MoonSwatch - first Impressions

So yesterday I celebrated SpeedyTuesday with the distant, (adopted) 2nd cousin 😜 of the MoonWatch, aka MoonSwatch

I recall posting my thoughts with some amusement 🤦 as the masses lined up on that inaugural Saturday back in March. But I was also quick to note I'd like one too, being a big Speedmaster fan 👍 but I saw no rush, as it wasn't limited.

So here we are, Oct. and with the help of one very cool fellow WIS, I've managed to finally get one.
Not just any one, but the only one I really want, the MoonSwatch Mercury 🥰



My first impressions (as I'd never "handled" one before) is that it's one very cool Swatch 😎 Had they managed to use a mechanical movement, it would be "the" Swatch to have.

Speaking of which, I have only three other Swatch pieces, two of which are mechanical and one other Quartz (which can/ could be used as a ski pass).



Re. dial, bezel, crystal - all of a decent quality as far as I can tell. As for this Bio-Ceramic business, it looks & feels like plastic, albeit HQ plastic. Mine has a hairline fracture on the back of the (solid) case... remind me not to drop it... 😁



Re. internals - it's ETA's G10.212 ND Quartz with "standard" chronograph functions. Hand alignment is iffy. Mine started out perfect, but while playing around with it, the minutes sub-reg hand managed to go out of alignment. After a few resets, it managed to go back in alignment... go figure 🤔


Note the minutes sub-register (10 o'clock sub-reg.) should be pointing directly at the 60min marker

The [dial] printing tolerances are not great; aligned at 12:00 (VIP), also at 3:00, but around 6:00~9:00 things get really sketchy. Note in the following shot the chronograph's seconds hand rests between 36 & 37. This is a Quartz movement and the hand(s) only move every second and therefore should only "land" on the seconds markers.



Ok, fine, it's not a 7K€ Speedmaster, therefore wider tolerances are to be expected. Which brings me to my last point. I love this Swatch, but I'm not sure it's worth the asking price (260€). Perhaps I've been out of touch with the Swatch World but my [Swatch] Automatics were all under 200€. My steel Timex Marlin "Peanuts" mechanical was also cheaper at 250€.

So to wrap up said first impressions, it's a cool Swatch 👍, just wish it came in at closer to €200. 🤔

~~~



There are some nice details 😎 ...




...and some not-so-nice 😕

Congrats on your new acquisition!

Are these available? Or still hard to see and get? No Swatch store in my city but I would drive to get one or two.

Thanks for the review and excellent photographs! When MoonSwatch madness struck it only made me want a real Moonwatch even more. I knew the Swatch wouldn't scratch the itch. Also, I wasn't about to wait in a line to get it. Now that I've gone done bought a real deal Speedy Pro I still think I'd like to eventually get one of these. But for the money I think I'd rather get the Moonwatch Only book first. Your review reminds me of a statement I saw somewhere a few months back. "You're not getting a cheap Speedmaster. You're getting an expensive Swatch."

Thanks for your comments 👍 I agree with both points; the Moonwatch Only book is a MUCH better way to spend that amount - by all means, get the book first 😉 And yeah, exactly, this is one heck of an expensive Swatch 😲😁

I was in Poland last week. On my to Poznan, I stopped in a shopping mall, next to the train station for some breakfast.

I stopped by the Swatch shop without expectations, but they actually had quite a few of them in stock. No queues, no scalpers. I bought Earth, which is the one I most wanted.

I think they are much easier to get hold of than a few months ago. While on holiday in Austria and Germany, I tried many times without even a sniff of a chance.

I think it is worth the money as s speedy fan, but there are a lot better watches you can spend the same amount of money on.

Yep. I was in Switzerland last week with my family in Bern and a couple of days in a row they had stock in the Swatch shop. I actually hadn’t noticed the MoonSwatch hype but my wife came back from buying our daughter a Flick Flack Swatch and told me about the excitement in the store …

I also liked the Moon (the OG and wearable) and my wife liked the Sun (her the colour, me the sunburst dial connection) but Mars and Jupiter are (subjectively) my favourites.

Pros
I read about the Omega moonwatch and the Alaska project which is v cool.
I never thought I wanted a chronograph (too busy) or a large cased watch (on these little chicken sticks) but have enjoyed both.
It is fun and is the kind of thing I’d have worn in my 20s (but I wouldn’t have spent £200 on it back then).
I have the Speedy bug.

Cons
I read a comment here somewhere that it’s like buying the Hot Wheels version of your dream car. Which is a bit of a shitty comment, but only because it’s so close to the bone. I initially started thinking “ooh an Alaska Project can now be my grail watch” then researched a bit and saw the prices and realised that yes this is probably as close as I’ll get! 😁🙁
I feel like it’ll get trashed pretty quickly, maybe that’s unfair, time will tell. Swatch do a free polish of the crystal in store (in Switzerland at least).
I have the Speedy bug.

To sum up, for me it is fun. I’m not a drop hype kind of guy but did enjoy that. They did a great job on the collaboration and the marketing. I’m glad I got one and like it much more off the velcro strap. Personally one is enough, I’m glad I didn’t collect all 10!

I won’t post her butterfly Flick Flack but to complete our Swatch extravaganza my son got his first diver. Which is cool 😁

It's probably the nicest plastic watch money can buy. $260 is not outrageous imo.

The diver?! You can get that for much less 😁

I got my two boys Flick Flacks a couple months back. Gotta start ‘em young 😀 My 5 year old, despite being obsessed with my new Moonwatch, doesn’t wear his space themed watch much. The 3 year old won’t take his fire truck watch off. Just the other day, my oldest said to me, “Daddy, when you die, can I have your Moonwatch?” 😲 I mean, I plan to hand my watches down, but damn. This MoonSwatch may be perfect for him in a few years so he doesn’t kill me in my sleep and pry this speedy off my cold dead wrist.

😁
My son said that when he grows up he’s going to get the Jupiter. Alaska Project for my daughter then 🥰

I got a Mars in Montreal this week. They had moon, mars, venus and a couple of others in stock. Strict 1 per person, and they wanted to see ID before purchase...

I'm glad when an anti-moonswatch is furious.

Well, after all it can't be serviced, so please recycle 🤔

In my experience there are swatch chronos with almost 30 years that work perfectly.

Why did you change your avatar? 😒

as soon as it will become available in the few boutiques I'll got my Mission to Mercury as well... Now it's incredible that it's about 6 months that there is no availability or nor any information to go in the shop and have the one desired... incredible

I have not heard of any stores or pop-ups/roadshows having Mercury for a while now. I wonder if there is an issue like the Neptunes?