this post was submitted on 26 Nov 2023
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I was walking by the San Francisco Swatch store and dropped in to take a look at the Blancpain collaboration. The Swatch employee said they still only had limited colors of the MoonSwatch available but every color of the Blancpain was in stock. I’m not interested in either but it confirmed my suspicions that the Blancpain isn’t nearly as popular as the MoonSwatch, especially at the higher price point.

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[–] Dark1000@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

I don't know if it's a dud. The sales are obviously not going to be as high as with the Moonswatch, but without any inside knowledge, there's no way of knowing. They could certainly have met or exceeded expectations.

However, I suspect that you are at least in the right direction. They aren't heavily promoted in the stores during the most important sales period of the year. The Simpsons donut watch is all over the Swatch stores I've see , with the Blancpain collection off in the corner with the rest of the regular Swatches. They clearly aren't leading with it for Christmas, and we're only a couple of months on.

Watch YouTubers and hobbyists aren't the general public, and that's where Swatch lives.

[–] Ziggy0274@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I love my Moonswatch, I think it's great fun to wear and no it's NOT an Omega it's a Swatch. I feel the same about the 50 Fathoms Swatch. I'm planning on picking one up, again for fun. The reason for the price difference is the 50 Fathoms is an automatic movement. If you're looking for an inexpensive watch with an automatic movement that can go anywhere, the 50 Fathoms is a great option.

[–] clm1859@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I havent handled the swatch FF, but if its anything like the moonswatch, it's ridiculously flimsy. Nothing compared to the quality of an Orient kamasu (or many other orients), that are made of solid steel and a good 100 bucks or 25% cheaper.

[–] Moist_Confusion@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

I’ve handled them in stores where they were both pretty well stocked with maybe a color out of stock in each and it feels fine. Like I had a moonswatch too and it felt cheap. Definitely feel slightly different but still both are novelty watches and not worth the price. When I was in Europe I actually got offered one where with tax back and the exchange rate it would have come out to $350 somehow which I was confused by but even at 50 bucks off not worth it in my book.

[–] MotherAd1865@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago (13 children)

Even on this sub there are far fewer people posting their Swatch x Blancpain.
I think it's a combination of things: the higher price-point, Blancpain being less popular than Omega, and the watch craze is starting to die down a bit. People had lots of free time and extra cash during the pandemic years - that's been changing this past year or so.

[–] greyblacknavytan@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I think you’re right on all points. I’m surprised they didn’t just do a Seamaster instead. I assume they’re waiting for the next Bond film and we’ll see a Swatch X Omega Seamaster X Bond watch.

[–] judahrosenthal@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Seamaster would get great but Swatch Group is desperate to make Blancpain relevant. So far, no good.

[–] 3d_extra@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

They could have tried a lot of other things first.

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[–] J22Jordan@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago
[–] dd1989NL@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Dont forget.. the moonwatch looks kind of cool.. this one is uggly as hell.. there is just no way looking at it and admiring the looks..

[–] sns_bns@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

I haven't seen one in person, but I actually like it on the photos. I would even buy one if it was cheaper.

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[–] 3d_extra@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

The designs being ugly is also a big factor.

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[–] Helenius@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I was in Berlin a month ago, people was still lining up outside the SWATCH store. No idea if it was for the Blancpain or MoonSwatch.

I could buy any colour the MoonSwatch in Bangkok 8 months ago.

[–] Icy_Place_5785@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

The fifty fathoms is sold only at KaDeWe, so that was a Moonswatch line you were looking at

[–] EBXLBRVEKJVEOJHARTB@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

The FF doesn't have the same hype as the Speedmaster

[–] zagggh54677@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

50 fathoms….300 ft. 😂

They look cool to me, would be a cool backup dive watch

[–] bagoflees@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

The rating was accomplished by them in the early 1950s. It was a big deal. The name stuck.

[–] CheGuevarasRolex@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

The Speedy is a fine watch, and Moonswatch did a good job capturing the look of the real think in a plastic package. It’s an attractive watch even if it’s clearly a toy version of it.

The true Fifty Fathoms is a very distinguished watch, but the Swatch FF looks like the worst kind of plastic McDonald’s toy imaginable, while also charging you even more money.

The Moonswatch is a meme but it is an attractive meme. The FF is a hideous meme.

[–] sdujour77@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Good. The entire idea cheapens the brand names involved.

[–] PacificTridentGlobel@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

Yes it does. They ruined Blancpain in my book. I had two BPs and sold them both when they did that. I’ll never buy another.

[–] Patient_Fox_6594@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

The watch community seems rather disdainful of both of them overall. Flawed watches for high prices is my impression of the general discontent with them.

[–] Zehcomputerguy@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

As others have stated they are overhyped “watches” that can’t even be serviced. People paying hundreds for a disposable watch.

[–] Zamboni4201@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago (7 children)

$400 is really high for a Swatch.

Growing up, their watches were $40-$50. And they were popular. You wore them for a year or two, and when they were too beat up, you bought another one. Anyone could buy them.

Today, they’re $80-$110.

So they drop the Moonswatch. $250 is high, but the economy was better, the watch was a novelty, many people know the Speedmaster was the first watch on the Moon. Omega has marketed the Speedy for 50+ years. Billions of billboards, bus shelters, and magazine ads. Also, the moonswatch had cool models related to our solar system. People could identify with those models.
Sold like wild fire.

$400 for a plastic Blancpain?
Who, outside of serious watch collectors, knows anything about a 50 Fathoms or any Blancpain watches? If you surveyed 50 people on the street about 50 Fathoms, 50 of them would give you a blank look.

Even the average Swatch customer, when entering the store, will google Blancpain 50 Fathoms to see what the original watch looked like and then figure out the association. And it’s still $400.

