MoonSwatch, Is It A Luxury Watch?

Swatch™ is hinting strongly at another MoonSwatch™ release; this time incorporating Peanuts’ Snoopy© in some fashion. This would be, I believe, the 17th total MoonSwatch and 6th Special Edition. Correct me if I’m wrong.

So with the new release pending, let’s talk about how the MoonSwatch is a Luxury Watch. Why do I say it is a Luxury Watch? Two reasons. One; it’s an over-priced ($270 USD as of this writing) plastic bioceramic watch. Almost all items considered luxury are also considered over-priced by those who are not luxury. For $270 I can buy a number of well made watches that are cased in stainless steel, have more functionality, have a battery that can be changed and have straps that don’t look and feel as if they were an afterthought in the design process or a torture chamber cast off. Spending $270 for an inferior product is a hallmark of modern luxury spending.

So a watch like an F-91W from Casio, is a basic item and it does the job of telling the time for about $20 USD. On the luxury side, a watch that includes extras beyond just doing the basic job (in this case, all aesthetics and heritage) like a Rolex Oyster Perpetual selling for around $5,000, that watch is considered massively over-priced by most people in the world. Yes, even by people that may still want one.

The second reason I consider the MoonSwatch a Luxury Watch, is because it is actually unattainable by a large number of the people that might want to purchase one. Well, at least at retail. See, Swatch has made the curious decision to NOT sell these watches online, only via their physical brick-and-mortar stores. For people like me, the nearest Swatch store is hours away by car or plane. This essentially adds a fee -or tax- on to the actual cost of the watch. So now, a $270 USD watch is now closer to or over $400 USD when you factor in the cost of gas or a plane ticket; for a plastic bioceramic watch. I don’t know about you, fair readers, but that’s a lot of money for a plastic bioceramic watch with crappy specs.

There is actually another way to buy the watch; from enterprising folk who will buy one (or more) at the stores and then offer it to you on eBay or the like for a “modest” markup to compensate them for their time & trouble. Perusing eBay using the search ‘moonswatch’, I found 1900+ hits with prices from $205 bid on an item ending in under an hour, to $1200 (or MORE!) plus shipping. While this is the free market at work, I can see why people do not want to go this route.

Another thing to consider when discussing what makes something a luxury item, is what established luxury goods companies are selling. Take Balenciaga, one of the most luxe brands around. in 2022, they released a leather tote that bore a striking resemblance to a trash bag. (Talk about your homages!)

This bag has zero features other than the ability to put your stuff in it, carry it around and make retrieving the stuff you put in the bag a hassle. All for $1,790 USD. Yes, you can buy a Longines Hydroconquest, a Tag Heuer F1 Chrono, an Oris Aquis or many other quality watches for the same price Balenciaga feels like they can charge for an homage of a trash bag. Sure, the leather is probably of a fair quality, but absolutely zero design work went into that bag. There’s no way I would spend that much money on an item whose function I can replicate with about $30 in material from a fabric store. People are actively spending throwing away money on something that has less function than a $40 backpack I can pick up at any big box store. Just like they are spending throwing away roughly 9 times the amount of a Casio AE-1200 on a MoonSwatch and getting less functionality & less durability.

So yes, I believe the MoonSwatch is a luxury watch. Not luxury in the sense of “I don’t need a watch to be able to survive, so it’s a luxury good.” No, it is luxury in the sense that the quality is so poor for the money, that when someone buys one, they are essentially saying, “I have so much money, I can afford to spend $300-$1200 on this item and you can’t.” It’s a reverse flex. At least in my opinion. Maybe you don’t intend it in that manner, but for such a watch, it’s the way I feel about it.

I can’t afford to spend $300-$1200 on a watch that won’t outlast me (knock on wood). If you can, good for you, but your MoonSwatch is a luxury watch.

What do you think? Is the MoonSwatch a luxury item? Is it a toy? Do you want one? If so, which one? If you do not, why not? Roast me in the comments.

Until next time, watch friends.