Getting a MoonSwatch for £207, 2 Weeks After Launch

Ohhhh do I have a story to tell!

I recently came into possession of a Mission to Jupiter MoonSwatch, but not quite how you might expect. On April 10th 2022, two weeks after its release, I randomly walked into a Swatch shop with £207, and walked out with one in hand. Now for those of you who don't know, this is a big deal! Let me explain why.

Swatch and Omega did a joint project and created a set of watches which hark back to the classic 2005 Omega Moonwatch. This is an iconic Omega timepiece so doing a tribute to it was always going to be popular with watch enthusiasts, but nobody expected quite how desirable they actually were. With a price tag of £207, many people saw this as an opportunity to get their hands on an Omega branded product relatively cheaply. When it was released on March 26th, queues had already started two days before, and by opening time, the lines outside the selected Swatch shops were huge. Stock was completely sold out in a couple of hours and immediately the watches were being sold on Ebay for thousands. As of writing this article, there was no stock online, or in the stores. The release of these watches was obviously a huge success, but unfortunately, all this attention created a very dangerous situation.

The secondary market for these watches is crazy, especially bearing in mind that these are not a limited run product. Swatch have even confirmed that there will be plenty available in the future, but not online for the time being. In fact, greed and impatience have reared their ugly heads with stories of robberies of these timepieces popping up all over the web. Perhaps this is unsurprising as they are so much in demand that they are selling at anywhere between 2 and 15 times their original retail price. With all that in mind, when I went into one of the Swatches in London, I didn't expect to just walk out with an Omega branded watch in my hand.

Here’s how it happened.

On a visit to London a few weeks ago, I found myself with a spare hour or two. I noticed a Swatch store, and as a long time fan of the Swiss watch makers, I went in to take a look. The first thing I noticed was how many security guards there were in the shop. The whole place was probably only 5 metres squared, and yet there were four huge security guards squeezed inside.

I was immediately greeted by a sales rep, who asked if I was looking for anything in particular. Of course, I mentioned the moon swatches, and as expected, she said there were none available. I then said I’d have a look around and if anything jumped out at me i’d let her know.

While I perused the store, with a focus on the ‘in-store exclusive’ watches in the far corner, the manager approached me and asked if I wanted to try any of them on. He unlocked the case and handed me the one I particularly liked. As I took off the watch I was wearing, a special edition Q2 Swatch, he admired it and asked if I was a fan of the brand. He asked why I hadn’t asked about the MoonSwatches, and when I said I’d already been told there weren't any, he paused for a moment. He asked which was my favourite, and I told him the Mercury and the Jupiter had caught my eye as I liked the more traditional colours. He picked up his tablet and began to type, showing me after a minute or so, what he’d written. To the best of my recollection, it said:

“Do not react, but I do have 1 ‘Jupiter’ pre packed out back. Please do not say anything as there are gangs outside waiting to rob at knife point anyone who

they see getting given any. Nod if you want it?”

I was gobsmacked, and couldn't believe what I was reading. I processed the information for a moment, then nodded as subtly as I could. He took back the watch I’d tried on and said he’d be back in a couple of minutes. This must be a joke right? It’s a proper Swatch shop, so surely it’s not a scam? I glanced over my shoulder, outside the shop to the pavement. Now I noticed – a couple of groups of people were hanging around the shop looking suspicious. Now the security made sense.

I waited at the counter, and the manager reappeared not long after with a sealed swatch bag in hand. As I paid, I commented that I hadn't realised how serious the situation was. He told me a couple of days before the store employees had been held at knifepoint, over these new watches, which is why they had added security. He told me to put the Swatch bag straight into my own rucksack and then go into another shop out of the area, to check I had it safe. I shook his hand, thanked him for the help and left.

I have never been so scared walking out of a shop, but I did what the manager advised, and kept the watch hidden, then slipped into another shop around the corner. I checked around me, retrieved the bag from my rucksack, opened it nervously, and BOOM, there it was, my Omega MoonSwatch, safe and sound!

This has to be the craziest experience I’ve had in a high street shop, and on reflection, it’s very sad that things have come to this. It’s not as if this was a limited production product, but greed has put Swatch employees, who are just trying to do their jobs, in fear for their lives! All credit goes to the people working at Swatch, especially the man I dealt with in the store. They acted professionally, tried to keep everyone safe, and rewarded those who are fans of the brand.

My reflection on this strange episode is that if you are a genuine enthusiast, and really want one of these highly demanded watches, it is worth going into one of the shops that sells them. Be polite, show you care about the brand, and just ask. If you don't ask, you don't get!