With their latest look at the MoonSwatch, Swatch and Omega are finally paying tribute to one of the most historically significant moments of all time: the 1969 Moon landing. The Swatch x Omega MoonSwatch Mission to the Moon 1969 tribute watch features a full Moonshine Gold display. It is priced at US$570 / £520 / CHF 500 and is limited to 1,969 pieces and is available upon request only.
What’s new about the MoonSwatch mission to the Moon in 1969?
The moon landing was a golden moment in history, so Swatch and Omega went to great lengths to craft the watch’s dial, crown and chronograph pushers from 18k lunar gold. But there’s actually more to it than just the fact that it’s made of gold, it’s made from melted down Omega spare parts dating back to the 1960s and ’70s, the very period the watch honors. So this is not just a tribute, it is a direct link to the past.
Apart from the gold elements, this is MoonSwatch as we know it. Black bioceramic case measuring 42 x 13.25 mm with quartz chronograph movement. The case back features a golden moon with the landing date of July 21st.st. 1969.
How much did the MoonSwatch mission to the Moon cost in 1969?
For these watches, Swatch and Omega decided to use the price of gold based on the cost of the material in 1969, rather than today’s market price (ignoring boring things like inflation or currency changes). In America in 1969, 1g of gold was worth approximately $1, so the 11g of gold used in the MoonSwatch mission to the Moon in 1969 is valued as if it were $11 in today’s money instead of the approximately $1,450 it should have been worth. They use the US dollar as the basis because of the connection with NASA. This means the MoonSwatch Mission to the Moon 1969 is priced at US$570 / £520 / CHF 500. This is above the MoonSwatch’s standard price of £240 plus US$11 (in local currency) for gold, but this is due to its limited status as it is limited to just 1,969 pieces.
How to Buy MoonSwatch 1969 Moon Mission
Given how chaotic the launch of the Swatch x Audemars Piguet Royal Pop was, causing many security issues, Swatch has completely rethought the way it sells the MoonSwatch Mission to the Moon 1969. It will not be available in stores and will only be available through an online application managed through the Electronic Swatch Timepiece Application (ESTA), applications open from July 16th.th until July 21st. at 23:00 BST. However, it’s not as simple as registering for the lottery: the application consists of 32 open-ended, multiple-choice questions that candidates must answer within 2 hours and 15 minutes, covering brand heritage, historical facts and some unexpected questions.
After the end of the application period, applications will be initially sorted by applicants who answered the factual questions correctly. An internal panel will then review the responses from all correct entries and select (presumably based on the merits of the open-ended questions, although this is a guess) which 1,969 entrants will be invited to purchase the watch. So you have to be right, you have to be detailed, and you have to be lucky.
Price and characteristics:
Model: Sample x Omega Moonswatch Mission to the Moon, 1969
Link: SSX01B700
Happening: 42 mm diameter, bioceramics, black bezel with gold tachymeter
Dial: Moonshine Gold
Waterproof: 30 m (3 bar)
Movement: Quartz chronograph
Functions: Watch, minutes, seconds, chronograph
Belt: Velcro belt
Price: £520 limited to 1969 pieces
Details on the Swatch website.