Swatch Mono Black Again Review

As one of my latest bargain buys from eBay, this isn't a Swatch that was ever on my wants list, but was simply something slightly better than one I already had.

Truth be told, I also bought it as potentially "broken" and wanted a little project because I was bored. I figured that even if I couldn't fix it, the strap would be useful. However, the only thing wrong with it (other than some normal scratches on the crystal) was that it needed a new battery. Once I'd replaced the dead one with a new AG10, it was good to go.

Swatch describe this watch as being a "clean sophisticated black and white design", and that's it in a nutshell. This is just a simple black and white New Gent (in the larger 41mm size) which has replaced some older 34mm models, and is probably the only day-date watch with these clean looks left in the current Swatch catalogue. All the other black ones have coloured parts, such as red skeleton hands, or coloured date windows, and I already have 2 of them anyway.

I have to laugh at the description of the "black mirror-effect dial featuring biosourced glass" because all this "bio" nonsense is just marketing-speak for plastic. In other words, it's a clear plastic crystal which scratches easily but also polishes back to almost new-looking very easily. Some people swear by PolyWatch, but it has never worked for me, so Brasso or baking soda will do just as well.

Although I've had to "photoshop" all the photos in this review due to how much of a dust magnet this watch is, I think you'll see that the once very badly scratched crystal turned out very nicely indeed after minimal effort on my part. If you have a Swatch Boutique near to you, apparently they'll polish your Swatch for you for free while you wait, but I don't have that luxury.

Nothing much to see on the back since it's the same as every other Swatch with the little battery cover which you can open with an old penny. It's a very comfortable Swatch even at the larger size because of the mostly flat shape with slightly down-turned lugs.

I had to replace the buckle with a third-party unsigned one because it was the only one I had left in black. I might have to replace it with the metal one I have among my spare parts eventually because this cheap and nasty thing isn't even Swatch quality and may not last long.

What sets this Swatch watch apart from the others in my collection is its amazing legibility, or as Swatch put it, "Bright white glow-in-the-dark indexes, plus a day-date window at 3 o’clock for ultimate functionality."

It's also extremely comfortable due to the soft silicon rubber strap which isn't a lot better than the cheaper third-party ones from AliExpress but is still noticeably better.

Switching back to Swatch's description, "A solid matte black biosourced material case, strap, loop and buckle lend the all-black favourite a clean, contemporary look." I don't think I can argue very much with that either.

Overall, this Swatch is just a very basic black, plastic, quartz 3-hander with a day-date complication, and is none the worse for that.

As with all these Swatches, it doesn't hack (although there is a way to do it by moving the hands back while holding the crown), and the seconds hand doesn't hit all the markers. This particular watch doesn't have the loud tick which a lot of people complain about, but others might have that issue depending on slight variations in the materials used, different QC, or just because the wind was blowing in a different direction on the day they were made.

It's still a Swiss watch though, so whatever small amount of "prestige" that being Swiss Made still encourages in some people's minds may make this watch as equally acceptable to the snobs as it is to normal watch wearers.