Eleven briefcases containing MoonSwatch watches have changed hands for more than half a million Swiss francs (559,860 euros) in an online auction at Sotheby’s that took place between February 12 and 24. The highest price paid for one of the cases was 63,840 euros, and the lowest was 39,900. According to the Omega watch brand in a statement, the amount raised has gone entirely to the charity Orbis International, which fights against avoidable blindness and vision loss around the world, and with which the company has collaborated since 2011.
Each case contained eleven MoonSwatch Moonshine Gold chronographs, the result of a partnership between Omega and Swatch, both belonging to the Swiss watch group Swatch, and it was the first time they had been offered together in a special packaging. Made of Bioceramic (a material that mixes two-thirds ceramic and one-third plastic of biological origin), the watches were versions of the MoonSwatch, which revolutionized the market when they appeared in March 2022, because they made a design available to many customers. iconic, that of the luxury Speedmaster by Omega, for 260 euros.
The quartz MoonSwatches, whose aesthetics are inspired by space and planets, were later versioned in the Mission to Moonshine Gold collection, with a price slightly higher than the rest (285 euros). The eleven, 42 mm in diameter and 13.25 mm thick, were launched with each new moon of 2023, and featured a different detail on their seconds hand, coated with Moonshine gold, an 18-karat yellow gold alloy created by Omega that provides a paler tone than natural yellow gold. Additionally, each needle revealed distinctive details, such as the strawberry motif on July’s Strawberry Moon and the flower motif on May’s Flower Moon.
Before the auction concluded, lovers of these successful pieces were able to view the briefcases in eleven Omega stores around the world: Zurich, Tokyo, Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing, New York, London, Milan, Paris and Sydney. Their new owners are already enjoying them.