subsubzero 2y ago
    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.
  - tholdem 2y ago
    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.
- shawn_w 2y ago
  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...
lo0dot0 2y ago
Plasticy-looking hype watch
radicality 2y ago
Since it’s a post about watches, obligatory link to Bartosz’s explainer of mechanical watches: https://ciechanow.ski/mechanical-watch/ https://ciechanow.ski/mechanical-watch/

16 points by wallflower 2y ago

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.

NhanH 2y ago
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
qzw 2y ago
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.
ricc 2y ago
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 https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/swatch-name-nick-hayek
- gerikson 2y ago
  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.
LandR 2y ago
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.
davee5 2y ago
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.

frankfrank13 2y ago

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.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

mafuyu 2y ago

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).

subsubzero 2y ago

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.

blacksmith_tb 2y ago
$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.
- subsubzero 2y ago
  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.
- tholdem 2y ago
  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.
shawn_w 2y ago
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...

lo0dot0 2y ago

Plasticy-looking hype watch

radicality 2y ago

Since it’s a post about watches, obligatory link to Bartosz’s explainer of mechanical watches: https://ciechanow.ski/mechanical-watch/ https://ciechanow.ski/mechanical-watch/