Yes, yes. I know. It’s another MoonSwatch. But this one caught my eye more than most – so much so, I think it might be my new favourite of the entire range.
It’s called the MoonSwatch 1965, and it goes on sale in select Swatch shops from 1st March. You know the score by now: arrive early, expect to queue, one per customer per store per day, prepare for disappointment, brace yourself for the massively inflated eBay prices.
While all that is, sadly, entirely likely, Swatch has confirmed to me that this is not a limited-edition, and will be on sale for the foreseeable future.
It’s called the 1965 because this is a MoonSwatch that pays tribute to the origin story of the OMEGA Speedmaster, which gained NASA flight qualification that same year – a step that set the watch on a course for space, the Moon and a reputation as one of the most iconic watches of all time. It’s also where the OMEGA gained its ‘Moonwatch’ nickname from, since it was the first timepiece worn on the Moon, strapped to the wrists of Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
Details that set this MoonSwatch apart from any other include the off-white dial, vintage Omega logo, and a bioceramic case that, while still being plastic, has a grey hue that hints at the shimmering stainless steel of the original.
But what’s especially interesting – and, if I’m being honest, also a bit weird – is the chronograph movement and sub dials.
Take the left-hand sub-dial. Instead of counting to 60 minutes via numerals at 15, 30 and 45, the new model shows 6, 13 and 19. The right-hand dial displays 65, 20 and 45, and the central dial shows 20, 40 and 60. Why? Because the top numbers of each are 19, 65 and 60, referencing how this watch marks 60 years since the Speedmaster’s 1965 certification.
It’s a bit tedious when you spell it all out, but the MoonSwatch collection has always ranked fun above functionality, so I’m cool with it, even if I haven’t much use for a chronograph that counts to 19 hours and 65 minutes. Even Swatch admits these changes lead to “the chronograph reading a bit different than the typical chronographs.”
Another design flourish is how the 19, 65 and 60 numbers glow blue when exposed to UV light, while the hour markers, hour and minute hands, plus the tip of the chronograph seconds hand, are coated in Grade A Super-LumiNova that glows green at night.
Priced at £240, the MoonSwatch 1965 is available in select Swatch stores from 1st March.