[–] Nerazzurro9@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

Exactly. The Moonswatch didn’t just have the timing and the novelty factor going for it—both of which were huge—but also the fact that pretty much everyone who has even a passing familiarity with watches knows what a Speedmaster is. Probably second only to various Rolex models on the “oh yeah, I’ve heard of that before” familiarity scale. You have to be relatively deep into watches already to know or care what the Fifty Fathoms is — and most of those people probably aren’t the types who will buy a $400 plastic Swatch.

[–] espressolemon@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

Right, and those who were interested in Fifty Fathoms and a fun take… probably had WAY more fun with the Fifty Phantoms

[–] Zanpa@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

$50 when Swatch launched is $155 dollars today. It's called inflation.

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[–] bchhun@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

I was there on Friday and they did not have a full stock of blancpain. So they must have got a delivery recently.

[–] BWFTW@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

Imo the color choices also make a difference. The moonswatch color choices are fun, all look amazing, and some of them tap into unique heritage like the hands on the mission to Mars. The blancpain colors on the other hand are pretty much all ugly but 2. I saw a few comments talking about how bad they looked on the leak and new right away this was a dud from the get go. Not much the price is absurd. That's actual good watch money. You could buy a quartz prx for around that, a bunch of seikos. Just a bad pricepoint for novelty. I also think the automatic movement moves it into more watch enthusiast space, where as the moonswatch had more mainstream appeal. And watch enthusiast are going to more critical of a trash automatic then a quartz watch imo

[–] manjamanga@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

Of course it is. Nobody other than watch enthusiasts ever heard the name Blancpain before.

[–] SeikoWIS@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

A quartz chrono makes so much more sense for a disposable plastic watch than a $400 automatic.

[–] Ashi4Days@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

Not that many people know about the Blancpain as brand. More people probably know what a speedmaster at a glance than know what a Blancpain is. On top of all of that, the MoonSwatch/Speedmaster looks better.

[–] enzo32ferrari@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

The MoonSwatch was cool cause the colors made sense and actually looked good. None of the Blancpain colors look good.

[–] rgb3x3@beehaw.org 1 points 2 years ago

I just looked them up for the first time and they look like plastic children's toys that you'd get at Walmart.

[–] Caruso08@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

Casuals don't know Blancpain, they don't care if the watch is automatic.

The moonswatch was so popular because a majority of people know Omega,being the first of the limited releases also built up hype, and people actually got to feel and see that the quality is the same as a swatch (which personally I'm not sure why people expected anything else from a $260 dollar watch)

Apart from that the colors are garish.

[–] Aquafina_lol@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

The price point was way too high.

[–] eta2750@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

To be expected. Blancpain has never been a "cool" brand. The Fifty Fathoms is ugly and dated. Sparse to a fault, like those Unimatic watches. Just my opinion, to each their own. It's also $400 plastic watch that can't be serviced. The ETA quartz movement in the Moonswatch runs on batteries and objectively has a longer theoretical service life vs a sistem51 movement.

The color selection is hideous. There's no "Mission to the Moon" option available. Imagine a black on black bezel option with the iconic yellow/red no rads indicator...but of course people would never bother buying the real thing if that were the case. The Fifty Fathoms doesn't have the same mythological pull that the Moonwatch has.

[–] Astropin@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

What immediately turned me off is they are not serviceable. If it breaks down...which it will...you get to toss in the garage.

[–] Wh1tePo1nter@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

Hopefully people have realised what BS marketing gimmicks both watches are. I can't imagine paying $400 for a plastic disposable watch.

[–] fusiongt021@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

End of the day it's just a Swatch. Enjoy it if you like it but I could see how the general consumer wouldn't know Blancpain versus how most will know Omega.

[–] Zenis@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

When I visited the Vegas Swatch store they were sold out, but had half the Moonswatch solar system. I may have picked one up if they had any 🤷🏼‍♂️

[–] rowthecow@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

Omega has more brand goodwill than blanc

[–] kapparino-feederino@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

The moonswatch in itself is already a really bad value watch tbh

The blancpain is more painful pricing

[–] DCLexiLou@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago (2 children)

And completely unserviceable. It’s literally a throw away. Shameful.

[–] kapparino-feederino@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

its crazy how they got so hyped up.

like u can get a Seiko Speedtimer the solar quarts one for the same price as some grey market moonswatch and people stills buy a plastic toy watch over it.

i just don't get the hype for it. bad value for MSRP awful value for the grey market price.

blancpain one is awful value but atleast its not hyped.

im all for accesibility but i really don't think these watches are it

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[–] Red_Trapezoid@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

People without money are not going to buy something like that and people with money are going to buy something better.

I like many others are in the financial position of "too poor to buy cheap". But these collabs aren't even that cheap all things considered. That is a very expensive Swatch, what's the point?

[–] Low_Map4314@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

This is the problem with BlancPain as a whole. Good product, but massively overpriced.

[–] Ezodan@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

I think about 1% of the population heard about blancpqin as a brand. For omega that's like 50-70 times more people. On top of that can you name me an iconic piece from blanpain that you would want a cheaper copy of? Millions want a omega moonwatch an icon for any space and watchlovwr.

[–] chicaneuk@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

In some respects I am glad.. the Moonswatch, I would imagine, sold way beyond Swatches wildest expectations and presumably they thought they had a sure fire cash cow lined up going forward. At least disappointing sales on the Blancpain collab will cause some kind of pause / reset / rethink on whether this model works on other watches.

[–] WSBGamer@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

It looks like it costs $25 to manufacture.

[–] obedevs@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

I’ve been casually into watches for a while and I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I only heard about Blancpain this year (I’m 34 years old). I knew the Omega name before I was even a teenager. I bet if you ask 100 random people on the street 99 of them will have heard of Omega

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