Omega X Swatch - What Have We Learned From Todays Boutique Launch?

Picture this: It’s 2022. We’ve just come down from one the biggest and most widely hyped watch release in recent memory with the Patek Philippe x Tiffany & Co. Nautilus, except literally no-one save for the elite of the elite will ever lay hands on it. We’ve all cumulatively discussed to death, the implications, the ins-and-outs, whether we love it or hate it, or if we’d buy it or not. We’ve all decided if we’d buy it if we could, or if we’d pass. It seemed about 50/50 with enthusiasts, but it’s the first time in a long time that I can remember EVERYONE being involved in the discussion. That is until Swatch announced its collaboration with Omega on the “MoonSwatch” - an affordable take on the Omega Speedmaster, which is already a divisive model with quite the storied past. Except for this time, it seemed that instead of dividing the community, the response was overwhelmingly positive.

Whether you love it or hate it, the Speedmaster is truly an icon in the watch industry. Whether you’re firmly in the camp of Speedy fans, or could go without, the ability to cop a piece of “watch history” for $260 is pretty unanimously something most enthusiasts would spring for. The idea of owning an Omega branded watch for the price of a Fossil is enticing, even if the Speedmaster isn’t on the hit list of every enthusiast. So right out of the gate, the hype built all the way up until later this morning when things got a little wire-y when it was officially launched. So what are the take always? What could have been better? What could have been worse? And more importantly, why is everyone so damn upset?

Swatch seemed very obviously Unprepared for the hype

And I believe this can often be a big problem in general when it comes to both collaborations and limited edition’s geared towards a specific “fanbase”. Brands seem to severely underestimate the demand for their watches, and that can be both frustrating for enthusiasts because they can sell out too fast, or have ordering processing issues (think Hodinkee’s limited G-Shock or Swatch series), or an outright confusing decision at launch (looking at you, Vacheron Constantin Everest). The logical question is “Why wouldn’t a brand want to capitalize on the demand for a pretty obviously popular watch?”

In some cases, production can be the choke point, in others it’s an intentional means to get the industry talking, while some are just a fluke chance that enthusiast circles hype a random release. In the case of the Omega x Swatch, I truly feel there is no excuse for launching these watches with such limited quantities at this point of our watch culture. This should have been the most obvious and ambitious “hype” release Swatch has done in recent memory and the fact that things seemed to degrade into confusion quickly on launch day, at such a level that some stores had to shutter up and not open at all.

On one hand, this should feel embarrassing for Swatch because most any industry professional saw that this was going to be an insanely popular release right away. Further, Swatch limited the release to very few stores, and even more so, very few units were allocated to each (some reported as low as 50 total watches at each location). And even when they eventually dropped individual customer allocations from 2 pieces to 1 piece, tens of thousands of enthusiasts standing in line were still not allocated a piece - leaving empty-handed after standing in line for literal days in some cases.

On the other hand, it seems a little tin-foil-hatty to believe that Swatch intentionally released to the masses knowing full well chaos would ensue. However, I also find it hard to believe that Swatch executives aren’t upset about their “Us Too” moment when it comes to hype watches.

Launching ultra-hype affordable watches should probably not be a boutique-exclusive - Even if its just at first

Its one thing to be ignorant to the notion that an affordable Omega branded Moon(S)watch would do well for your brand (You know what? The more I say it, the more I believe they really should have seen this coming), but exclusively launching these at boutiques caused some significant chaos around prominent shopping centers around the world.

Injuries were reported at Taipei 101 when a large crowd swarmed the Swatch boutique there. Melbourne Australia sold out its very limited allocation in less than 15 minutes causing so much commotion the police had to disperse the crowd. London had to cancel it’s launch due to health concerns regarding its crowd. A New York City location quickly degraded into violence and a police presence on launch. Singapore also required a police presence and security had to be called at a boutique in Dubai.

It is very rare to see this kind of turnout for a watch in general, especially a non-limited edition watch. However I will go back to my original point and say - Someone should Have definitely seen this coming.

Swatch waited way too long to release the (partial) details of the Omega x Swatch availability

I will give ground where it is due, the entire launch was complicated by a pre-mature article posted by another publication - and I’m sure that mucked up a good portion of the brand’s go-to-market plan. However, I will say that waiting until people were camping in line to say “oh, by the way, we will launch restock them in stores soon, and launch them online in a few weeks” should really never have been the plan to begin with.

Swatch did relinquish the information, and I’m glad that they did. I just wish they did it as soon as the official announcement was published - and It wasn’t buried in comment sections of already trending posts. The assumption on this kind of collab would be that it is a limited edition, and the fact that Swatch didn’t come and outright say that it was or it wasn’t gave major “panic vibes” as I heard it called. People wanted to make sure they had the opportunity to buy one and were willing to camp outside (for days) in some cases when they truly didn’t need to. The case could be argued that many of these campers were scalpers and that leads me to my next point.

Scalpers really disenfranchise the community

Within minutes of boutiques opening, scalpers were standing outside of boutiques and money was already changing hands in multiples. Videos were popping up everywhere of a $260 watch being traded for $600, $1000, $1200 in the street. eBay was swarmed with listings. Literally thousands. Some ranging from $800 on up to $17,000. We saw one sell for just north of $6,000 already. The absolute insanity that ensued on the grey market within the last few hours has found a lot of enthusiasts saying “It’s really not worth it”.

After all, it’s truly difficult to get excited about something that will require so much effort and possibly for nothing because a scalper beats you to the punch for a quick buck. Luxury watches selling for increases on the grey market isn’t anything new, but it’s very odd to see these kind of multiples on non-limited edition affordables - And that wasn’t a fun experience for the enthusiasts actually excited about the release…

but hope is not lost because this leads me to my final point…

There is a major hunger for affordable and officially branded versions of luxury watches

Many Speedmaster purists were a bit dismayed at first, but I’ve found few actually offended at Swatch and Omega’s collaboration on this watch. I myself, who is already a longtime Speedy enthusiast and owner got very hyped over this release. In fact, I had made an attempt to extend my stay in Las Vegas to head down to the boutique and pick one up. Luckily they announced the watch would be available online and I opted to wait (I am patient after all). On my late-night Friday trip to McCarren Airport, however, I swung by the boutique and people were already congregating outside.

I would be remiss to say I wished I was among them, even for a brief minute.

I liken this launch to the Q-Series Timex that was released on a much larger floor. The Timex Q was a pretty hyped release, with a number of hiccups, but the watch eventually became a wild success in the collectibles community because it’s unique, fun, and affordable - with most all of the kinks worked out. I wish Swatch would have taken a page out of that book before launching, but I have no doubt things will get smoother over time.

For me, it’s just exciting to see more accessible watches being at the forefront of the watch community. In fact, I’d go as far to say as the MoonSwatch has been the most popular release of the year to date. As a life-long fan of the Speedmaster, I am not offended (and I really haven’t met anyone who is) by this collaboration and I’m glad to see those less likely to venture into the price-point of a full-fledged moonwatch getting excitement out of a bioceramic version of one of my favorite watches.

Luxury brands should very much take notice of this release. This launch, I hope, changes the way that luxury brands engage and interact with brands more associated with affordable watches that are both accessible and fun. In fact, I find it a much more compelling case for breaking into watches than another run-of-the-mill variant of one of the most popular watches in the world. I hope that Swatch has learned from this entire experience, and a less convoluted online launch can be achieved.

We’d love to hear your experience about the launch! Did you get one? Did you try? Let us know in the comments below!