The Biel-based brand has become the jewel in Swatch Group’s crown over the years and now contributes 53% of the group’s operating profit and almost a third of its sales according to estimates by Morgan Stanley and LuxeConsult. While buyers of the MoonSwatch were unanimous in their response to its launch, the competitors of Swatch were equally unanimous in their criticism the product for the potential negative impact on Omega. In fact, shortly after that, Swatch launched a NASA edition watch, which also did not enjoy the mass hysteria generated by the MoonSwatch.īig and bold but modest sellers Breaking down the success story Notably, the MoonSwatch is in fact a riff on two earlier products that met with a lukewarm reception, proving that it is greater than the sum of its parts. Swatch launched Bioceramic a year ago with the Big Bold Ceramic, a watch that was not a runaway success to say the least. But another defining trait of the MoonSwatch is the case of Bioceramic, a bio-compatible composite that is two-thirds ceramic and one-third plastic obtained from castor oil. The key difference between the MoonSwatch and the original is of course the quartz movement in the MoonSwatch versus the Lemania-based, hand-wound chronograph movement inside the Moonwatch. The MoonSwatch continues this tradition with 11 models, each dedicated a specific space mission, including the emblematic and coveted “Mission to the Moon”, which is almost an exact visual copy of the Speedmaster Moonwatch. Swatch is a brand that lives and dies by variation on a theme, essentially the same watch in different colours and occasional material tweaks. According to insiders, traffic in both Swatch and Omega boutiques – clients want the MoonSwatch in the former and seek the original in the latter – have risen after the MoonSwatch launch, seemingly proven the equation is working for both brands. At the same time, it brings Omega a younger clientele who may not yet be familiar with its iconic watch. The average Omega, for instance, sells for almost 50 times the typical Swatch.īringing together Swatch and Omega today has given the former a boost thanks to the historical and technical legitimacy of the latter. Swatch, in other words, sells more watches than any other Swiss watch brand, but also sells watches that cost less than any of its peers. To put things in perspective, the Swiss watch industry as a whole exported 15.75 million watches in 2021 according to the national customs authority, which translates into a total value of just over CHF22 billion. However, its annual sales have since declined to just three million units annually in recent years, giving the brand estimated yearly sales of just over CHF200 million – and an estimated annual loss of CHF150 million according to Morgan Stanley and LuxeConsult estimates.Ī publicity stunt of another era: Swatch draped the biggest Swatch watch ever on the Commerzbank building in Frankfurt in 1984 The brand is now a long way from its heyday three decades ago.Īt its height in the early 1990s, Swatch sold some 20 million watches a year, and the cumulative number since its launch is approximately 700 million. The MoonSwatch – which sells for CHF250 – will probably enable Swatch, a perennial loss maker for many years, to return to the black. History is repeating itself forty years later, but in reverse. Swatch proved it was possible to make a timepiece in Switzerland that had a trendy design and disruptive marketing while selling it at an extremely competitive price. In the 1980s, Swatch helped saved the Swiss watch industry – and in particular its sister brand Omega – by making “Swiss made” cool again.
Depending size and location, the allocation per store was between 100 to over 1,000 watches, but each customer was limited to just two watches, a number that was swiftly reduced to one on the back of frenzied demand. The 110 Swatch stores selected to sell the initial batch of the MoonSwatch saw endless queues that started the night before. On March 26 this year, similar scenes were repeated once again, and once again around the world. Those produce-shaped watches so aroused the passions of buyers that they spent the prior night in front of Swatch stores around the world so as to be first in line the next day.
#Swatch swiss watch series#
The MoonSwatch launch created a craze amongst buyers Swatch has not experienced since the 1990s when it launched a series of limited edition of watches that took the form of various vegetables.
#Swatch swiss watch professional#
The name of the product is a play on Omega’s iconic wristwatch – the Speedmaster Professional that was the first watch on the Moon in 1969 – while bringing to mind Swatch’s role in the revival of Swiss watchmaking in the 1980s. With the MoonSwatch, Swatch and Omega pulled off a masterstroke with a collaboration that benefits both brands. Facebook Linkedin Twitter Pinterest Weibo Mail Instagram
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