Howlin' At The MoonSwatch¶
Published on Sun, 10 Apr 2022 12:45:00 +0000
Now that the dust has settled, we chat about the MoonSwatch and what it really means to watch enthusiasts.
Synopsis¶
In this episode of Hodinkee Radio, James Stacy reunites with colleagues Logan Baker, Danny Milton, and Cole Pennington fresh off their return from Watches and Wonders in Geneva. The team dedicates the entire episode to dissecting the Omega x Swatch collaboration—the "MoonSwatch"—a bioceramic quartz watch priced at $260 that reimagines the iconic Speedmaster Moonwatch in eleven colorful variations, each themed around celestial bodies.
The launch created unprecedented scenes at Swatch boutiques worldwide, with lines stretching around city blocks and wait times exceeding 36 hours. Danny Milton witnessed the frenzy firsthand at the Times Square location, where over 2,000 people queued for fewer than 400 watches. James attempted to visit the Toronto store with his children but was met with similar crowds. The team discusses the immediate sellouts, the emergence of flippers reselling watches for significant markups, and the organic excitement that brought watch enthusiasts and newcomers together in what felt like a genuine cultural moment.
The conversation explores whether this collaboration benefits or potentially diminishes Omega's brand equity. Logan argues that the Speedmaster's heritage is strong enough to withstand any dilution, calling it "eternal" and suggesting this move actually demonstrates Omega's confidence in their flagship model. The team debates the watch's appeal as both an entry point for new collectors and a curiosity for seasoned enthusiasts, though most admit they'd likely wear it only occasionally. They compare the phenomenon to historical Swatch releases from the 1980s and 90s, when similar lines and flipping occurred, suggesting this represents a return to Swatch's cultural roots rather than an entirely new phenomenon.
The episode concludes with speculation about future collaborations, including potential Bond-themed Seamaster versions, and reflection on how this launch successfully generated genuine enthusiasm in the watch community during a time when many had been isolated from in-person collecting experiences due to the pandemic.
Links¶
Transcript¶
| Speaker | |
|---|---|
| James Stacy | Hey, it's me, James Stacy, and I've just been told by Hodinky Radio's lawyers that I am under no circumstances allowed to sing any of the collected works of Frank Sinatra or any other famous pop star, regardless of said performers' connection with the celestial body. I don't know how that's gonna work, but we're gonna give it a try. I know you're all as gutted as I am, but the show must go on. Danny, Cole, Logan, we're fresh back from Watches and Wonders. How you guys feeling? It's been what uh thirty-six hours, something like that since we got home? Still don't know what time it is, yeah. Ex |
| Logan Baker | hausted. I feel good. I don't know. The good energy coming from Geneva. Uh trying to carry that with me through the next couple of weeks uh till we get to auction season. But uh I don't know. It it was really nice to be back in Switzerland and kind of that trade show environment, seeing meeting new people, seeing old friends, handling product. I don |
| James Stacy | 't know, good good vibes all around, I think. Yeah, I couldn't I couldn't agree more. I thought it was great. Um it was a blast hanging out with you guys and uh making some some other hoodinky radios. I hope you all listen to those, the the ones we did live from the show, and Danny did a great job kind of hosting one all from the uh the newbies perspective, the first timers perspective, which I thought turned out really well. Nicely done, Danny. Thanks, James. Appreciate that. But I I'm with Logan. I uh I got here and was able to stay up until almost like eight thirty PM the night I got back. So I'm I'm I'm largely synced back up. Uh I was up a little early today, which is weird for me. But doing pretty well. And uh the the fun thing is is we get to talk about something that we kind of missed out on just due to the the timing of the show and and you know w watches and wonders and it's this whole thing with the moon swatch and I think you know we we kind of missed it. Uh obviously we did some stories that ran and people were very much engaged in lots of comments and and views and that sort of thing. So we're talking about the Omega X Swatch collab, which is the moon swatch, kind of give the M and the N a capital and you'll you'll know where we're coming from. It's weird and wild stuff, no? Very, very weird. Okay, first question. Did any of you happen to get one? No, sir. And and you just didn't let me know. No. Alright, so we all came up blank. Not for lack of trying though. Not for lack of trying. I mean, Danny, you've been hands-on. You got to actually see them because uh um it's my understanding that when they ran out at the swatch store in Times Square, which of course didn't take that long, they had a whole set that they were still letting people see. Is that |
| Danny Milton | accurate? A little bit. They they I was there I left before they actually ran out, but they had um the credit to the Times Square store in a one of the most crowded areas of New York City, but they had the full set out in the store and they were letting people in three or four people at a time or three or four groups at a time. So despite the fact that they were upwards of two thousand people lined up around, you know, midtown New York, they would give each person a solid five minutes to just get to know the watches. You could look at each one, try each one on. It felt very relaxed inside the store. It was basically kind of a reward for being lined up for f 16 hours outside before getting into the store. So when there were breaks between these groups, I would just sort of slide in and look at each one. So I got to basically handle every every variation, luckily. I |
| Cole Pennington | just did the math on Danny's proclamation there because I just wanted to make sure. So that means that they spent a hundred and sixty-six hours letting two thousand people spend five minutes each with these watches. So that's a long time. That's a that's a number of days. So |
| Danny Milton | it would be in theory, Cole, if not for the fact that there were less than four hundred watches total in the store. So at some point, you'll have to redo the math. At some point they they sent a whole bunch of people home. Like these people did |
