Getting hold of the latest MoonSwatch was always going to be difficult, because Swatch sold it for just one day in one country.
The Mission to the Sun – Solar Eclipse arrived on August 12 to mark the total solar eclipse, with sales limited entirely to Spain. Swatch priced the watch at €280 (approx. $325), and its Spanish product page now lists it as sold out.
Its design starts with the familiar bright yellow Mission to the Sun, then adds a few details inspired by the eclipse itself. Most noticeable is a black Bioceramic chronograph pusher at two o’clock, representing the moment the Moon passes in front of the Sun.
There is another reference around the back, where the battery cover carries a New Moon design. It is a fitting detail, since solar eclipses can only happen during that phase of the lunar cycle.
Like the rest of the Bioceramic MoonSwatch family, the Solar Eclipse borrows heavily from Omega’s Speedmaster Moonwatch. The asymmetrical case and tachymeter scale are both here, along with Omega and Swatch branding on the dial and crown.
Actually buying one required some careful timing. Swatch offered the watch through its Spanish website and selected stores in Bilbao, Ibiza and Valencia, with its in-store digital catalogue providing another option. The travelling Rolling Planet also made two stops in León during the day.
That unusual release suited a watch built around a rare event, but it also meant the Solar Eclipse disappeared almost as quickly. Swatch’s main MoonSwatch page now confirms that it was available only on August 12 and only in Spain.
Unless Swatch decides to bring it back, your chances of finding one through an official store are already gone. For everyone else, the search will now have to continue somewhere else.