Swatch introduced its first-ever BIOCERAMIC Swatch - BIG BOLD - made from a material that's a mix of ceramic and bio-sourced plastic in 2021. At ZULUDIVER we had wanted to develop an authentic Moonwatch strap for some time and early in 2022 we released the ZULUDIVER LUNAR strap. Early models sold out and the strap is now on its third production run! We undertook extensive research studying original NASA blueprints and numerous vintage photographs of astronauts to get our product as accurate as possible yet functional for daily use. As the star of this collection is the bright sun, the manufacturers chose the color gold to represent the planet.

With the Mission to Mars and Mission to Jupiter, Swatch draws on design elements from the sought-after "Alaska Project" and "Ultraman" Moonwatch models. The Mission to Mars case is a fiery red, just like the thermal shield on the "Alaska I" from 1969. Swatch designers also borrowed from the Alaska I for the dial on the Mission to Mars, which is white with brash red chronograph hands. These even have the same shape as those found on the Alaska I, which were reminiscent of the Gemini spacecraft that carried American astronauts into space.The final pairing today is for the controversial Mission To Neptune. Why is it controversial? Well, you may have seen a few people complaining about the blue BioCeramic case leaving some blue residue on their wrists. There’s no hiding this, and it does happen. Ben’s Mission To Neptune in the photos was no exception, and it “blued” his wrist too. Despite this, the Mission To Neptune is a great-looking watch, and it probably wouldn’t be enough to put me off. I understand some people may not be too keen, however. If you are not familiar with these radical co-branded gems from Omega and Swatch, here is a brief introduction. The MoonSwatch family looks like Speedmasters and even has Omega and Speedmaster written on them. However, appearances can be deceptive. The 42mm case is not steel but an ultra-light Bioceramic material which is one third responsibly sourced plastic and two thirds ceramic. The result is an incredibly light watch weighing only 29g. The hands, pushers and the tachymeter scale are thoroughly Speedmaster in appearance with hour, minute and chronograph markers coated with Super-Luminova. Unlike the original Speedmaster which is in limited colour palates, the USP of the MoonSwatch (other than its price) is that they are produced in eleven striking colours, each one inspired by a different planet in our solar system. Your chosen planet, for example Saturn, appears on the rear battery hatch which covers the ETA V8 quartz movement. That's where the similarities stop. As opposed to the Omega timepiece, the MoonSwatch's case is made of Swatch's proprietary BIOCERAMIC. This ceramic blend is made of two-thirds ceramic, and one-third synthetic material derived from castor oil. This achieves a very lightweight case that can be made in various colors, which Swatch has taken full advantage of for these timepieces. There are a total of eleven color varieties named after planetary bodies in our Solar System: the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, the Moon (of course), Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. A Velcro strap keeps the MoonSwatch securely on the wrist.

The Bioceramic Swatch innovation comes after the manufacturer launched its bio-sourced Swatch in September 2020. Just like the Omega Speedmaster, the Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch lug width is 20 mm, which is the most common lug width. More about how to find out which band size your watch needs here. How do I change the bracelet or strap on my MoonSwatch? The MoonSwatch is a product of Swatch, with collaboration with Omega. Nevertheless, solely Swatch produces this watch. Since Swatch is one of the many watch brands in the Swatch Group, which also includes the movement manufacturer ETA, the movement in the MoonSwatch is an ETA quartz chronograph movement. You can find more detailed informations about the movement here. Which strap size does my MoonSwatch need? While the bracelet, glass, and loops are made from bio-sourced plastic, they are 100% natural and contain no chemicals. It is made of a ceramic material that can keep your skin cool for hours, even when the outside temperature reaches over 53°C. It is a product to help those constantly exposed to heat.

Mission To Mercury

The Mission To The Moon is the most “classic” looking of all the MoonSwatches. The dial is straight out of the Moonwatch playbook, and the lighter gray BioCeramic clearly aims to mimic the metallic color of the Moonwatch’s steel case. I feel that this makes straps a little easier to some degree, as if it works for the Moonwatch, it’ll likely work for the MoonSwatch. There is one exception, however: please don’t go putting steel bracelets on your MoonSwatch. It’s not big, and it’s not clever. Nobody is laughing with you; we’re laughing at you.

There are different ways of looking at it. There’s the very skeptical version as you lay out, or I prefer the believe that Swatch grossly underestimated quite how popular the watches would be. If you want a MoonSwatch with a touch of luxury, then you need a MoonSwatch Moonshine Gold. This model has a chrono seconds hand made from a fine coating of 18k yellow gold alloy recycled from Swatch Group’s own certified refinery. What’s more, it was even assembled during a full moon (no kidding!). The best way to upgrade a MoonSwatch is to equip it with a high quality strap. What watch strap could be a better match here than our premium yellow gold NATO strap (also available in rose gold). Now, I know this is just four of the 11 MoonSwatch Models, but we don’t have the complete set between the team. With that in mind, I’d love to hear from the Fratelli who own their own MoonSwatches. Have you swapped out your strap? If so, what did you go for? Let me know in the comments!

The Mission on Earth MoonSwatch features the widest palette of colors in this collection: the case is an earthy green, the bezel and dial are navy blue, and the subdials are white. The chronograph hands round off the watch nicely, and are a brownish red. It is is water-resistant up to 3 bars / 30 meters (splash proof) and its battery will keep it going for approx. 2- 3 years, depending on the size of the battery and how often you will use the chronograph function. In principle, Swatch states that watches with a chronograph function have a shorter battery life. What movement does the MoonSwatch use?