| James Stacy | n't make it in the store. All right. Yeah, and I think that was the scenario in Toronto as well. I think they had something less than a hundred watches is my understanding. That was kind of the scuttle butt from the security guard right in front of the store who was kind of fielding everybody's questions for I why I don't really know. And they had like one case, you know, the the boxed case, the kind of suitcase one. And that's what everybody was standing at the window taking pictures of. I want to zoom out a little bit, and Danny, I guess you're probably the right guy to ask. For anyone who didn't pay attention or or has been asleep for a little while, you know, maybe maybe in a days of our live S coma and just popped out of it, what what exactly is the moon swatch? It is liter |
| Danny Milton | ally like crazily a swatch version of an Omega Speedmaster moonwatch in bioceramic, which technically is plastic and ceramic in kind of a strange mixture, but it's as if you were to take a moon watch out of a cereal box. You know, it like basically it's like at its core, it's a fun version of one of the most storied and iconic watches that Omega has made. And inside of the swatch group, two brands got together and just said, let's partner and make this thing. And it kind of struck me as the the most swatch thing you could do because of all the brands sort of um in the watch world they have the ability to do exactly what happened which is to drum up enough excitement to cause people to line up around blocks all over the world to wait for what amounts to a 30 meters water resistant plastic watch with a battery on the back, which is insane and and also very |
| James Stacy | cool. And we're looking at 20060 bucks, right? US. And then it was a eleven versions, all of them based loosely on some celestial body or connection to that planet or otherwise. And and each one had its own kind of distinct, in some cases extremely distinct, color way that kind of went from the center of the moon watch world, like black on what or white on black, to much more uh interesting and insane color combin |
| Danny Milton | ations from there. That's right. I mean you had you had at the very center almost a carbon copy of the moonwchat in Swatch form, which had sort of the uh the texture of the bioseramic is like a textured matte texture. Um it's a really interesting sort of uh sort of look. So it doesn't look anything like steel, but then you had as you know, wild combinations as the sort of Alaska Project-esque mission to Mars with the very sort of sharp contrasty red case and a white dial, uh, and and really just crazy color combinations across the |
| James Stacy | board. So I I I' mean dont we probably didn't need that refresher because this is like one of the biggest stories to hit the watch world. And even like my friends that are only kind of loosely interested in watches, like even I would say barely is the word, they were all writing me like, Oh, is this something I need? Do you think it's something that I can get? And I was so naive. Uh you can tell how how good I am with watch retail. I typically avoid it like the plague. It's why I really like working for uh the the world's find us online retailer of watches. I thought, oh, they're gonna do it at the Toronto store. I'll just stroll down there with my kids and I'll we'll grab a couple. It'll be like a fun morning. They can be like kind of ingratiated into the whole the whole watch experience. And then of course, like about twenty four hours later I realized, well, James doesn't wait in line for anything other than you know airplanes and uh COVID shots. And uh so I'm not waiting for these I'm not waiting for anything like this. And very soon I was tasked to go down and check out the line, take some pictures. So it was like rainy and cold and kind of a bummer, but there was a good I don't know, I want to say the better part of a thousand people in line at at the Toronto store. Went around the block and all the way down the length of the mall and then just into like a uh some some spare space between two build |
| Danny Milton | ings. Yeah, I had a moment just to sort of cut to the end of my day where I was we were leaving after after uh my wife Kasha shot the photos and I had been inside the store and gotten everything we needed for the story we ran later in the day. And uh we noticed a uh a woman had just gotten in line. She must have been the 25th hundred person in line, and she had a walker. And my wife turned to me and was like, You need to say something. Like, you can't you can't let this woman stay in line. Oh man. And it was true. I mean, I did walk up and I I said, guys, I I have it on pretty good authority that there are like three hundred and eighty-eight watches in the store and you guys are somewhere, you know, way past two the two thousand mark here. And and they uh about I think I cleared about fifteen people out of the line. Dan |
| James Stacy | ny, well your wife's uh instincts were dead on in and trying to give those poor folks a warning because the hype was beyond real. It was huge. And and the the thing that's crazy is it kind of came out and and then it i it went around social media as quickly as these things do. That like these aren't limited. There would be a limited supply on day one. Uh there'll be a limited supply on day two, and now that we're at like day twelve or thirteen or whatever, I'm sure there's still a limited supply, but there's no intention for this to be something where there was only X number of each version and good luck you'll have to buy it in the secondary market or whatever, a and yet people still went and did the whole lineup thing and and we're still seeing the flipper stuff. We're gonna get to all of this. How do you guys read this? Is this just people wanted a a watch experience and they haven't had one in a couple years or |
| Cole Pennington | is it a little bit more complicated than that? There must be an element inside of us, inside humans, there must be an element of human nature that defies logic and doesn't act in accordance with parameters of a situation, right? Like you said, we know this is not limited. We know that if you just wait a little bit. To me, it was just an interesting social experiment. How do you drum up the masses and create lines of thousands of people, all for something which is not a finite resource |
| James Stacy | ? Somehow Swatch and Omega did it. Yeah, the folks I spoke to uh downtown Toronto, I only spoke to a few folks, but they were saying that they were there kind of 'cause they thought there might be a chance, they'd see how bad the line was and then they'd kind of quickly realized now we're just here to kind of take it all in. More of more of a a bit of a carnival ride kind of perspective on the whole thing versus uh thinking they were actually gonna go home with the watch. But I I think it was kind of different for different people. And and I guess that may maybe there's a more interesting way to come at it. Do you guys think this is a good move for Omega as a brand. I mean, like this the Moonwatch is one of their main properties. It's arguably their like most valuable IP. It's something they still trade on, obviously, uh pretty extensively. Do you think this is a weird move or something that kind of ingratiates the brand to a wider base of people? Ye |
