Swatch X Blancpain

j2 · 04-09-2023 9:27am #1

The latest collaboration looks set to (briefly) arrive, at least until the flippers snatch them up and flog them for 50x markup on Chrono24. This time Blancpain has the honour of the Swatch crossover. An interesting point I saw on reddit was the suggestion that a Sistem51 fathoms might be too catchy a name to ignore, plus it would line up with Blancpain's founder's insistence that they will never make a quartz watch. Thoughts?

j2 · 04-09-2023 9:29am

Seems to indicate a dive watch

T-Maxx · 04-09-2023 10:11am

Only available from Swatch stores.

Fitz II · 04-09-2023 4:39pm

My guess would be that although the flipper might turn up on day one, the buyers wont. Nobody is going to fall for the same crap twice. You can hardly give away moonswatches these days.

scwazrh · 04-09-2023 5:10pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121068702#Comment_121068702

I hope your right because if this is a success as well there’ll be no end to number of **** collaborations will see

Deep Thought · 04-09-2023 5:21pm

No doubt there will be buffoons sleeping outside stores for days

scwazrh · 04-09-2023 6:02pm

Online rumours are pushing towards something like this with sistem51 movement

j2 · 04-09-2023 6:42pm

Looks pretty good.

Working class heroes · 04-09-2023 7:01pm

…

Not too bad

893bet · 04-09-2023 7:57pm

Please someone tell me it’s waterproof to 30 metres. Please let it be.

893bet · 04-09-2023 8:01pm

None of them photos are official.

mailforkev · 04-09-2023 8:02pm

How dive proof is a Swatch, should this be called the Fifty Inches?

Nobody in gen pop has ever heard of Blancpain so it’s probably quite a smart move to try and capitalise on the Moonswatch madness by growing brand awareness of Blancpain.

unkel · 04-09-2023 8:07pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121069416#Comment_121069416

50 fathoms is almost 100m, innit? 😂

unkel · 04-09-2023 8:08pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121068702#Comment_121068702

Moonswatches still sell for over list. Incredible as it is.

scwazrh · 04-09-2023 8:18pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121069480#Comment_121069480

Still can’t walk into a store and have your choice of colour either.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121069450#Comment_121069450

yeah makes a lot more sense for Blancpain as brand to be doing this then it did for omega to do it.

banie01 · 04-09-2023 9:00pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121069514#Comment_121069514

I dunno... As a Blancpain owner😉 I can't help but feel it cheapens the brand and diminishes my potential to get snobbish when the hoi polloi are wearing them too 😛 /jk

I hope it goes well for them, I think if Swatch manage this properly they can build a funnel that will bring customers from the quartz homage/Collab to the mechanical wonder of their other brands. In much the same way Tag surfed Formula 1 in the 90s and other brands still do, Omega with the Olympics, Rolex with Tennis and their other bits. It's all about growing the next crop of weirdos who will happily splash the cash on functional men's jewellery.

H_Lime · 04-09-2023 9:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121069674#Comment_121069674

That about sums the game up I feel.

Ryath · 04-09-2023 11:28pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121069514#Comment_121069514

I was in the Trafford Centre a few weeks ago and they had 8 out of 11 colours. Moon and Mercury were two of the three they didn't have, only ones I'd be interested in though I'll still not sure I could bring myself to buy one even at RRP.

Sales guy said they were getting deliveries of full range every week.

I hope this at least has a steel case. I doubt they will have more than 30m water resistance. They have had 100m watches in the past but doesn't seem to be any in the current range.

C0N0R · 05-09-2023 3:43am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121069514#Comment_121069514

If Omega hadn’t done it would the non watch fans take any notice of a Blancpain Swatch colab? Omega is imo a greater household name now allowing Blancpain to piggyback on the success of the moonswatch.

