REAL VS FAKE! This Copy Swatch x Omega MoonSwatch SHOCKED ME

Let's compare a FAKE Swatch x Omega MoonSwatch Mission to the Moon with my ORIGINAL! I've bought most of the real set now but this fascinates me in terms of how close it is, while being obviously a knock-off. Would you fall for the knock-off one?

Any product with this much instant success and hype was always going to attract the flippers and then following that, attract the fakes, and it didn't take longer for the latter to happen. With knock-offs now being offered all of the place, on the face of it they are quite similar to the genuine items, but as soon as you look a little closer there are plenty of giveaways that they are not the real deal.

Let's unbox both side by side to look at these up close and point out some of the discrepancies and give some feedback on the results!

Thanks for watching, Tim

[vadominiqueenpunkt]

The actual scary thing is, that the Copy houses the superior movement - a Seiko 7T62. The ETA chrono V8 (in the original) ticks and misses the marks pretty much all the time. The copy however manages to have an actual sweep chrono like a real mechanical to messure time 5 times a second, where as the ETA only 1 time per second. For 1p times the price, that is disappointing very sad.
(Update - its a Sunon PE50, not Seiko)

[ModernCar-EU]

Ziarex have best clones but never in stock :(

[larrydunn]

the genuine article probably cost $5 to produce, and the copy about $8 (better component parts).

[rickdeckard]

I BOUGHT THE FAKE. My way of giving Swatch the middle finger. I waited all night in line for only 70 available pieces went to store many time and nothing. Wearing a fake 250 plastic watch is not flexing not the same as a fake Rolex. All my watch friends geeks think the same ..Swatch fkd up not making them easily available to everyone as they promised online..

[PhilippensTube]

If you want a real moonwatch, but don't have/don't want to spend the money on an Omega, you could also look for a Bulova Lunar Pilot. This is as much a moonwatch as the Omega, but nobody knows about it. I opted for the Bulova, since I don't want to be a slave to the Swatch store where I have to go every week to see if there's stock, and in the end, you just have a plastic watch without any heritage. It just looks a bit like a moonwatch, but it's nothing. And it's plastic with a fancy name, and a scratchy plastic 'glass'.
Somebody commented that Swatch employed the Apple marketing tactic by creating a shortage and a lot of hype, and it worked. Hats off to Swatch. I was tempted to buy one, but I resisted in the end and got myself a LE of the Bulova. Looks better, is an original with heritage and not made of plastic.

[h_]

Hello from Spain. To distinguish the original from the copy, we can look at the length of the minute marks around 6 o'clock. The original has only 2 long marks between 6 and 7 o'clock, and between 5 and 6 o'clock. The copy has 3 on each side.

[Panzerfaust]

The scariest part is that there are people out there trying to sell those silly happy meal toys for 900 bucks.

[Jamesah]

I’ve had one and not impressed with it one little bit. Have gave it to my teenager to wear, she likes it. The copy is probably better than the original. They are so over priced for what they are. I get a better thrill wearing my casioak!

[jedmesina]

I know it’s silly but i find the fake one’s better looking the the original. I love the semi matte texture on the bezel and thinner fonts inside the dial! 😅

[oceanzu]

you can quickly notice the difference between the two. The real one has better color density and its finish is closer to a 50$ Timex

[fatmapala]

So it poses a moral dilemma to some to buy a rep from swissarex that is same as original watch rather than supporting a Swiss non-profit with huge mark-up that benefits charities in one of the richest countries on earth, while they already sell everything they make without a problem? Okay fine, buy the genuine article. It won’t be any more accurate, durable or attractive, nor will anyone notice or care. It's your money, do what you want. Don’t get me wrong, I believe in paying homage to the original designers and/or founders, but they are long gone. I mean, if you’re driving an Escalade, you own a rebadged Tahoe. The badge only means so much, so why not just state what it’s really meant to represent? Steinhart and the rep factories are both selling clones but only one is honest about what they're copying.

[williamsipe]

The moonswatch is in that rare club in which the original watch is so bad that the replica is essentially comparable, and may even be superior, to the original.

[Lowrider]

I bought a real Speedmaster in March, then I saw the Swatch and was amazed. It was a must have. But then I saw how this starts, like some fancy Apple product. So I decided to wait, friends got me a coupon end of May for my birthday. The Swatch store is no help, was there 2 times and they are not able to tell you when they have your preferred model. Ended up in buying a copy from China. So thats a sort of marketing that went wrong IMHO in some parts. And now the guys with the knock offs make their profit. It's not like I was not will to pay the price, but I have no time to visit the shop over and over again.

