Real Bangers for MoonSwatch money

Another great offering from Orient is their Kamasu diver range. 

200m wr with a screw down crown. 42mm stainless steel case rotating bezel etc. 
 

For a quartz chronograph you can get a Citizen AT2141-87E

Again a stainless steel case rather than cheap plastic 100m wr, and I bet the pushers wouldn’t fall off. Also it’s an eco-drive so as well as being cheaper than a moonswatch, even if you were to buy one direct from Swatch, you also won’t need to worry about battery changes. 

Of course all things G Shock come to mind but that's a whole different kind of time piece. Tissot comes to mind with a few options 

Tissot Mens Everytime Desire Auto 316L

Nice! Both great options 👍

Hmm never seen this model before, very interesting hands!

Chrono 24 has moonswatches mostly in 300 to 500 range.

gives almost uncountable options.

Seiko, citizen, Timex, and all the half decent Ali express brands fall well within and even under this range, with both quartz and automatic options.

Bonkers people will choose a plastic throw away watch instead of something long term, solid and reliable.

My takes would be...

Orient Mako II n Commuter

Some of these came preloved at almost pristine conditions for less than 150.

For chronographs... 

Can't go far wrong with Seiko or even Casio Edifice. Fact - I could probably get 2 good ones with that price for the Moonwatch.

N then some... 😉

Agreed. For $250, the new Orient Bambino automatic is bang for buck. That assumes though, the buyer of Moonswatch likes a dress watch. Most likely, they buy it because of its sporty looks + it being a chronograph. The use case is not apples for apples.

Perhaps a better comparative offering will be alternative sporty quartz watches or quartz chronographs, or sporty automatics. Seiko and Boldr can cover you well in the automatic movements. Vaer will have lots of good options in the quartz category. 

I disagree on the moonswatch - am quite happy with the quality of mine for the price. And the design is of course lovely!

That said - for the same price as a Moonswatch at the swatch shop - I got a mint condition vintage Credor..

Totally nailed it, Max! That’s exactly why I’ve never even had a moonswatch on my radar. I’m not dropping that amount for plastic and quartz when there are a lot of quality options out there at the same price point. 
 

my latest acquisition is the small second hand bambino. My wrists are really too big for a 38mm so I‘be decided not to buy the new 38mm Bambino. The small second hand was even cheaper and a damn gorgeous watch. Such a better use of money than a moonswatch!

nice review @Max 100 agree with what you say on the video 🍺

Great topic Max!

Here are five different brand new watches I was able to purchase for $250 or less that are far superior to the plastic MoonSwatch...

Here are five vintage watches that I was able to purchase for $250 or less yet again far superior to the plastic MoonSwatch...

Surprised no one has picked up the plastic and quartz ball and run with a G-Shock. More features, tough as nails, and will be going decades after the Moon Swatch is in landfill.

That citizen looks like a grand Seiko 🤩

Yeah I talk about the Timex Q and seagull 1963 at the end of the video 👍

What?! 

It makes no sense for Swatch (or Mr Hayek, specifically) to say we want our customers to visit our stores again. If you truly want that happen then take your entire catalogue offline and sell at brick and mortar only but that’s digressing from the topic….

Its just my own thoughts, it may work out well for me or it may not but I’m finding the journey enjoyable so far

Nice list! What is the field watch reference? I haven't seen it before 

Absolutely agree! I picked up a PD homage on the 11/11 sale and look forward to it

I flirt on and off with the idea of getting a Speedmaster, so I liked the idea of the Moonswatch in theory — essentially, test drive the case of the Speedmaster to confirm that it’s your kind of watch before plunking down thousands.  But then I realized that the Moonswatch only lets you test out the case, which isn’t really the whole story with the Speedmaster.  I’ve never lived with a non-hacking, no-date manual wind watch before, and whether I would like such a piece has been on my mind for some time.  So, for less money than a Moonswatch, I took a chance and went and ordered one of these (in fact, the last one in stock) during the Ali 11.11 sale (stock pic):

Now, Ali watches can be hit or miss, but I couldn’t not take a chance on this given that it will answer the question of whether I’d really want a Speedy over the long haul for almost $100 less than a Moonswatch.  It even operates essentially the same way as the older 1861 models, as a manual wind, non hacking, no date Chronograph beating at 21600vph.  The only difference is that this is actually a column wheel chronograph (which I’ve never had before), vs. a cam-lever. I’ll issue an NWA when it arrives.

I got turned on to Pagani through a response to my post here at Watchcrunch.  I now have PD homages for all the Rolex I might have wanted, and have happily bypassed the Rolex AD sham games and the grey market  scalpers.  The Moonwatch homage was simply a response to unavailablility of MoonSwatches.  In hindsight, I think the PD is probably a better watch than the Swatch - at 1/3 the cost.  
All that said, I only buy PD’s with Seiko movements and never with the made in China “Pearl” movements.

The list would have to be near endless. I'm wearing a Seiko SRPD right now. Even after modding bezel and bezel insert, it is still less than the MoonSwatch. If you want Quartz chronograph options, you can have some fun and case a VK63 movement yourself, which shouldn't cost you much more than $70, and you can proudly claim to have installed sub-dial indicators. 

Good call on the Bambino, although I rock a 42mm blue version 2, I can see why people would want the smaller version.  I think the Moonswatch is ridiculous in all respects.

Agreed.

It was an apples to oranges review delving into the basement of the watch market. Only way to show off the entry level dress 3 hander is by showing a crappy chrono watch in comparison. Totally different watch and target buyer type. I usually love your videos.

Thanks!

That is the RZE Valour that was launched via Kickstarter. I picked up the complete run as Christmas gifts for my "Watch Crew" - they will get to pick their favorite color. I went with the Black PVD Titanium model for myself.

Case size is 38mm x 11mm running the Seiko NH38A automatic with 100M WR on a Black NATO with 20mm lug width for $245

Pretty much the perfect Field Watch as it hit all the marks for under $250 (Kickstarter price). I believe the full price will be $399.

Anyone say Dan Henry yet?

i bought a few PDs in the last few years (Daytona homage, 007 homage) but the more I wore them the less I liked them.it was not a quality issue for me. I would look at the watch and couldn’t stop thinking about how all the parts that were used can easily be bought on alibaba and put together to make the watch. So it’s basically a frankenwatch for me. It has no soul, it has no story. yes I love Watches. Lol. They did make great gifts tho. The receivers loved it and wear it daily. And they couldn’t care for the story or name brand. Just that it looked nice, had no batteries, and impossible to scratch.

I just grabbed a Tissot V8 for sale ($200) on Jomashop. Link below for anyone interested as an alternative.

https://www.jomashop.com/tissot-watch-t1064071103101.html

Thanks for another great video! I've always wanted to try a Bambino. Just haven't had the chance.

Cant go wrong with a Bambino