| Logan Baker | ah, I I think it's a really interesting conversation to have. You know, in and doing this job and speaking with a lot of Swiss watch executives over the years. Um um, a a lot lot of of execs think it's part of their responsibility to protect the brand equity, to to protect their clients, the the secondhand value of good reach. Yeah, absolutely. These aren't you know trivial sums of money that we're talking about most of the time. And you'd think when you look at, okay, we're taking the the moon watch and making an entry-level version that, you know, it's not two, three thousand dollars, it's two three hundred dollars and we're we're partnering with kind of one of the brands that is uh most recognized in the world as an entry level watch in Swatch. It's an interesting kind of development, I think you know, we can argue all day on whether or not the the Hayek's forced the hand of Omega to do this in order to prop up Swatch, but I don't think it matters. In my mind, this really they wouldn't have done this. Um and and the Hayek's are very strategic and they're thinking they wouldn't have done this if they didn't think the Speedmaster was strong enough to withstand kind of really anything. In my mind, this this just solidifies the Speedmaster is one of the very few watches uh in our world that this isn't the right word, but uh is essential. It can withstand kind of any development or any any hype or any um any anything, really. I mean, the moon watch story is just that good and influential at the end of the day. Uh no one else has that story of you know being our on Armstrong's wrist when he stepped on the moon. Not Rolex, not paddock, not AP, only Omega. And in my mind, this really kind of is a way for them to kind of flex that ability. I mean I can't imagine you know the ability to buy a Moon Swatch for 300 bucks is going to impact anyone from wanting a six thousand dollar Omega Speedmaster Professional Moon moonwatch. You know, it would just make me want it more. So I think it's a really interesting decision, a development that I'm sure took a lot of back and forth and in inside the swatch group, but I don't know. There's there's a lot of really I can imagine there were a lot of really interesting conversations uh happening in in Be |
| James Stacy | ale. Oh yeah. Yeah. they did this without being pretty sure that they weren't gonna burn something that they they couldn't rebuild, right? Yeah, absolutely. I mean |
| Logan Baker | the the Speedmaster is the the golden goose to a certain extent. Um but it is that strong. I think more so than any other watch really the the Speedmaster is kind of it's emblematic of what so many people like about watches: the history, the kind of connotation with human achievement, etc. etc. So I I think kudos to Swatch for realizing that and extending that degree of brand prestige and brand equity to um, you know, one |
| Danny Milton | of its sister brands. I wonder if it's I mean, obviously I I agree, Logan, to a degree. I mean, obviously it's too soon to know for sure if it's affected the Speedmaster in any way because the launch just happened. I was speaking to somebody recently who shall not be named that had a very interesting thought about this, that it might have been better for this kind of collaboration to have helped bolster the actual speed master. So you create these moon swatches, but you get them as a result of purchasing an actual speed master. Sure. Because if you may if you make something this easy and getting into mechanical watches and watches in general is a pretty tough hill to climb if you aren't inclined to climb it in the first place. When you lower it, you know, make it this accessible, I think you're gonna get this kind of excitement. It's sort of a low-hanging fruit uh example. I mean it's there for the taking. The price is right. I think you're gonna get that excitement off of the heritage of the Speedmaster. I worry a little bit of how this will play out. Obviously we'll see how it plays out. But coming back from Geneva, when we were in the airport, first thing you do if you're one of us is you check out the watch shops. And the first place we went was Rolex where you can't find anything. Uh, you see a bunch of watches in there with signs to say for exhibition only. And for the first time ever, the second store we checked out was Swatch. And there was a big sign on the front that said no moon swatches. Sorry. Um and I think that that is there's something to that. I would never have done that before. There's probably a whole handful of watch shops I would have checked out before doing that. So you know, that's what I'm saying on the one hand I definitely agree with you, Logan, and and it's natural. Like I I can't argue with what I did. I just did it out of instinct. I think that's a testament to what what Omega and Swatch did. |
| Cole Pennington | So in economics the, substitution effect and so forth, like if you can afford a speedmaster, you'll buy a speedmaster, and you might also buy this swatch, Moon Swatch. If you can afford a Speedmaster, you might buy the Moon Swatch. The the whole devaluing brand equity and devaluing what the the moon watches. I you know I saw that on social media too. I just don't think that's even a a true or real argument. Like where how could this thing potentially |
| Logan Baker | devalue the moon watch? I I think that's you know, I think it's thinking too short term to think that it would devalue the Speedmaster in a meaningful way. Like the Speedmaster is uh I said a central earlier, I think eternal is a better word. Uh sure it's only been fifty years or so, but that story of going to the moon isn't gonna go away anytime soon. You know, the only way it might be eclipsed is when we uh get to Mars. Maybe there'll be a moon swatch on the the wrist of who |
| James Stacy | ever goes to Mars. So you know the other thing for me is I I have to admit that I I it's not a bias as much as a I have to admit something of a pronounced disinterest. I'm not a speed master guy. I like the racing a lot. I like the original Alaska a lot, but like I have no interest in owning a moon watch. They're a beautiful watch. I love writing about them. I love covering them. I think they have a fantastic history. Every time I've borrowed one, old or new, they just don't suit my wrist. I don't uh I don't I don't have any sort of a buzz when I have one on. Cole, I know you to be not only a speed master guy but but a an even broader fan of the whole world of omega kind of flight chronographs. Where how do these hit you as a as a product? Do you want one of these? Even any of them, all of them, none of them? |
