Swatch seems in the mood to continue reaping the success of its Mission to Moonshine Gold watch, a part of the Omega X Swatch MoonSwatch collaboration. The Swiss watchmaker has now released a new special edition of the watch to celebrate the Harvest moon on 29 September.
For astronomy enthusiasts, this Harvest moon is the last supermoon of 2023. A supermoon is when a full moon is at its closest point to Earth.
Swatch announced a few days ago that the Harvest moon special watch will be released in 85 Swatch stores across 75 cities around the world.
More about the Mission to Moonshine Gold watch and where to find it
What is special about the Harvest moon Mission to Moonshine Gold?
The Mission to Moonshine Gold watches have the second hand coated with Omega Moonshine gold, which is made from recycled gold from Swatch Group’s certified refinery.
Swatch says the “second hand is produced exclusively once a month during full moon dates, which are known to have a magical influence on many things, humans included”.
For the special edition Harvest moon version, Swatch has given a barley grain pattern to the second hand as an homage to the celestial event. There is also a secret signature that makes the hour markers and elements on the hands glow in the dark.
9月29日中秋の名月🌾🌕 Moonshine Goldゲット！#MoonSwatch #Swatch #OMEGAxSwatch pic.twitter.com/aSlegTG6u4
— swatch_jp (@swatch_jp) September 29, 2023
Where to buy the Harvest moon Mission to Moonshine Gold?
Bangkok is one of the 75 cities where Swatch dropped the Harvest moon special-edition watch on 29 September, made available only at the Swatch store in CentralWorld Megastore on Rama 1 Road in Pathum Wan.
The complete list of stores in other cities can be accessed directly by selecting the respective country on Swatch’s official website.
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High demand for Mission to Moonshine Gold versions
The Mission to Moonshine Gold watch was first introduced as part of the massively popular Omega X Swatch MoonSwatch collaboration on 7 March 2023.
Its dial, caseback, and other details are similar to the Mission to the Moon watch from the original collection of 11 Bioceramic MoonSwatch watches. As such, it has a steel grey appearance with white hands and a tachymeter scale.
Swatch has since released special versions of the Mission to the Moonshine watch: Mission to the Moonshine Gold Pink Full Moon, Mission to the Moonshine Gold Flower Moon, and Mission to the Moonshine Gold Strawberry Moon. Each has some variation to the second hand ranging from a pink Super-LumiNova detail on the tip to a strawberry pattern across the hand.
In August, Swatch gave the Moonshine Gold touch to its MoonSwatch Mission to Neptune watch to mark the blue moon day. As such, Swatch is likely to produce more of the Moonshine Gold version of MoonSwatch on other significant moon days and, perhaps, with other MoonSwatch variants.
Mission to Moonshine Gold watches have sold out quickly in stores upon their release. While the retail price of the original model is around USD 295, the secondary market demand is currently at around twice that.
Previous releases and a new Swatch collaboration
At the time of its launch, the original Mission to Moonshine Gold watch was available in only four locations in four cities: London, Milan, Tokyo, and Zurich.
Swatch released the watches once more for just a day on 6 April. At the time, fans of the series could buy the watch at select stores in 14 new cities: Berlin, Geneva, Hong Kong, Macao, Madrid, Manchester, Naucalpan de Juárez, New York, Shanghai, Sydney, Rome, Seoul, Toronto, and Yokohama.
As more moon events happen, Swatch might keep adding cities for its Moonshine Gold releases.
Though the Omega X Swatch collaboration has been a runaway success, Swatch is apparently not resting. The watch brand has already entered into newer partnerships. In September, it joined hands with fellow Swatch Group subsidiary Blancpain for the Blancpain x Swatch ‘Scuba Fifty Fathoms’ series — five unique colourways inspired by the five oceans.
(Hero and Featured images: Swatch/@swatch/Instagram)
Manas Sen Gupta writes at the intersection of tech, entertainment and history. His works have appeared in publications such as The Statesman, Myanmar Matters, Hindustan Times and News18/ETV. In his spare time, Manas loves studying interactive charts and topographic maps. When not doing either, he prefers reading detective fiction. Spring is his favourite season and he can happily eat a bowl of noodles any time of the day.
