After weeks of teasing, SWATCH officially revealed the Snoopy MoonSwatch this week, once again sending the community into a flurry of hype over the dual signed bioceramic Speedmaster. The watch represents a culmination of the collaborative efforts between the two Swatch Group brands, bringing one of the Speedmaster’s most famous cartoon companions to life in the process. The Mission to Moonphase not only brings the iconic Snoopy character to the dial of a MoonSwatch, but also a new complication in the form of a moon phase indication. The result is a watch that adds a bit of brevity to the more serious Omega variations of the Snoopy Speedmaster.
The Snoopy character has a long history with the Speedmaster, having received the venerable Silver Snoopy award from NASA in 1970 for having played a role in getting the crew of Apollo 13 back home safely after an oxygen tank in the service module (SM) ruptured two days into the mission. Omega has created special edition Speedmasters using the character ever since, with many of them held in high regard by the collector community and boast the second hand prices to prove it. When Omega and SWATCH first dropped the initial collection of the MoonSwatch, speculation on what a Snoopy variation might look like was quick to follow.
This week, a few years after that launch took the world by storm, we have our answer. And I suspect this will cause the biggest surge of interest seen since that introduction. The Mission to Moonphase presents a clean white design, from dial to case to strap, with black accents, riffing on some of the qualities we’ve seen in Speedmasters from the latest white dial release, to the white ceramic White Side of the Moon released in 2015 (see my introduction of that watch right here). Perhaps most of all, the white dialed Anniversary Series Speedmaster, which has become something of a cult favorite amongst collectors.
The Mission to Moophase retains the same case proportions of the rest of the MoonSwatch releases, which means it also shares the same proportions with the steel Omega Speedmaster Professional. The 42mm case is rendered in white bioceramic, and measures 13.7mm in thickness. The battery cover on the caseback receives a depiction of the moon with a snoopy footprint thrown in for good measure. Yes, the tachymeter scale relegated to the white bezel insert places the dot over 90. It will ship with a white Velcro strap signed with both Omega and SWATCH brands, though this will make a perfect candidate for additional strap colors.
The big change here outside of the unique colorway is the addition of the moon phase indication set into the 2 o’clock sub dial, which features two recesses that reveal a rotating disc underneath, which features the Snoopy renderings. Snoopy himself appears resting on the moon (complete with Woodstock at his feet), tracking its phases throughout the month. The bridge that divides these apertures contains an easter egg that is only visible under UV light: the phrase “I can’t sleep without a night light!”. This is a quote from the original 4 panel comic strip that first appeared in 1964, which has Snoopy moving to the roof of his dog house so he can sleep in the light of the moon.
The Mission to Moonphase is among the most compelling executions of the MoonSwatch to date, and I suspect it will cause a similar rush to Swatch boutiques when it goes on sale beginning March 26th. The watch is priced at $310 and I would call this the first page in a new chapter of the story of the MoonSwatch. Swatch.