| Cole Pennington | Maybe if there wasn't hype. I'm not saying I'm one of these guys, oh I hate the hype and stuff like that. I kind of am, but the whole thing made me just like feel like, all right, I'm gonna take a beat, sit this out, and uh maybe I'll pick one up later, but the the honest truth, and this this is borderline watch snobbery, which I hate, but an old colleague of ours, Brandon, he used to explore this idea of precious risk time. That life is short, which it it is for sure. And you can't waste time wearing things that like they don't make your heart race, you know? For sure. Or you're not madly in love with. Am I madly in love with the moon swatch? No. So like I think I'll buy some to try it out and then give it to someone who I think it would convert them into watches. Like convert them into our world. Like it doesn't get me excited personally. Like a a plastic, I'll I'll just wear the metal version with the mechanical movement and so forth. But |
| Danny Milton | that's a that's a great point, Cole. I think I I share that wh whenever I'm considering anything, it's whether or not I'll actually wear it. And and even as much as I might like it intellectually and I like the design, I think it's fun. Because I do, and I agree with you that I think it could potentially help get somebody into the history of the Speedmaster and into watches, but I personally probably wouldn't ever wear it. And I might wear it for like three days, and that's not really worth even, you know two hundred and sixty dollars in my mind other than than if I were to give it to someone which I I think that I event |
| Cole Pennington | ually will definitely do that. Oh I know I saw your uh an eBay username Danny Space Jam Milton 69 selling moon watches the other day. I know you bought one. I I was the one |
| Logan Baker | that was listing it for 165 grand. That was you. I know it. That's me. I'm on a similar wavelength as Cole and Danny. You know, I think uh I'll definitely pick one up uh down the road, but and when I first saw it, I thought it was cool. I I wasn't, you know, jumping out of my seat. You know, I I didn't really I didn't want to wait in line. I I uh I I'll grab one at the end of the day, but I'll I'll circle back and kind of uh take the long road to picking one up. I'll definitely grab one, but you know, I think it's similar uh to the Timex Q and the Cassio, the G Shock Cassiok that we saw a few years ago. I ended up with one of each of those, but uh it wasn't till a year or so after kind of the initial announcement. I think this is even bigger culturally than the Cassio or the um Timex q but I I just I think I'll f wait till you know down the road I I see one that kind of really strikes my fancy or there's kind of a moment in my life where it makes sense to grab one. But uh also will I wear it that often at the end of the day? Probably not. I I did handle some when we were in Geneva, a few people were wearing them around. And I think it's important for people to approach it from a perspective of understanding swatch quality. These are great watches. Their quality control is legendary, Swiss made, but you know, you're not there's a reason it's priced at $300 or so. You know, the the quality is good, but it's not gonna um shock you or make you like wanna throw away your your speed master or sell your speedmaster. There's a reason there's the price difference. And I I I just I don't want people to be disappointed uh when they do get it. Um I th I think you should approach it as this is a swatchwatch. Um it's great for 300 bucks. It's up there in like, you know, value proposition territory and everything, but it it it is a you know bioceramic uh |
| James Stacy | $300 swatch at the end of the day. Yeah, and I you know, I I was chatting with a friend who wrote me and not not a huge watchner, just someone who kind of keeps a loose eye on my Instagram and that kind of thing and wrote me about it and said, like is this a thing? Should I get one? What are they really nice? And I said, No, they're not gonna be really nice. They they're gonna be very good for what you buy what you pay for. But if you go ahead and save up and buy a speedy from Omega, you can buy that watch once and you're done. This is not a a last watch that you buy. This is this is a swatch. I mean it it's it's not so much disposable, but I don't think you'll be servicing a watch like this after a decade |
| Logan Baker | . And it's meant to be collectible. You're meant to the the point of swatch was always to you grab one, you grab five, you grab twenty, and you kinda alternate between them |
| Cole Pennington | . Will the next generation or the generation after that of hodinky writers be writing about this watch and referencing stuff? And if so, what are they gonna reference? Like what are they what will they have to say? How will we look at this whole thing in 10 years? I mean, we haven't had anything like this yet, right? Nothing in the watch world has has done this yet. Right. This is the first of its kind. So, you know, 10, 20, 30 years, like we all like to read through Europa Star articles from the seventies and eighties and so forth. Like and I always like looking at what some of the trend pieces were back then. And something did occur to me, remember like you said, Oh, we didn't we we kind of missed talking about this. And the funny thing is I think no one's talking about the moonswatch anymore. It kind of was a flash in the pan in terms of mm, it hit hard, it hit quick, and then kind of fizzled |
| Danny Milton | just as quick. Disagree? No, I don't disagree at all. And I mean I think it's funny, Logan and I were talking about this in the run-up to when it was coming out, because obviously it had been teased a fair amount and we were sort of discussing who was gonna write the story. And I don't think it really struck any of us as being a huge story. It was just a it was a fun, interesting thing that was coming. What does Omega and Swatch collaboration mean? We that's all we really had. There were some fun ad copy that was attached to some social media stuff. But I do want to give credit to ourselves and and to, you know, to our editorial team and Nick Marino et al. who decided on a whim sort of the day after to You know, James was there in Toronto. I was there with Kasha in New York. We had people in Miami, Las Vegas, London. Um I'm I'm missing some places, but there was a lot of ground covered, which I I hope when this conversation is had in the future that we captured the moment that happened because it was a unique moment. What that moment means intellectually, I have no idea. I just know what we saw. We saw excitement. We saw people that probably they they weren't all huge watch enthusiasts, but we saw a whole lot of people get excited and show up for this on |