Mick Tator · 05-09-2023 9:43am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121070459#Comment_121070459

Correct. You have to look at the way the industry and market have developed. Both have been changing in recent years but more recently Covid has been a big catalyst, delivering a huge impetus. The Swiss Watch Group has been hoovering up brands and already is a colossus. It owns Swatch, Omega, Blancpain, Breguet, etc. If asked to name luxury watch brands Joe Punter would name Rolex, Omega, Tag and maybe Cartier and would struggle after that. One method of driving revenue further for SWG is to ‘cross-sell’ i.e. sell a different product to an existing customer base. To do that you also need to examine market segmentation – e.g. ‘health watches’ and ‘classic watches’ (Techies and Tickies) and sub-classify further. So, you take a lesser known brand and associate it with one with more recognition and build on that. Frankly, nobody outside serious Tickies would name Blancpain as a luxury marque.

It was very clever of SWG to first launch the Omega/Swatch – because of brand recognition that got huge PR. By following up in launching the Blancpin/Swatch it is piggy-backing on the first launch and the attendant hype, giving Blancpain some celebrity. The danger is that such joint ventures could drag down the premier brand. However, I wouldn't doubt that SWG has looked at this and found that the increase in brand recognition for Blancpain (enables them to positively revalue the intangible asset (brand worth) along with the serious amount of profit being made from what essentially is a plastic cheapie with a sexy name at a very high RSP. So, bets on when we will see a Swatch/Breguet?

(An interesting study would be to compare it with DIARM, which tried to do something similar with guns in Spain and failed spectacularly)

H_Lime · 05-09-2023 11:10am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121070910#Comment_121070910

I think while the cases are in bioceramic there's enough of a tangible gap between the homage piece and what the thing actually is, which imo is a price inflated swatch. I think at this stage anyone into watches wearing a moonswatch does so ironically lol.

Mick Tator · 05-09-2023 11:46am

Agree with irony for an afficianado, but a huge majority of buyers/wearers are not and would't recognise it if it hit them over the head

fat bloke · 05-09-2023 5:38pm

Seems to me that training people to be OK with queuing up to be allowed to overpay for watches is a perfect breeding ground for future gen Rolex customers. 😁

893bet · 05-09-2023 5:49pm

RRP betting? I am gone say 499?.

T-Maxx · 05-09-2023 6:19pm

893

But seriously, they would've learned from the moonswatch saga that people are just too willing to get their hands on it. Those were 260 IIRC so this will be north of that for sure. I'm going to go with 349.

unkel · 05-09-2023 6:32pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121073374#Comment_121073374

That's for Omegas 😂

You can queue all you like for Rolex, but you won't get any. And those few lucky people that do, still underpay for them and could flip them for a profit instantly.

H_Lime · 05-09-2023 7:46pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121073374#Comment_121073374

You win the internets today lol, that's gas haha

Wibbs · 05-09-2023 8:02pm

if it looked like the original of the species(and original of the species modern dive watch) I'd likely buy one myself(after the madness died off) as I think they're a bloody gorgeous watch but the real deal is insane money these days(especially because outside of the great design the workings are pretty meh). A rellie has one, his daily driver for decades and they're really very nice in the flesh. Fair bit of heft to them too, which surprised me.

If it looks like one of their newer crop I'd pass tbh. They're one current model I really can't see the deal with at all.

Fitz II · 05-09-2023 9:03pm

Look lads, the moonswatch was a awful plastic piece of crap. I have one, I paid RRP for it, I am ashamed....they are dire rubbish. If this new one is like the moonswatch it will vaguely look like a blaincpain from 1000m, but up close it will bring nothing but revulsion and regret. Leave it to the backpack wearing youngsters who are willing to queue for 48 hours to make 100 euro profit, lord they know not what they do.

banie01 · 06-09-2023 12:22pm

I saw this, and couldn't not share it here 😉

Screenshot_2023-09-06-12-21-12-299_com.instagram.android-edit.jpg

unkel · 06-09-2023 12:30pm

Lucky Swatch 😁

Who else is he gonna ride next?

