Swatch and Omega have announced a new MoonSwatch.

The Mission To Moonshine Gold edition closely resembles the existing Mission To The Moon version of the MoonSwatch, in steel grey – but with chronograph hand coated in the gold alloy.

It comes in a special gold box, plus a ‘Full Moon Production Certificate’.

‘Moonshine Gold’ is Omega’s own patented material, which it debuted in 2019 for its NASA-approved Speedmaster Professional Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Moonshine Gold.

omega moonswatch gold
Esquire
Omega x Swatch

The 18k alloy consists of 75 per cent gold, 14 per cent silver, 1 per cent and “less than” 9 per cent copper. It’s the copper that gives the alloy its unusual pale shade, and also enhances its longevity.

That model was a tribute to a unique gold Speedmaster, created in 1969 to celebrate the success of the Apollo 11 mission. Only 1,014 were made, with numbers 3-28 being gifted to Nasa’s serving astronauts. Numbers 1 and 2 were handed to the US President, Richard Nixon and his vice president, Spiro Agnew. (Both were returned because of their cost. They’re now on display in Omega’s museum in Biel, Switzerland.)

The Moonshine Gold alloy was used for two Speedmasters last year, too. One with a green sun-brushed dial and one with a sun-brushed gold dial with blackened sub-dials. They retailed for £38,400 and £40,300 respectively.

omega x swatch gold moonswatch
Esquire
Omega x Swatch

The MoonSwatch line, a collaboration between Omega and Swatch, featuring 11 pop-themed options in plastic-like “bioceramic” – Mission to The Sun, Mission to Venus, Mission to Neptune – famously retailed for just £207 on release.

Swatch is said to sold more than one million MoonSwatches last year. Models currently change hands for up to £1,400 on secondary resale sites.

The Mission To Moonshine Gold edition is a standalone model, and does not join the existing 11 models as a “12th” in the series.

When Swatch announced news of the new watch on Sunday, the internet went into overdrive, with fans creating eye-popping gold renders, imagining what a ‘Moonshine Gold’ edition might look like.

Like its predecessors the new model will not be available online, but in Swatch stores in London, Milan, Zürich and Tokyo – cities apparently chosen for their close connections to gold.

The Mission To Moonshine Gold watch goes on sale at 7pm local time today, in those four cities.

£245; swatch.com