| James Stacy | very little I think the thing that will Cole will define the 10 year conversation with this is one, I think this might take us all some time to unpack. All of us need would like at least for the four of us on this call, I think we need to have a a few days with the product to really understand if this feels like a toy that's meant to bring new people in, or if this is something that might have actually been meant for us at a more core object. I also think that what what might define the shape is if we do a seamaster run, a planet ocean run, a Deville run, like different versions of the Swatch X Omega that pull on this sort of iconic styling, or if this is kind of like a a one-off and we'll look back on this in 10 years and be like, you remember that? That was kind of fun. We had a good day that day. Like we were meeting new people and having conversations we had never had before, and it wasn't about the color of a Nautilus, you know, it was kind of a different scene. And and for me personally, I I I try and find anything that would get my kids excited about watches. And this did it. They didn't even need much of an explanation. They don't know what a speedmaster is at any any granular level. They know it's a w a watch and and I'm sure they've seen them uh on on my computer screen before, but they saw all the colors and they saw the kind of the cool imagery with the moon and my daughter wanted to know that if if we got the Jupiter one, do you get does it come with the brown sand that's in the photo? And I said no. And she was much less interested after that point. I I think it's a fascinating thing because I can think about it ten different ways if I just uh like if I try and shift my own personal perspective because there's a side of me that that would lean towards this not being great for Omega. But even if it's not, I think it's I think I I think I've decided, at least from my perspective, that it's pretty good for watch enthusiasm. People were into this. I think it shines a less than nice light on the flipping culture, which has been, of course, huge in more expensive watches for a very long time. Somewhat less common because typically you don't have a $260 watch being treated like a Veblen good, especially at such a rapid pace as what we had. So why don't we chat over the the flipper thing? Because I know that that's what people in the comments are going to hold us to. I only basically had two conversations on Instagram. People were thrilled that they did this, that that there was a watch like this out there, and that someday they could get one and it seemed like a lot of fun and maybe their kids were gonna like it or whatever. Or it was just abject hate at the fact that anyone would line up, wait thirty-six hours, and then sell the watch for more than they paid for it. I am of the opinion that if you wait thirty six hours you sell the watch for whatever the market will bear does not bother me one little bit. And I didn't get the feeling that a lot of people were doing that in the lineup that I kind of went through. It was people having fairly knowing conversations about watches and and omega and that sort of thing. There was a guy holding court in front of the swatch boutique in Toronto just explaining what a moon watch was to about fifteen people while I was there. He he was just just making sure everybody understood what they were there for. Because I think a lot of people were like, what's the big deal? It's some, you know, neon colored watches. Like I don't get it. But there and there was another guy there like in the full NASA jacket, leather jacket with every patch and everything. And I don't know. I I I think that this thing did manage to hit on enthusiasts, not just on the the whole kind of scalper vibe. I mean, look, every every great concert in the world, people are gonna scalp tickets and the prices are going to be crazy if you didn't if you didn't get in on at the first thing. But luckily this show doesn't seem to be going away. Uh so just like I don't think you have to complain a lot about the limited supply on day one. I don't think you can complain a lot about the scalpers because or the or the flippers because I think that that whole business will be undercut as the market sees more and more of these |
| Danny Milton | be delivered, wouldn't you think? Yeah, and I think that that Swatch and Omega did a good job of realizing that was coming. Obviously demand was high, supply was low, at least in the stores in New York City, and I'm assuming it's in the same in Toronto. There was originally a message that went out that said you can buy no more than two when you come into the store. And then it quickly changed so you can buy no more than one. Now if you want to wait in line for 36 hours to buy one moon swatch that you're not going to keep and you're going to flip it, like you said, James, more power to you. You put the time in. Uh fli flip flipping in in other uh examples in the watch world takes a lot less effort than that |
| James Stacy | . Yeah. You know, you set a bot up and you buy all of the watches that you could possibly be allowed and then it yeah, like I don't you're taking them literally out of the hands that somebody was waiting for them. Right. But I don't believe that if there was nine, let's say there was ninety watches at the Toronto Boutique, I don't believe that 85 of them went to people who immediately put them on eBay. I think five of them did. |
| Danny Milton | I saw a lot more celebrating. People were coming into the store cheering, and there was like an actual energy. There was a funny situation, which I did I did mention in the article where they weren't just there there was bartering and deal making happening in the line for what number sticker you had. So there were people, there was a guy apparently going up and down the line in Times Square putting a value on those stickers and he offered somebody a thousand dollars, I think at maximum for whatever number sticker there was. I guess having had some intel as to how many watches were in the store. It's crazy. It is crazy. No |
| James Stacy | , it it was a weird thing. And it was a time that I'm glad that we got a chance to actually cover properly. And like you said, some sort of prescient forward sight from from our our brave leader Nick on that one um in in making sure that we had some people there and some coordination that I would not have wanted to be responsible for with our photography team, our very talented photography team, but the the outcome is cool. I think the stories are really cool as well. I thought that line story was fun. There was a lot of like familial elements, a lot of like watch gang, sort of like deep enthusiasm happening in the line. And look, I I'm there. If you really love watches, I don't have to be crazy about the watch. I. I'm just happ |
