Watch launch: OMEGA and Swatch team up for new 'MoonSwatch'

Yahoo Finance's Pras Subramanian discusses the hype behind the 'MoonSwatch,' a new high-end watch being released by OMEGA and Swatch.

Video Transcript

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JARED BLIKRE: Welcome back. Watchmaker Omega is getting Swatchified as the two watchmaking affiliates-- that would be Omega and Swatch-- are teaming up to bring the Speedmaster Professional, a.k.a. The Moon Watch-- that would be the watch which astronauts literally used in space-- is coming to stores this weekend. Yahoo Finance's Pras Subramanian has all the details. And Pras, as I understand, there are 11 models. You can only buy two at any one given location if you're one customer. Maybe bring somebody with you. Are you going to do some driving? How many are you going to buy this weekend?

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: [LAUGHS]

Well, I am not planning to tomorrow, Jared, because tomorrow's when they go on sale in those watch stores around the globe, but I know the hype is real. People are really excited about this. We're talking about the moon Swatch here. It's a collaboration between Omega and Swatch to make this using the Moon Watch as kind of a template. Like you said, 11 colors. A lot of fun. They're also made out of plastic, a bio ceramic, they're calling it, so it's going to be a bit cheaper construction. Also uses a quartz movement, not the famous Flight Certified by NASA mechanical moon that you normally hear about with the moon watch.

So, you know, it's kind of deeply dividing a lot of watch people because they sort of feel like it might be diluting the Omega brand. But, you know, also bringing on a ton of new people that are excited about the watch, kind of like Swatch's regular customers. It seems like Omega CEO said that this is a way for the budding watch consumer to get into this high-end game. But, you know, we're also seeing a lot of hype and it's causing some big crowds. We're seeing crowds in Asia.

For instance, in Taipei, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, people lining out the night before trying to go get these watches the next day. And eBay prices are also out of control in resale. Our good friend Sam Rowe recently posted on Twitter that there are watches going for over $1,000, if not even more than that, for a watch that retails at around $260. So we're seeing a lot of this mania and hype right now, but there's the big point is that it's not exactly an exclusive release. It's not a limited edition.

They're going to be selling more and more at retail locations, also online, so it'll be interesting to see how this plays out because of the fact that it's just getting so much buzz right now, but I think that eventually it should calm down. But this is such a really hyped up, cool looking-- it looks just like the regular Moon Watch, so I think there's a lot of kind of pent up demand and excitement for this watch.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: And I kind of like, when I first saw it, I was like, eh, another collab. But then when I actually looked at the watches. I mean, they're pretty gorgeous. I like the pink and white Venus one. I think it's beautiful. But as you mentioned, this affordable price point, then what does this mean in terms of the collectible market and this appeal for this collaboration as well?

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: So, you know, if the claim is true that it is a general release and not limited, it wouldn't necessarily help the collectible market because the market will be flooded with a lot of these cheap timepieces, but Omega and Swatch are being a little bit coy about when they will release more models. They're saying that it will come online at some point. We don't know when. It seems as though, the way that fans are reacting, that the amount of stock at stores will be limited. Like Jared mentioned earlier, only two per customer per visit right now.

So I have to imagine that right now they are limiting that collection. These watch companies know what to do in terms of driving demand and driving collectability. They will limit the amount that comes out in terms of stages, but eventually you should see more and more as you go through the summer. But right now, it's the hottest watch to have.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: I don't blame them. It's lovely. Our very own Pras Subramanian, thank you so much.