Here’s my take.
First of all, Swatch has always made cheap plastic watches. While I’ve not seen or held this in person like the rest of you, I’m almost certain that this will have a cheap plastic feel like every other Swatch ever produced. When I first saw the professional photos from Omega, they looked high quality. But, subsequent photos and videos from less flattering angles show the the quality to be cheap. The ticking seconds, the cheap, plastic velcro strap that looks like it would break in a month of wear. None of it looks flattering to Omega.
The real reason for this mashup is because Hayek is trying to prop-up sales at Swatch. The lower priced Swiss watch industry is collapsing right before everyone’s eyes. I’m sure the only reason Aeschlimann agreed to this is because Hayek forced him to. Imagine if you were the CEO of Omega and its an independent watch atelier and some cheap watch company that’s going through rough times comes to you to do a collaboration? I’m sure Aeschlimann was really thinking that Hayek should go f#!k himself. But of course he couldn’t since Hayek is his boss.
Unless things turned around quickly for Swatch, the division, not the parent, it’s in danger of going extinct due to the collapse of the lower end of the market. They had to do something. It’s important because the Hayek family built their entire empire on the Swatch brand. There’s no way Jr. would let the Swatch brand die under his watch. So, this entire scheme was built on the idea of leveraging the Omega brand in order to save the Swatch brand. It will work great for Swatch but not so great for Omega. Sure, it may lead to a bit more sales for Omega as some will graduate to the real deal but Swatch will benefit far more than Omega.
Also, I heard that Swatch stores have now changed their policy. They’re only allowing one per customer tomorrow.