| Danny Milton | y think it was also good practice. We very rarely get to report breaking news in the way that we did it that time. Um, we all were out, like especially you and I, James, were out there and turned that thing around fairly quickly. And I think you and I spent most of our Saturday together over Zoom and Slack putting that while you're watching qualifying, right? Ex Exactly. And and I think it was a nice primer for Watches and Wonders to be honest. I mean another big shout- toout this watch group for understandinging the tim of this because you could make the argument that it took a little bit out of some wind out of the sales of watches and wonders. I mean, it it recontextualizes luxury watches in general, the prices a lot of watches come out at and the excitement they can drum up. And if you can drum up a lot more excitement at two hundred and sixty bucks in effectively plastic, I mean, I applaud you for that. And |
| James Stacy | look like Omega had already had their time in the sun with uh the Miami releases, which I went and checked out and there were some fantastic watches. We had a great time, of course, all of that. And then to see them go, Oh, kind of like a Steve Jobs esque iPod mini coming out of the pocket and the jeans, like, oh, one more thing. Here's the thing that all of y'all probably want. And uh I I think it was clever. I think it was a neat way to yeah totally undercut the the pace of the of the show uh that was coming up for Watches and Wonders and and I think that largely they they seem to have made something that a lot of people want. And I think that while I wouldn't call uh what's a fair way to say this, I think this watch kind of splits for me the delta between stylish and cool. I don't think that this is a stylish watch, but I think it's a deeply cool watch, if that makes sense. When we look back on this and maybe maybe maybe we're going to um maybe we're we're all having a good time at a Phillips auction in uh 2032 in the metaverse or whatever. Um and w we're drinking drinks that glow in the dark and cars are flying around in the windows behind us and somebody cracks open a box and it's all eleven of these. Is that gonna be worth two or three grand at Phillips or is that going to be worth 50 grand? |
| Cole Pennington | Let's see how many are made going forward. I mean they have uh the the interesting thing to me is how why didn't they make more for the release, right? Why did they limit the numbers? And I think that actually will help them because Do you think they predicted this though? No. All of it? No. I think they predic |
| James Stacy | ted a third of it. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, you're right. Actually. Because there were swatch stores like I have friends in Minneapolis and they said like they're not even doing this at all of the Americas. There's a swatch store there. I think if they were ready for it, every store |
| Cole Pennington | would have had some allotment. I think there's one quick point that I'll put down and then someone can pick up later, but because it kind of ties into this, they did not tell any American media. Like the launch strategy on Omega's part is worth thinking about and talking about. So all this hype was created without hodinky. It was created without, you know, blog XY and Z in the United States. That's kind of crazy too. But we can we can revisit that. |
| James Stacy | Yeah so I think I think we were essentially going to find out about it hours before they uh unlocked the stores to run it. And then of course it leaked. That kind of changed the whole tone of the thing. We all uh Danny Danny sprung into action and cranked out a story and people started going nuts. The comments are nuts. Get in there. They're crazy. You couldn't have, and not crazy like good or bad. I'm and and I'm one, I'm thrilled that people are commenting on it. I'm thrilled that people feel something about a watch, especially three hundred dollar watch. It does mix from pure horror and shock to uh jubilation to nay saying, doom saying, and and all other sayings that that that one could possibly throw into a comment. And and I gotta say, like I I kind of I I feel like I've run that entire gamut of emotions as well. It's kind of an i an interesting time to have to have experienced this happen in general, especially on the heels of a global pandemic that um that took our entire world online into Zoom. You know, red bars went away, watch gangs went away, the kind of like all the hangouts, all of the sitting around the bar at, you know, at home around the coffee table chatting watches, a lot of that kind of went away. And I think people were the way I felt was it it seemed like people were really hard up to have a good old fashioned, low stakes, I'm just happy to be here watch moment. And uh and and for that part I really have to applaud the timing and and and what what Swatch kind of made with um or what Swatch and Omega kind of made with what they were able to pull out of that collaboration. And I don't know if you could do lightning in the bottle again like that, 'cause now if they ever do again, whether it's more speedies or something else, there'll be a predictive element. Whereas I feel like the response we saw was hypernatural |
| Logan Baker | . perspective because you know what we saw with the Moon Swatch uh is absolutely new in terms of you know kind of an intercorporate group uh collaboration for Swatch uh and it's entirely new for Swatch in the 21st century. But if we go back 30 years to the early 90s, late 80s, you know, people were lining up for new swatch releases, you know, 24, 48 hours in advance. You know, if you look at the original scuba's, the the diving swatches, the the chronographs, the silver star, the goldfinger, uh, and the vegetables. You all have seen the vegetables, right? That's some crazy stuff. I'm not I don't know a lot of uh swatches backstory. Yeah. The the platinum anniversary swatch, the Trezor Magique, uh that was only sold at banks uh in Switzerland, I believe. It wasn't yeah, yeah. And that's stuff that people lined up for, you know, multiple days in advance. And, you know, we we talk about flipping as a new phenomenon. But that that was something that happened with Swatch back in the day too. For the 10 year anniversary of Swatch in the early 90s, there was a big uh auction at Antiquorum dedicated only to swatch pieces. So, you know, kind of the the idea of swatch watches as uh I don't know if assets is the right word, but as a as a flippable good is something that extends um throughout the swatch's lifetime. Um and although it's something that's very new in the 21st century and and in Hodinki's time, for people that have been following, you know, Swatch throughout since 1983 in Switzerland. Uh, this was kind of a throwback to 20, 30 years ago. And I I also think that's pretty cool to think about. Um you know, this this captured a bit of that hype of that initial swatch enthusiasm that really kind of reinvigorated the the Swiss swatch industry back in the day. Um and of course, uh the people I saw some people comment uh on the speed the the moon swatch, the positioning of the subdials. Um you know it's kind of weird triangle shaped. That goes back to the original swatch chronograph from the I think like 89 or 90 uh and that was one of the first watches or not one of the first but that was a watch that really exploded interest. I mean to have a quartz chronograph uh for a hundred Swiss francs was insane in nineteen ninety. And it's a really it's a big point of pride for the people of Switzerland to to have a company like Swatch. And I don't know. I I think it's really cool to bring a bit of that back into the 21st century. And I'm excited to see where Swatch takes it from here to see if they can maintain that uh in enthusiasm. I'm I'm blown away by your knowledge, Logan, by the way |
