It’s been more than two years since the MoonSwatch first captivated the watch world and its hype doesn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon. Turns out, people are down for a knockoff version of an iconic timepiece — as long as it’s affordable, made legit and has a pop of color for an extra bit of fun.
And if the rumors are true, Apple could be set to steal a page from the MoonSwatch book with its upcoming Apple Watch.
The MoonSwatch Appeal
For those unfamiliar, the MoonSwatch is a Swatch-ified version of Omega’s iconic Speedmaster, known as the Moonwatch ever since becoming the first watch worn on the moon in 1969. In 2022, Swatch and Omega teamed up to create the MoonSwatch — the two are both owned by the Swatch Group — which is why the two chronographs look strikingly similar.
But instead of paying $6,000 (or more) for an Omega Speedmaster, you can grab a MoonSwatch for a much more palatable $260.
One of the main differences between the two is the material used to create their cases. The Omega Moonwatch uses stainless steel for its case, whereas the MoonSwatch’s case is made of a mixture of ceramic powder and plant-based castor oil that Swatch calls Bioceramic. In practice, it’s essentially plastic, albeit a non-traditional type of plastic since it isn’t petroleum-based. This obviously helps keep the price way down.
While Bioceramic is certainly far less durable than steel, one advantage of the material is it’s very easy to add pigments to. Thus, the MoonSwatches come in a bunch of fun colors. Swatch originally released its MoonSwatches in 11 different shades themed after the planets in our solar system (along with the sun, moon and the dwarf-planet Pluto), but has since released quite a few more variations.
