On 14 March 1969, four months before the Apollo 11 launch, Snoopy made it to the moon.
“I beat the Russians... I beat everybody,” the NASA mascot thinks to himself in Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts strip for that week.
Now, the popular pup is putting his astronaut suit back on – a uniform he last dug out for his Apple TV+ debut, Snoopy in Space (a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes suggests the series is well worth a watch) – as Omega and Swatch have assigned him a new moon-centric mission.
Mission celebrate the second birthday of the MoonSwatch in style.
Omega x Swatch Mission To Moonphase MoonSwatch (Snoopy)
The Peanuts-themed MoonSwatch doesn't mark the first time the canine cartoon character has graced a Swatch watch, nor an Omega one.
As any watch buff will inform you, if you let them, the former launched a line starring the entire Peanuts gang (Snoopy, Charlie, Woodstock, Lucy etc.) in late 2021.
And the latter's relationship with the comic strip-turned-television series dates back to the early aughts.
In 2003, the luxury watchmaker released a Speedmaster finished with an Astronaut Snoopy sub-dial. The timepiece – crafted to commemorate the Silver Snoopy Award that Omega received in 1970 for playing a role in getting the Apollo 13 crew home safely – was limited to 5,441 pieces to acknowledge the exact length of the mission (142 hours, 54 minutes and 41 seconds).
Two other Snoopy-adorned Omega Speedmasters eventually followed: a black and white take released in 2015 to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Apollo mission, and a blue and white one that dropped five years later to observe the 50th anniversary.
And although leaks and rumours pointed to a bioceramic imitation of one of these existing models, the Snoopy Omega x MoonSwatch has revealed itself to be its very own thing.
A full moon-inspired timepiece that introduces a moonphase complication to the affordable collaboration.
In fact, this marks the first time ever that Swatch has combined a moonphase with a chronograph.
It's here where Snoopy lives. Two Snoopys, actually, that move in the subdial at 2 o'clock. Along with a quote from a Peanuts comic strip that can only be viewed under UV light.
The third and final Snoopy touch is located on the caseback: where you'd usually find an accurate graphic of the moon on a Mission to the Moon watch, you get a Snoopy-fied moon instead. And you won't require a telescope to spot his paw print.
As you'd expect, securing one on release day was a pursuit that proved as strenuous as an actual mission to the moon, but since this MoonSwatch, like all others, is confirmed to be non-limited, exercising a little patience is sure to pay off.
As the wise Charlie Brown says in his Little Book of Wisdom, “live for today, look to tomorrow, rest this afternoon”.
When did the Snoopy Moonphase MoonSwatch launch?
The Snoopy Moonphase MoonSwatch launched on Tuesday 26 March 2024, a date that marks two years of the Omega x Swatch collaboration.
Where is the Snoopy Moonphase MoonSwatch available?
The Snoopy MoonSwatch is exclusively available in selected Swatch stores, and only one watch can be purchased per person, per day, per Swatch store.
The sought-after timepiece is also available on trusty resale marketplace, StockX.
How much does the Snoopy Moonphase MoonSwatch cost?
The Snoopy MoonSwatch is priced at £270, which is peanuts (!) compared to the prices of the Snoopy Omega Speedmasters. To give an example, the 2003 Snoopy Speedmaster is currently available at Selfridges for £25,000.
Special-Edition Snoopy Speedmaster
What other Omega x MoonSwatches are available?
There are 21 other Omega x MoonSwatch styles in existence; here, we rank them all.
Joseph Furness is the Assistant Editor of Esquire, covering menswear and grooming. Joseph has previously written for the likes of British GQ, Mr Porter, Highsnobiety, Footwear News and Farfetch.