| James Stacy | . Yeah, no, I was just gonna say I really appreciate the uh the perspective because I think I I understood that obviously the brand or you got yourself a giant swatch book. A scholar. A scholar if nothing else, right, Logan? And uh I I definitely appreciate that perspective because like I said, I don't know a ton about Swatch. I've written stories about the art collaborations they've done with famous artists and they've made some very collectible, you know, kind of grail swatches. And I think that from a personal standpoint, I've never necessarily felt that like that's something I would want to collect. And it could be that I I was a little bit too young when it came out, you know, that's a few years before uh my time, or it could just be that doesn't align with my aesthetic, but it is interesting to hear that they've been doing the creative collectible collaboration for basically since they they started out, and that's the way that they've interfaced with the public. So maybe maybe this is just a um you know, like a really straightforward thought process for them. Maybe maybe they just said, hey, this is something we'd love to do. Let's make it happen. And Omega decided they would, they would uh go down that road. I I think the outcome is pretty interesting. I you know, I I would love to know of the eleven, if you had your pick today, but only one, what one do you think you would buy to try out and and and enjoy for a few days or |
| Danny Milton | or whatever. I would go moon watch the mission to the moon, if it were me. Only only because only because if you're gonna do this, and this is what you're gonna make, if you're gonna make a swatch version of an Omegaed Spemaster. I want the Swatch version of the Omega Speedmaster. The other ones are fun. I get it. Like if I could have all of them, I'd take all of them. But I'm not going to lie to you and just say I'm going to pick the Alaska project because I think it's a fun looking watch. I'm going to be honest with you and say I'd pick the the bio ceramic version of a Omega Speedmaster. Thank you for your honesty, Dan. I I'm nothing if not honest on this box. No, I I appreciate your incredibly bad hon |
| Logan Baker | esty for sure. What do you feel, Logan? Uh you know, the the Mars uh Project Alaska one was the one that caught my eye initially. I saw it uh on the wrist of someone of, you know, our old friend Arthur uh Touchot, uh who uh got some fondue with him uh when we were in Geneva and he he was was rocking it. Fair dice. I was too jet lagged to join. I tried but I turned into a zombie and fell asleep sitting. Uh but he was rocking it and it it's cool. Um and you know that's a watch that I'll probably never be able to own while the normal, you know, classic speedy pro is something that would be feasible for me um down the road. But uh be able to kind of engage with that aspect of Speedmaster history through Moon Swatch would just be I I think really kind of uh a joy. Um so down the road, whenever I pick mine up, it'll definitely be the the mission to Mars uh Project Alaska variant. How about you, Cole? What are you feeling? |
| James Stacy | Uh the Jupiter one. Desert khaki sand. Right with the orange accent. Yeah, I think one too. Uh, I think for my money, I love I I mean, like I said, I'm a big Alaska Speedy fan. I think. I and I love the weird hands which they replicated the the chronograph hands with the kind of flags on the counterbalances. And uh but I the other one that I once I saw in person I it kind of sold me as the Neptune, the the blue on the dark blue. I think it's kind of a cool look. I like the blue, obviously. Uh, you know, I think the my impression after seeing Uranus and and Mars is just that it's um uh the strap isn't very nice. It's I don't know what I would really expected for $200 sixty dollars. Uh I'm surprised it came with a strap that even is anything more complicated than a a simple tang buckle. At least it's an interesting strap, a distinctive strap. But I you know me, I've put it on a NATO and I think the blue would work really well. I think the Mars would work really well. There's a there's |
| Cole Pennington | Another interesting thing that I was thinking about was the the fact or the inclusion of Pluto as part of the set. Because there's no the big debate. Like I I'm pro Pluto as a child of the nineties. Like as am I Pluto is is a planet. Like don't stop trying to rewrite history. Revision is history over here. Um but I liked that that Pluto was one. So maybe I would I would go back and and and pick Pluto just because uh that's an interesting |
| Danny Milton | . Pluto and the moon, so I'm partial to the Pluto as well. So if I was gonna get both |
| James Stacy | as like a a young kid, I have many siblings. As a very young kid, we started a band called All Nine Planets. So that that tells you that it was pre pre pre Pluto being declassified as a small dwarf, whatever it is now. No, that's weird. That's a that's a weird little footnote for bands there, Danny |
| Logan Baker | . Were you all surprised at all that they dropped 11 at once? Because that kinda that kind of surprised me that they didn't try to tease it out a little bit. Um, even you know, doing six or you know, doing nine and then bringing in the sun and they had a moment and they they they put everything on the table for that one moment. They won all |
| Danny Milton | in. Now who here who here thinks when the next Bond movie comes out we're gonna get a uh a Bond a Bond swatch |
| Cole Pennington | ? No. I don't know. The reason this works is because of capitalizing like that's just like eh. That'll turn people off. I think |
| Danny Milton | it would turn me off hugely. I think this is gonna be like movie sequels. You make them until they stop making you money. And and despite the fact that we're gonna roll our eyes at it, I think you keep doing it until it stops work |