[NickintheStates]

I had feared this would happen. We don’t have many Swatch shops in the states so eBay is one of our only options. Pretty scary how close they’ve come…. And with pent up demand I’m sure some people will buy one to hold them over until the real thing.

[bharathchand]

This is the variety we want from this channel, thanks tim

[jamesh]

Thanks for this Tim. What makes things more complicated for a buyer is that there are slight variations in the originals themselves. I have 2 Mars watches, both bought from London Oxford St. and Covent Garden and there is a slight difference in the text on the strap (slightly darker black text)

[TVCHLORD]

This is what happens when companies put artificial limitations on items, China makes 1:1 copies for 20% of the price and sell more than the real one

[SkinnyAl]

The movement used for the fake watch has a 24h dial function at three o clock, the real one measures 1/10sec with the chronograph running.

[ShlomoLevi]

I got mine today for $30 with postage and no box. looks really really good but the 1/10 second dial doesn't work right. it just repeats the hour hand. In addition, I ordered a metal version. It seems to me that it is more durable than ceramic

[myschevious]

I've had the opportunity to study one of these fakes up close - I'll tell you what I found:

1) yes to the box. Flat vs. textured. Shiny vs. bland. Vivid color and detail in planets vs. overcorrected color. Also, on the fake boxes, all of the text on the planets is white, vs. white and black for readability on the original box. Folding style is the same, but is much less precise on the sharpness of the folds than the original box. Also, my box has that same stupid typo... made me laugh out loud!

2) Notes on the band: Text style was ever so slightly different between the two. Cleaner on the original - appeared like the "ink" or paint was put on just a smidge too heavily on the fake. Also definite splotchiness in some of the lettering; a huge factor that would not pass either Omega or Swatches QC requirements. On mine, the stitching was also different between the two. The real one had even thread, evenly spaced out, the seams weren't threaded tightly together. On the fake one, the stitching was overdone.

3) Band loop plastic: Real one has a bit of a matte finish/appearance to it, and has a bit of a flatness along the top/bottom in the shape. The fake one is shiny, and entirely round.

4) Watch face:
Real version's bezel is shiny and textured, text is very crisp and clearly printed. There's a definite 3Dness about the lume markers. The fake version's bezel is flat in appearance; no shine, and no texture. Mine also had water/oil stains on it (eyeroll).

The lens/crystal on the real one has a slight curvature to the top - it's not flat, and the edges along the bezel are curved fairly smoothly, creating a kaleidoscope type view when moving it at different angles in direct light. The fake version's lens is flat and has a steeper edge to it.

You can see the (barely) visible serial number along the bottom (between the "6" point lume and the counter) when you hold the watch in the light. Does not exist on the fake.

Neither does the easter egg - the barely visible "S" that's on the real versions.

Lume marker at the "12"/"60" point do not line up on the fakes. Even if the fakes have finally started to "nail" the "dot over 90" signature of Omega, they did still fail at that...

Hands - obvious differences in the hands. Lume on the real versions extends almost all the way down the length of the hour and minute hands. Not so on the fakes.

5) Watch plastic: Too lightweight by comparison. Also smooth; no texture to it. The real versions have a slight grainy texture to them. Feels like 3D printer plastic, not a ceramic mix. Also, the "lines" (angles) along the various shapes of the case are kinda blurry looking; not as sharp/crisp as they are on the real versions. You noted this when talking about the crown - the angles are very precise along the outside of the crown on the real version; they're "blurred" (sloppy) looking on the fake. The text on the back may say the same info, but it also is "blurred." You can tell it's not imprinted as strongly or crisply on the fake as the real version. That's likely a result of the type of plastic used. Also, you already noted the color tint difference between the two plastics. Spot on. I also had a bunch of edges that weren't clean - they were jagged, or had extra plastic along the molding lines. Again, this would never have passed either company's QC requirements.

6) One last thing to note as I've already overdone this to the point of being past pedantry... The moon which is what covers the battery. Technically, you should be able to remove the moon so you can replace the battery. On the real version, the bioceramic has a very defined gap at the bottom-most point to make that accessible; it also has some "depth" in that there's a lip all the way around. On my fake, that gap barely exists; the moon is literally just a sticker stuck to the back of the case. There is no access.

If you read this far... I'm amazed, and thank you. I had fun with this little research project (I am only an amateur collector, but I have collected Swatches since childhood and I have been a long-time desirer of a Moonwatch, so I might be a little obsessed with the details.