We all know what the most debated and hyped of watch of this past year has been, and I do think it is the best worst watch ever. I love it because it’s colorful, has a great design, and even has a bit of heritage to boot, but its not a ‘good’ watch, the heritage doesnt belong to them, the great design was thought up decades ago, and the color is because its made out of plastic. This can only be the infamous MoonSwatch. Who is this watch for? Why was this watch made? And is it any good?
The experience of the watch is bad to say the least, everyone already knows that. The reason I even have this watch is by pure coincidence, I know someone who was close to two swatch stores, and one day a few months ago they walked into one not expecting anything and this Mission to the Sun happened to be available that day. But I’ve been hoping for this for over a year now, I even lost hope on getting it. Most of that reason is the scalpers, and even if this watch was sold online it would be bought out by greedy resellers, but if it was available online it would at least be a little easier to get ahold of.
For me it was a graduation present, but besides that, Swatch decided to use their special packaging, it’s the fold of the Big Bold series but is textured, sort of like a faux leather. The box has some facts about the planets or in this case the sun, they are pretty basic but I appreciate the idea. Opening up the box the actual watch is on a cardboard cushion in the middle flanked on the top by a boring regulatory page thing, and on the bottom by a little pamphlet advertising the rest of the collection. Much like the rest of this watch, its only luxurious by Swatch standards, good enough for me but more than dissapointing for the people who dont understand this watch, I’ll get to that.
The actual watch is a very mixed bag, I like the bioceramic, and I think the yellow looks really good. The idea of the strap is nice, replicating the original moonwatch strap, but very poorly, I immediately replaced it with this strap from Zuludiver, and haven’t looked back. The small seconds and the chronograph hand are fairly well alligned on my version, but not well enough. The other reason I changed the strap was because the branding was a but obnoxious, the words “Speedmaster” “Omega” “Swatch” and “Moonswatch” are repeated throughout the watch and strap at least 6 times and it feels like a bit too much. The subdials are sunken in and there’s some nice engraving on the caseback, and a screen printed sun on the battery door. All little details Swatch doesnt usually do, but are appreciated here. It’s not a good quality watch, but its a fun watch, which sends out the wrong message.
Okay lets talk about the onwrist experience. I like how it wears, a lot, but if you are familiar with the metal moonwatch you wont be surprised. The 47.3 mm lug to lug length fits almost perfectly on my wrist, the 42 mm diameter is misleading because it has the iconic pusher and crown guards, and the acrylic crystal is heavily domed so it wears a bit thinner than it actually is. Put a nicer strap on the watch and it actually feels nice to wear, I’ve heard good things about Horus’ curved rubber strap for the Moonswatch but I personally love the Zuludiver Spacebound velcro strap, with interesting color matching and a much more premium feel than the poor imitation the watch is shipped with. The only bad thing I can really say about the on wrist experience is the dissapointing lume, it just isn’t that great.
Ironically it’s the hype that got in the way of how cool this watch actually is. I wont sugarcoat it, this watch isn’t that great, with slightly misaligned hands, and a plastic case it doesnt feel as nice as other watches in the price range. But that also doesn’t matter, the “S” in Swatch stands for “second” as in second watch. this watch isn’t supposed to be taken seriously, honestly it only existed to boost sales of the Moonwatch and of Swatch’s other watches alike. But I still love this watch so much, it’s so fun and weird, it’s lightweight so I forget about it, and it’s space themed, I love outer space! I am really lucky to own one and I will cherish it for the rest of my life, but the hype made this seem like a bargain, and it’s not supposed to be a bargain, its supposed to be fun and a little bit silly, and through that lens it feels perfect.
I hate the way Swatch decided to roll out the release of these, and the Moonshine gold editions are even worse. the watch community and greater world that likes luxury keeps mistaking this for everything it isn’t, but I want to quickly talk about the caseback. Dream big, Fly higher, Explore the universe, Reach for the planets, Enjoy the mission. I’m heading into college now, and as much as those words are embossed by a huge corporation, they mean something to me because of the circumstances. If you temper your expectations you will get a good watch and I love it for all that it is (and isn’t).
Watching Watchmaking is written of Ribbon Eichler. © 2024. All Rights Reserved.
