The OMEGA Mission to Venus Moonswatch stands out among its peers

This summer we spent a long time in Switzerland: the land of cheese, chocolate, lakes, and of course, watches. In Switzerland, you can find watches in abundance from the highest end precious metal and steel watches (think Patek, Rolex, Audemars Piguet), to plastic or bioceramic watches (Swatch, etc), to fully functioning watches literally made from recycled soda cans (ReWatch) sold for cash outside of toboggan slides. But, when we were in Switzerland this time, we were on a specific watch mission– the mission to collect at least one of every Omega Moonswatch for our own personal collection. Luckily in Switzerland, Swatch stores are like Starbucks in the United States, there seems to be several brick and mortar Swatch stores in every Swiss city. 

Photo credit: OMEGA x Swatch

However, just because a ton of Swatch stores exist, doesn’t mean the Omega Moonswatch was easy to get–in fact just the opposite. These intergalactic, planet themed Omega colab watches were very hard to find, and only by being incredibly persistent, and nice, but most of the time just lucky, we were able to find some. I had the opportunity to purchase the Mission to Venus Omega Moonwatch in Bern, Switzerland, and did not hesitate to purchase it. I even took off my apple watch and immediately put this one one instead (which if you are an apple watch person you know this is a big deal).

The look of the Venus Moonswatch, in detail:

The dial of this watch is spectacular. The base dial color is definitely more of a rich cream than white, and the oval or ellipse shaped subdials and indices are a metallic silver or stainless steel color. The lettering of OMEGA and the iconic Speedmaster is a dark charcoal gray font that really complements the overall color scheme. The three hands are a soft light pink, exactly the same color as the case and crown. Almost impossible to see with the naked eye, and even more impossible to photograph, there is an “invisible” S on the center of the crystal on this watch as well as others in this collection.

The caseback is light pink as well and adorned with a swirly planet (presumably Venus) and the words Mission to Venus. Around the caseback, you can find the words: “dream big, fly higher, explore the universe, reach for the planets, and enjoy the mission”, all embedded into the perimeter of the caseback. I was surprised to see that all 3 hands were lumed, as well as the indices, especially on a relatively low priced watch. The lume color is a fresh minty green, and while not as powerful as lume on say, my Rolex Oyster Perpetual, it was still very impressive on a $260 watch.

From afar, the aesthetic/look of the watch is almost identical to a real Omega Speedmaster. Although it is essentially made of fancy recycled plastic and ceramic blend (called bioceramic), and not steel, it still looks very much like a real watch case. The dimensions are identical to those of the real Omega Speedmaster which helps a lot in terms of looking like a real OMEGA.

The OMEGA Moonswatch Venus Watch Strap

The nylon/velcro strap that comes with this watch is white with white stitch. The lettering is light pink and that darker charcoal gray, and the keeper is the same light pink color as the case. The strap comes in two pieces. A very small piece (about an inch long) at the 6:00 side that also holds the keeper, and adorns the OMEGA logo, and a longer velcro side at the 12:00 side that adorns the words Speedmaster, Mission to Venus Moonswatch, and the swatch logo. The lug width is 20mm and both sides are secured with a standard spring bar.

Two features unique only to the Venus Moonswatch:

One: Besides the color, there is one thing very unique about this particular iteration of the OMEGA Moonswatch that no other watch in this collection has. At first I didn’t even notice it, but once I held the Venus next to the others I collected, it became very obvious. The Mission to Venus is unique in that the subdials on this watch are oval/ellipse shaped and not perfect circles like on the other watches in this collection. I love the subtle nod to the elliptical shape of an orbit (whether this was intentional or not).  There is also a metallic silver circular pattern on the outside ring of the subdials, which makes this iteration much more unique than its peers. The circles around the subdials make me think of a time lapse photo of a planet orbiting the sun, or even the stages of the moon orbiting the earth. When compared to the other subdials in this collection, the Venus really stands out and is more ornate and decorated than any of the other planets. Perhaps this is an attempt to be feminine, but either way, it’s interesting to note.

Photo Credit: OMEGA x Swatch

Two: This one is kind of a bummer, but has a silver lining. The white nylon and velcro strap for the Venus only comes in a size small. This size is very small for an average sized wrist especially compared to the other watches in this collection. I was able to put it on, but had to fold the strap over the keeper at the very end, which wasn’t a comfortable fit. The employees said this was a common frustration of this particular watch, and they aren’t sure why OMEGA would offer this watch with such a small strap (when the others are so adjustable and universal). Perhaps in an attempt to make this a “woman’s” watch, they only included the strap in a size small. I was able to fit it on my wrist, but barely. When I say it’s small, it was really, really, small (honestly, more like child-sized). Many women and men in facebook forums and online are complaining as well about this. But! I wasn’t stuck with that very small strap for long.

Secret Moonswatch Strap Sizing Options

Little known fact, there are actually 3 available sizes of Moonswatch straps, however almost every model (except for the Venus) comes standard on a size medium strap. Luckily, at another Swatch store I learned you can buy a new or additional strap for 25CHF at select stores, and that the straps come in sizes small, medium (standard) and large!

This is, for sure, not advertised and is nowhere (that I could find) on the Swatch website. These straps were tucked away in a drawer behind the counter and I was able to buy a few of them for 25CHF each. They had a size large in white but it was much too big for me. However, I instantly saw the gray Pluto strap in size medium and loved the look of it next to the pink dial. I liked it significantly better than the white, and it’s been on my swatch ever since. A simple spring bar tool popped the new strap on easily.

The feel of the Venus Moonswatch:

The Bioceramic material, essentially a mix of recycled plastic and ceramic, is incredibly light. The whole watch including the strap weighs 30 grams, or a mere one ounce. For comparison, my apple watch on strap weighs 70 grams (2.4oz), and a steel Rolex weighs approximately 150g or just over 5 ounces. So that makes this watch super lightweight. The dimensions were perfectly comfortable on my wrist and the velcro strap (once I got the right size) was easy to maneuver. It wore effortlessly and very comfortably.

Overall, I think this collaboration is genius and that the Moonswatch watches are awesome. We were all skeptical at first, but it has made watch collecting fun again, and this watch is something I can wear without worrying about messing it up. OMEGA says these watches aren’t going to be a limited edition, which is also nice to hear. People stop me on the street to compliment it, which is always a good sign. Plus, I love that it is already a strap monster and that it uses spring bars to attach the strap. That makes it feel like a very legit watch, and I am looking forward to trying natos or other universal straps on it!

What questions do you have about this watch or the buying process? Let me know in the comments.