Op-Ed: What The Swatch X Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Hype Really Means

It’s been an interesting few weeks, as commentary, critique, and outright whining has drifted across the internet after Swatch & Blancpain announced their successor to the infamous Moonswatch. After all, we saw how that Omega X Swatch collab went down, and even though the absurd secondary market prices for Moonswatches has faded, the demand still far outweighs the supply.

Obviously the arrival of the “Swifty Fathoms” raises a fair number of points for critique, and yes we’ll get to those, but one of the bigger talking points that seems mostly ignored is what this collab really means for both brands involved. When having conversations within the watch community at large, much of this bigger-picture perspective gets lost. At the end of the day, much like in the automotive world, enthusiasts live in the minority of the segment. While legacy collector clients certainly hold weight, Blancpain is a brand capable of delivering volume, and this move paints a clear picture of a desire for just that.

What This Means for Swatch

At a very obvious level, Swatch has everything to gain and absolutely nothing to lose here. We all saw the impacts of Moonswatch through 2022; though Swatch Group annual revenue was impacted by softening markets in Hong Kong and China, the group did announce that over a million Moonswatches were sold that year. They’re everywhere, on the wrists of watch fans and space geeks alike, and there’s no sign of Moonswatch market saturation.

Now, the Fifty Fathoms is by no means as famous as the Speedmaster, nor is Blancpain as a brand anywhere near as globally recognized as Omega. That said, with the success of the Moonswatch setting the tone, that real-world line-up-down-the-block hype for this new collab proved very real. You could argue the nuance of how high the flippers set prices on Chrono24, but at the end of the day, Swatch is still winning. It’s seeing more sales through the register, and more visitors through its boutiques’ doors than it has seen in decades. Hell, even the volume of commentary on ye olde Hodinkee outpaces that of just about anything else they’ve published lately (even their contentious “strap v. bracelet on a Speedmaster” rant that just begs for online argument).

When talking about a market segment that’s primarily driven by impulse and emotion (those sub-$500 “oh look, shiny” purchases), you have to take into account that this is an area of business that thrives on noise. That additional factor of “oh yeah I heard someone talking about that” goes a long way in legitimizing an impulse purchase, and once the pacing of availability levels out on the Swifty Fathoms, all of this lingering buzz will simply keep the train going, at least for those who haven’t already pulled the trigger. Even the news of the theft of the Swatch X Blancpain display unit (the full case of watches) in Amsterdam adds fuel to this fire, proving overall desirability to the masses. Think back to the pre-Moonswatch era, how often did you hear of a robbery at a Swatch boutique? That tells you all you need to know about how Swatch is doing thanks to these collabs.

What This Means for Blancpain

Now here’s the part that really matters for our world, not to mention the entire reason behind this collaboration. Where the math gets interesting is that this marketing exercise runs somewhat opposite to that of the Moonswatch. You see, Omega needs no help selling the modern Speedmaster. At all. So long as there are people out there who know of NASA, who recognize the name Buzz Aldrin, or who have any interest whatsoever in American history and the Space Race, there will be buyers for the Speedy,

Blancpain, on the other hand, is a different story. Walk down a city block or two asking strangers if they know what Blancpain is and you’re destined for an onslaught of Blanc stares. You see, the Swatch Group has one mission in its marketing endeavours; take Omega and try to keep it as close to the heels of Rolex as they can, at all costs. Meanwhile, the rest of the portfolio flounders. Blancpain, Breguet, and the rest of the brands all take a back seat, benefitting from nickels, even pennies on the dollar when it comes to marketing spend compared to their big brother.

How tangible the conversion will be for Blancpain is obviously up for debate, but at the very least this new collaboration adds a huge number of people to the top of the funnel. Search queries on Google for Blancpain have increased a hundredfold, vastly increasing baseline exposure to the brand and allowing that many more people to discover the brand for the first time.

Obviously it’s a big jump from a $400 plastic (ok, BioCeramic) watch to the $10k+ entry price of a proper Blancpain, but word of this collaboration isn’t only spreading to those in the entry-level segment either. Will it convert watch collectors and enthusiasts? Obviously not, we’re already familiar with the brand. Will it convert the “I can afford a nice new watch” crowd? I wouldn’t be that surprised.

The Plot Hole

Here’s where things get murky, folks. The reason we’re seeing Blancpain use the Swatch Sistem51 automatic movement in the Swifty Fathoms is due to an old marketing campaign. Specifically, the line was “Since 1735 there has never been a quartz Blancpain watch. And there never will be.”

The challenge here is, the Sistem51 is designed to be non-serviceable. It’s a throwaway. It’s made by a completely automated production line and sealed into its case, never to be touched or tweaked once it starts running out of spec. It was never a great idea, but it was meant as a proof-of concept for Swatch. To answer the question of whether full automation of mechanical watch production was possible.

The reason this gets messy comes down to two words: Ocean Commitment. Blancpain has leaned heavily on its efforts to help protect the world’s oceans, tying back to its roots as one of the first dive watches in the market. Making what are, in the long run, disposable plastic watches under the same banner as a company trying to save the ocean is about as well-aligned as ExxonMobil removing plastic straws and stir sticks from its convenience stores. It doesn’t feel right in any capacity.

What’s more, because Swatch doesn’t want to actually say its watches will end up in the bin one day, there’s absolutely zero talk of the recyclability of its BioCeramic composite. It’s made from sustainable sources, they say, but beyond that it’s all smoke and mirrors.

As mentioned above, the Swifty Fathoms (yes, I’m sticking to the name) is an impulse-driven marketing marvel, and little else. It’s neat. It’s cool, and looking around the room, there are plenty of watch collectors that will fairly jump on it as a fun plaything, much like many of us have with the Moonswatch. Will a million plastic watches in a landfill make any kind of difference when it comes to the already out-of-hand climate spiral of self destruction we’re all in? Unlikely. Will a plastic Blancpain in any way discredit or devalue the existing Blancpain collecting market? Not a chance. Will we all keep hearing about it over the course of the next year whether we like it or not? Now that’s something I’m willing to bet on.