Lorddrakul · 06-09-2023 6:23pm

I've already heard the expected Blancpain being referred to as 'Thrifty Fathoms'

Genius!

Deep Thought · 06-09-2023 6:25pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121071327#Comment_121071327

I like your comparison to a homage. It really is a cheap homage. But because it’s by Omega, people will be defending it as compared to other “ homage” watches that people ridicule

hitemfrank · 06-09-2023 8:33pm

Supposed leaks of these from a Chinese site

H_Lime · 06-09-2023 8:47pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121077667#Comment_121077667

The swatch thing is fairly cynical in terms of supply/demand and the quality of what you get for the price paid.

As someone who buys and puts together oem and afm watch parts I can tell you the margin they make on these is astronomical per unit.

Hopefully by now people can see the emperor is as naked as the day he was born but as pointed out here already, it prob won't.

My young son was gifted one and duly destroyed it by being a boy. The fake one I had ZERO compunction about replacing it with, is doing great eights months on.

H_Lime · 06-09-2023 9:09pm

I wonder how bio ceramic will handle threading for the crown to case...

Also, as its emulating a dive watch, in fact as Wibbs points out THE dive watch, what will it's rating be?

banie01 · 06-09-2023 9:14pm

I know very little about the sistem51 movement apart from it's a product of automated construction and it's only got a single screw.

Run of the mill non "x-over" watches with it run to about €200 or so. Is there any news on pricing for the Blancpain X Swatch version yet?

Based on Hitemfrank's post, I could be tempted by the Atlantic or Indian Ocean versions but I think it's the strap rather than the watch.

Fitz II · 06-09-2023 10:17pm

Eh...anyone going to point out the elephant in the room before we wonder if these childrens toys are waterproof....they look like sh1t.

H_Lime · 06-09-2023 10:53pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121078516#Comment_121078516

The elephant is so big I didn't bat an eyelid at it lol!

Yea they're mingin', won't stop the selfie takers from posting in the queue updates lolz

H_Lime · 06-09-2023 10:54pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121078295#Comment_121078295

I'd say they'll be north of 500.

Considering the tenner movement in the moonwatch has now been uprated n all.

banie01 · 06-09-2023 11:03pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121078638#Comment_121078638

Absolutely crazy money 😮 but I'd say not too far off. I've seen £330 bandied as a Stg price and tbh? At that price they can go swing. I'd rather buy a fully functional, non plastic homage or 2👍

H_Lime · 06-09-2023 11:33pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121078661#Comment_121078661

I built one a while back in a nicely specd 316L case, lovely top hat saph with clear ar and triple sealed, went off the dial in the pressure test.

Came to about 165 euro in parts...

Bioceramic eh!

893bet · 07-09-2023 7:05am

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/the-swatch-x-blancpain-scuba-fifty-fathoms

leaked photos above confirmed now. Waterproof to 50 fathoms……disappointingly.

The hype on these won’t last, if there is any.

Working class heroes · 07-09-2023 8:04am

$400, Jaysus H Christ……

Oafley Jones · 07-09-2023 8:41am

A non serviceable movement in a plastic case coupled with Blancpain’s “save the oceans” theme!?!

j2 · 07-09-2023 9:12am

I like the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic in that order. I might have a look at one and see how it feels in person. The Moonswatch was a bit "toy-ish", very toy-like in the hand, so I have my doubts.

Deep Thought · 07-09-2023 10:44am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121078986#Comment_121078986

They look very like fashion watches ,Pacific looks ok though

scwazrh · 07-09-2023 10:54am

I dont think there is many of us here lusting after a blancpain so a cheap version isnt likely to be big hit , but like the moonswatch we arent the target market .I dont know if a Blancpain dive watch has the same atrraction to the average Joe that the watch that went to the moon has though.Price point seems a bit high as well for a "fun" watch.