| James Stacy | ing. My thought is like if you had a if you told me Swatch is gonna be making an omega thing. Do you think it's going to be eleven Speedmasters that look a lot like Speedmasters? And say Speedmaster on the dial or a sort of Bond dive watch, bond themed dive watch, kind of like a a two five three eight or or even a two two five four or something like that. Like a nineties edition skeleton hands or sword. But the skeleton hands in in a in a colorway that aligns with the opening credits of the next Bond film with the new the new person and the rest. I would think the Bond one feels a lot more believable because they've done Bond swatch stuff before. They did a big they did did a big run a couple years ago. And and I feel like you could it's such a bigger move to go speedy than it is to go Seamaster. You know what I mean? Like at least the Seamaster has several versions. When you say Speedy Pro, it means one thing. Like we all know exactly sure. They make other iterations, but they're all based on the one. And until you get to a Mark II and then or a flighty and the rest of it, like it's it's it's all kind of a single sort of headspace. And uh in my mind, the switch thing would align better with the nineties berth of the of the C Master, whether whether it be a 120 or or you know, into a professional. But I yeah, I don't know Cole. I I think I think we could see them try this again with a different with something else from the line. What what would you guys think would work as a swatch? Uh as as kind of a final a final note for this uh this chat? Speedy reduced. That's what that's what I want to see. Are you serious? Yeah, I'm low-key troll |
| Logan Baker | ing you guys. But they kind of did with the Venus, right? It's 38. And a smaller strap I learned when I saw them in the store. Yeah. I think the bond thing would make sense. I mean, they typically saddle uh Q with a specific swatch of some sort. And like you said, James, a couple of years ago they did or I think that was just like last year or the year before, maybe, when they did uh a run of like, I don't know, six, seven, eight, nine swatches inspired by classic Bond movies. I mean, revisiting that would make a lot of sense and you know, bringing in specific swatch bioceramic pieces that are directly inspired by gadgets, everything else. You know, there's a lot of different ways to go, but I think sticking with that kind of Q um angle, you know, the the Q swatch or something like that, and really kind of fine-tuning that, um, bringing in, you know, some kind of inside baseball references would be super fun. I want a Ploprof swatch. That undermines the functionality of the proliferance. |
| James Stacy | This is trolling. with this before before we even get to the end of the show. The funny thing is is if you went the bond route, you know, if you include the moon and the sun, you've got eleven. But if you went the bond route and did one for every movie, you could do like twenty seven for the next the next movie's 2 |
| Danny Milton | 7, I believe. Would you do when they started, would you do starting Goldeneye forward? Or would you know? But oh so you would just you would just bake Omega into all of the Bond movies going back and oh I see what you mean. Are we all trolling each other on this podcast? They weren't |
| James Stacy | in I I didn't think about that. Yeah, they're not in all of them. So yeah, I guess you you could go with just the ones that that had kind of featured the the Seamaster. Uh at which point, yeah, you would be starting with uh Goldeneye at ninety-ivefive, which would g you nine. That's a that's a a more collapsible number. Ten. It would be ten with the new film, uh unless I have my I might be off by one. But I think that makes sense. Yeah I totally I always forget like he hasn't been wearing a Planet Ocean for that long or a Seamaster for that long. So all things considered. I me |
| Cole Pennington | an Can you just picture James Bond with you know a a BPK in hand wearing a plastic version? Y'all, it's bioceramic |
| James Stacy | . Can we get that clear here? It's bioceramic. Come on, y'all. Come on. Yeah. That that was my thing with the delta between stylish and cool. I think these would be cool, but not stylish. And bond always has to be, at least they endeavor to make sure that bond is always stylish, which is uh I think a harder a harder needle to thread. If you get one, you get both, but if you get the other you only get the one. Well guys, we moon swatched. Do you guys feel like we |
| Danny Milton | got any clarity on this or I feel one of those things where we talked it out and I feel better. I don't know what I feel better about, but I feel better about |
| James Stacy | something. I agree. Yeah. I'm I'm just thrilled that our audience dug it. Though the whole concept was in like they were in a hundred percent, even if they were negative a hundred percent. I feel like I I want want to to go go wait in line somewhere. I don't mean |
| Cole Pennington | all but I like hearing all the positive things that you guys who were there had to say. Because to be honest, my my initial reaction was not like I wasn't so hyped up and everything. I mean, I think it took sitting down and and talking to you and hearing all the positive spillover benefits of watch people meeting up. I think the whole like one of Ben's greatest things is if a watch brand tells me a watch is this price, I'm gonna pay that price, like never pay over retail, he says. And my own one is like don't wait in line for things, but but it's really nice to see all the people enjoying their time and and s you know, spreading around good cheer around the watch industry and everything like that. So that's nice to hear because initially I was being a bit of a what do you what's that Cremudgeon. Yeah, kind of. A little bit of a Ebenezer Scrooge about the whole thing. But now it's it's nice to hear that that |
| James Stacy | there's some good good stuff going on. Yeah, Tiny Tim could definitely get one of these on Chris this morning for sure. No no question. Look guys, it's been an absolute treat. We're ro we're rounding out an hour here, so I want to make sure that uh people who wanted to hear what the Moon Swatch got what they wanted but, everybody else doesn't have to wait for too long. We'll be back next week with another episode as always. If you have any feedback or whatever, leave it in the comments. And if you enjoyed the show or if you're enjoying the the kind of new format for Hodinky Radio, which we've been working on for several months now. Uh just share it with a friend. That's kind of all I want. But thanks so much for listening. And uh Cole, Logan, Danny, thanks so much for being on the show, guys. Thanks, James. See you guys. Thank you, sir. Adios. All right. We'll chat to you in a week's time. |