After more than two years, is MoonSwatch still worth it?

Finally, after more than two years of queuing outside Swatch’s Covent Garden store because it wouldn’t open due to safety concerns, I now own a MoonSwatch.

A lot has happened in these two and a half years, and Swatch certainly hasn’t shied away from it. Milking the MoonSwatch cash cow at all costs. But finally, buying the hottest watch of 2022 is now just a matter of going to a Swatch store and choosing your favorite watch.

In my case, I went to the Pluto Mission. My aim for the 2022 launch was focused on the Lunar Mission as it looks exactly like an Omega Speedmaster and vaguely like the Uranus Mission in Tiffany Blue (are we still allowed to giggle at that? Nice.) Times and tastes clocksto change.

(Image credit: Future)

A year ago, when the infallible Instagram algorithm presented me with a photo of a beautiful leather strap that fit perfectly, I was intrigued by the burgundy details of the Pluto MoonSwatch. It was, and still is, made by an Indonesian company called Seventh Creation, which operates on Etsy and through their own website. The straps cost half as much as the watch, but they look great and are the only reason I bought the Pluto. I will be ordering one soon and will probably also get a second strap with orange detailing to match the Jupiter MoonSwatch.

I’ve always been a firm believer that straps can make watches. I It was written about the joy of straps before and I can’t wait to start trying MoonSwatches.

But Pluto’s belt also needs to be replaced because, frankly, the stock option is pretty crappy. I understand what Swatch is trying to do by producing a Velcro strap that is reminiscent of the Velcro straps worn by NASA astronauts. OMEGA Speedmasters on your wrists. “Flight-qualified by NASA for all human space missions” and all that. But it’s clear that Swatch is working with a tight budget here, and has poured everything it can into the MoonSwatch case.

The result is a watch that looks almost identical to the Omega original, but with a strap that looks as if it fell from one of those floating 2p machines at a beach arcade rather than from Space.

(Image credit: Future)

Until the seventh Creation strap arrived, I replaced the Mission to Pluto’s strap with the spare leather number I already had. I bought it for myself vintage Longinesbut I accidentally ordered the wrong size. Fortunately, it fits the MoonSwatch, and while it doesn’t quite match the deep red tachymeter and sub-dials, the brown leather isn’t a million light years away and helps elevate the Swatch greatly.

Was MoonSwatch worth the wait? Truth be told, I should have tried harder to buy one sooner.

A magnificent watch; It’s one of those watches that I can’t stop looking at, even though I need to know the time. And although it’s plastic (sorry ‘bioceramic’), its shape is just like that of the Omega Speedmaster I used to own. The edge of the tack meter and the raised crystal remain particularly faithful to the space-bound original. It brings back fond memories of my first ‘proper’ watch and I really can’t put a price on it. I’m curious how the plastic crystal will hold up to daily use, and whether a reliable Polywatch tube can remove scratches like Omega does so well with its Hesalite crystal. Time will tell.

(Image credit: Future)

For now, I’m very happy with my purchase and can’t wait to build a small MoonSwatch collection, complete with quality, colour-matched leather straps, originality be damned.