Omega BioCeramic MoonSwatch. Thoughts around the Rep version.

[jakeslatneksy]

Setting aside the conversation as to whether the Moon Swatch (or Mars, or Uranus), was a brilliant marketing idea by Omega (and SwatchGroup) or a colossal mistake and dilution of one of the most iconic watches ever made, this query is about the replica version. We know that several TD's are selling the entire line as reps for slightly over US$148.00. That's considerably less than the current market price for Gen @ US$400 +/-. Having watched the rep market improve in detail, accuracy and quality over the past 10-15years, and assuming (this is a huge assumption) that "most" of this line of Swatch watches is created in CN anyway, would anyone hazard an educated guess as to whether or not Omega Speedmaster MoonSwatch is going to be a more or less equal product to the gen version?
My wife is Swiss. She has no beef with reps for hobbyists (or anything else) but the Swiss take t heir Swatch watches quite seriously. But if they're the same, it's $300 difference for a plastic quartz watch. Anyway, I would welcome any non-flammable thoughts. Thanks folks.

 

[muiramas]

There is a huge thread on the Moon Swatch in the Omega section. You’ll probably find an answer to what you want to ask in there. I’m not sure what your question even is though.

 

[Thatwatchguy]

The reps at various price points were, well crap. The gen was also well disappointing.

So go with either and I’m sure disappointment will follow.

 

[jakeslatneksy]

There is a huge thread on the Moon Swatch in the Omega section. You’ll probably find an answer to what you want to ask in there. I’m not sure what your question even is though.

Sorry. What the question even is, is distilled to this: is the rep as good as the gen? Though I believe it has been answered effectively by ThatWatchGuy. Thank you, ThatWatchGuy.

 

[jakeslatneksy]

There is a huge thread on the Moon Swatch in the Omega section. You’ll probably find an answer to what you want to ask in there. I’m not sure what your question even is though.

Thanks for this. I'll head over to that thread but I do appreciate the opinion, which I believe to be well-considered and accurate.

 

[muiramas]

I think the concensus is they are both crap. And the whole thing showed that every demographic is willing to pay decent money for any piece of crap if it has a logo on it. Its the horological equivalent of a pair of Burberry sunglasses.

 

[jakeslatneksy]

I think the concensus is they are both crap. And the whole thing showed that every demographic is willing to pay decent money for any piece of crap if it has a logo on it. Its the horological equivalent of a pair of Burberry sunglasses.

okay. I'm getting the picture now. Swatch made a gimmicky crappy watch, the rep version is going to be crappier. Thank you.

 

[muiramas]

I doubt any of the ones sold this year will be in use in 2 years time. They will fall apart, get scratched up and people will forget them. Most non enthusiast owners have realised it's not an Omega. It's just an expensive booby prize / wooden spoon made by Swatch.

 

[jakeslatneksy]

I doubt any of the ones sold this year will be in use in 2 years time. They will fall apart, get scratched up and people will forget them. Most non enthusiast owners have realised it's not an Omega. It's just an expensive booby prize / wooden spoon made by Swatch.

Thank you for not holding back. Strangely, hearing someone flat-out say "it's not an Omega", is all that's needed. And the thing is, Swatch watches are not all crappy. For daily beaters, their Irony series is not bad as well as many others in their lineup. But even online reviews of MoonSwatch seem to suggest a clunky wristband, inaccurate dials, rough case design. In summary, any rep of this watch will be terrible. Thanks to all that offered their thoughts.

 

[Eddio]

Thank you for not holding back. Strangely, hearing someone flat-out say "it's not an Omega", is all that's needed. And the thing is, Swatch watches are not all crappy. For daily beaters, their Irony series is not bad as well as many others in their lineup. But even online reviews of MoonSwatch seem to suggest a clunky wristband, inaccurate dials, rough case design. In summary, any rep of this watch will be terrible. Thanks to all that offered their thoughts.

Can i just say that the Reps are just awesome and are in some areas even better then the GENs. A. Gen cases cannot be opened, if the movement dies the watch can be binned. Bye bye 250 dollars. If the plexi is scratched up too much you can bin it as well. And these plexi scratch up easy as people already complain about this. The 40 dollar Reps have a caseback. So it is servicable with plexiglass and Sunos movements available. B. The chrono hand of the GEN ticks like a standard quartz. The Rep has a sweeping chrono hand.

