MoonSwatch Is Back In Blue: The Mission To The Super Blue Moonphase

Just when we thought we were out, they pulled us right back in. That’s right, the most recent trio of Earth-themed MoonSwatch models was not the last we would hear from the collection in 2024. Omega and Swatch are continuing their breakneck pace in almost constantly iterating on the line. But unlike the Mission to Moonshine Gold situation that took over 2023, the brands are getting far more creative with the releases. Just this year alone we have seen two Snoopy models, an Ultra Man-esque design, and now – drum roll – a new blue Moonphase edition that also very directly calls back to a Speedmaster edition while simultaneously mixing things up from a design (and functional) standpoint. 

It is called the Mission to the Super Blue Moonphase which, if we’re being honest, doesn’t really make any grammatical sense. Like, I get it, we are riffing off of the original collection’s Mission to [insert celestial object here] thing, but Mission to Super Blue Moonphase. How does one do that? Are you traveling to the moonpha–– forget it, I need to think less and enjoy more. 

And enjoy I do. I have long been a fan, a stan even, of the MoonSwatch. I consider it to be the single most transformative moment in watches, from a mass-market standpoint, in decades. It has, and continues to, take the world by storm – slowly but surely eating into Apple Watch wrist time and providing a gateway into watch enthusiasm for so many people. That’s a good thing. I see MoonSwatches on people’s wrists near constantly these days.

But that doesn’t change the fact that some, okay many, have noted feelings of MoonSwatch fatigue. And I also get that, but I also don’t. And that’s because this is a watch floating in the $300 price bracket that allows its Swatch Group overseers the opportunity to quickly act on creative design inspiration. And when you have watches like the Mission to the Moon, the Snoopy, and the lava-like Mission on Earth, it’s clear the two brands are having fun with this project and not letting it get stale. Sure these rollouts could happen with lesser frequency, but they aren’t and it’s time we deal with that.

This Mission to the Super Blue Moonphase is interesting because it pulls partly from one of the most popular MoonSwatch models: The blue Mission to Neptune (famously worn by Daniel Craig himself). And it’s also a sequel of sorts to the Snoopy Moonphase using the same functionality just without the dog on the Moon.

One of the first things I noticed with this one was the bezel…a pulsation bezel! That’s just cool and is a direct callback to Speedmasters of old with a pulsation scale bezel which used to aid doctors in being able to measure a person’s pulse. I doubt anyone will be using a MoonSwatch to do that and would frankly be worried if my doctor tried to.

But let’s get back to the blue. Staying on the Snoopy theme, you would be right to think this is an homage to the most recent Silver Snoopy Moonwatch – the one where Snoopy flies around the Moon. I, however, think it is a deeper cut than that. It looks to me more like the blue CK2998 Speedmaster Limited Edition from 2016 as it pulls in a similar blue panda aesthetic to that watch. Interestingly, Omega released a CK2998 LE in 2018 with a pulsation bezel so this MoonSwatch is clearly pulling from that mode.

In every other way, size, fit, finish, this is the same MoonSwatch you know (oh, except this has blue lume). It is priced at $310 and fills out a 2024 roster that just might be the most creative take on the model range yet. But of course, it gets wonkier still. Remember last year? With the Moonshine Gold models, you were only able to buy them on the day they were launched, and then they vanished. This is similar, but somehow more complex. These watches will only be available in Swatch stores between August 1 and August 19 … and only after 5PM. Moral of the story: You may need to sneak out of work a bit early to snag these next month. Good luck.