Introducing the Omega X Swatch MoonSwatch Mission to the Moon ‘Moonshine Gold’

For 2023, the behemoth that is the MoonSwatch gets the Midas touch with a Moonshine gold-plated seconds hand on the Mission to the Moon watch. For a CHF25 premium you can go for gold, if you can find one!

I said that year that the horological gods truly gave a gift to the marketing team at Swatch when they were given the green light for the collaboration with Omega and that it was for a Speedmaster. MoonSwatch. Could it get any better for a name? Well, actually, I reckon the watch could have been called anything because no matter what the purist view was on this new watch, it was a surefire hit and was the hottest launch of 2022.

Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch Mission to the Moon Moonshine Gold Hand

Unless you happened to have been marooned on an actual space station with media blackout last spring, you will be acutely aware of the hysteria that accompanied last year’s bioceramic Speedy launch. It’s not often that our small, niche hobby breaks through into the mainstream media, but break through it did as reports were rife of stampedes, injuries and forced closure of Swatch boutiques when the shops managed to get stock. Impossible to reserve and available only in Swatch Boutiques (not concessions), despite initially being promised as an online product in due course, the insane demand for these watches made headlines around the globe, and perhaps on the other planets to which the MoonSwatch paid tribute.

Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch Mission to the Moon Moonshine Gold Hand
Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch Mission to the Moon Moonshine Gold Hand

Swatch Group’s volte-face on online availability came pretty quickly and so demand surged to eye-watering levels. People camped out overnight in queues that had to be policed, ugly scenes erupted inside and outside the shops, sales were limited to one per person, and the grey-market exploded. Five, six, up to ten times retail prices were extorted and genuine collectors frantically tried to acquire the watches and were prepared to traverse their country to get that watch on their wrists. Swatch and Omega had created possibly the ‘best’ or most successful product in either brands history and, truth be told, it has only marginally calmed down a full year later. So get ready for round two.

Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch Mission to the Moon Moonshine Gold Hand
Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch Mission to the Moon Moonshine Gold Hand

For 2023, we have the Mission to the Moon with a Moonshine Gold-plated seconds hand. If the cool factor of a sliver of Omega’s proprietary gold wasn’t enough, there’s some extra cachet in the fact that the hand was made during a full moon, as stated on the certificate that comes with the watch. Technically this MoonSwatch isn’t a new watch per se, but a fun riff on the existing Mission to the Moon that continues to faithfully reimagine the classic Speedmaster form, with twisted lugs and asymmetric case in bioceramic. And this is the whole point of MoonSwatch – it’s fun and accessible, and like Pokemon … you gotta try and catch them all!

Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch Mission to the Moon Moonshine Gold Hand
The coveted MoonSwatch Mission to the Moon Moonshine Gold box
Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch Mission to the Moon Moonshine Gold Hand
The 'Full Moon Production Certificate' that comes with the watch

Tech Specs

Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch Mission to the Moon Moonshine Gold

Movement: Quartz
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, chronograph
Case: 42mm in Grey Bioceramic
Dial: Black with Moonshine gold plated centre seconds stopwatch hand.
Bracelet: Spacesuit-ready Velcro strap
Price: CHF 275
Availability: Selected Swatch boutiques from March 2023

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