Build quality is great, not just because its 40 bucks. And the difference between Gen and reps are very small. This makes it a real beater summer watch. And about "its not an Omega". Try the Moon or Mercury. The dial will give you the Moonwatch experience, the case shape will make it a comfortable fit on the wrist.

 

[Eddio]

My next step is trying a Mod.....

 

[lespiger]

Thank you for not holding back. Strangely, hearing someone flat-out say "it's not an Omega", is all that's needed. And the thing is, Swatch watches are not all crappy. For daily beaters, their Irony series is not bad as well as many others in their lineup. But even online reviews of MoonSwatch seem to suggest a clunky wristband, inaccurate dials, rough case design. In summary, any rep of this watch will be terrible. Thanks to all that offered their thoughts.

I am the owner of a Saturn Gen MoonSwatch.

Bought two at a Swatch boutique in Portugal, two saturns.
Took mine out of the box immediately, put it on my wrist and went to a restaurant at the shopping mall to have lunch.
After a few minutes observing the watch and enjoying the feeling of having finally been able to purchase one, I noticed that the seconds counter wasn't moving at all.

Long story short, went back to swatch before they closed down and the watch was indeed broken. I was lucky enough that they had saved 1 of each model they sold that day for RMA and the manager agreed to switch mine.
The other one I had bought was working, but the acrylic was ALREADY SCRATCHED (I know you can polish them easily, but meh).

After about 6 months of daily use, the state of mine is as follows:

- heavily scratched acrylic
- had to calibrate the hands because they move from their original reset positions (from falling I guess?)
- loses a shit ton of minutes over a few days, had about an hour lost these days and second guessed myself wether I didn't know how to read watches anymore (how does that happen on a quartz?)

Other than that, the strap is surprisingly resistant, not a single sign of wear on the typography or stitching, velcro is good


I'd only buy them to collect from now on, not to actually wear though.

 

[SuperLory]

resale prices here are bottoming so it becomes really close to RRP. However after owning both gen and the best rep (the one with same movement etc), given the abysmal quality of the watch, i rather buy the best rep.

Low quality reps are shit imho.

It's a fun watch to wear on an elastic loop. Will get a Jupiter after CNY and mount it on orange elastic loop

 

[Eddio]

resale prices here are bottoming so it becomes really close to RRP. However after owning both gen and the best rep (the one with same movement etc), given the abysmal quality of the watch, i rather buy the best rep.

Low quality reps are shit imho.

It's a fun watch to wear on an elastic loop. Will get a Jupiter after CNY and mount it on orange elastic loop

See above mentioning about a different movement with the sweeping chrono hand, i prefer this movement over the original. But having a few reps now i see no reason to go GEN anymore.

I am currently awaiting parts to create a Mission to Mars metal mod so it will more closely resemble the limited edition Omega Project Alaska. I call it "Project Alaskswatch"

The goal is something like this photoshop idea:

 

[Save]

resale prices here are bottoming so it becomes really close to RRP. However after owning both gen and the best rep (the one with same movement etc), given the abysmal quality of the watch, i rather buy the best rep.

Low quality reps are shit imho.

It's a fun watch to wear on an elastic loop. Will get a Jupiter after CNY and mount it on orange elastic loop

Can i please ask you where good reps can be found? I can only see reps from DHgate but no one show real pictures of the watches.

Thank you

 

[Eddio]

Can i please ask you where good reps can be found? I can only see reps from DHgate but no one show real pictures of the watches.

Thank you

i will send you a PM with a link from where i have bought it recently!

 

[MontreDeLune]

The gen is bad so…

 

[SuperLory]

Can i please ask you where good reps can be found? I can only see reps from DHgate but no one show real pictures of the watches.

Thank you

i'm pretty sure TDs can find for you. They are easy to find in China

 

[davidc]

the way i see it is Swatch made a rep of the Omega, so in essence your looking at a copy of a copy. To think you would be getting Omega build quality from Swatch at this price point would be laughable.
The decision guys at the top i assume are trying to boost both the image of Swatch and then also expose more "new" watch buyers to the Omega brand which they hope will translate into more sales/upgrade to an Omega later for both brands.

 

[Eddio]

So ladies and Gents, my Metal mod project is almost finished. I would like to show you my swatchification of the Omega Project Alaska. Dubbed Project Alaskswatch!

My photo shop idea



And now the real deal!!! A wrist shot