It’s now harder to get a MoonSwatch than a Breguet or Blancpain

It’s more difficult to find the $250 MoonSwatch in stores than a $13,000 Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, as demand for the budget-priced timepiece collaboration between Omega and Swatch continues to outstrip supply.

Availability of the ceramic and bio-plastic watch is even “more exclusive than luxury brands such as Breguet, Blancpain or Glashütte Original,” Swatch Group AG, which owns a stable of watch brands at all price points, said Thursday in a statement accompanying its first-half financial results.

Exclusivity is the hallmark of Swiss independent watch brands such as Rolex, Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe, with customers often forced to endure waiting lists lasting months or even years before they get the call.

Now with the MoonSwatch collaboration, currently sold in just 110 Swatch boutiques around the world and with plans for a modest increase in distribution, Swatch has created a similar buzz and new breed of frustrated customer unable to get the watch they want.

“The stores are experiencing an incredible run of customers of all age categories and origins. Demand, which is increasing daily in the markets, currently far exceeds available product. Shortly after delivery, these products are already sold out,” Swatch said.

The MoonSwatch borrows key design elements from the Omega Speedmaster and caused a global retail sensation when it was unveiled in March.

Read: Introducing the stunning $260 Omega x Swatch collection

The collaboration has also boosted sales of the Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch, which costs about $7,000 and is famous for being the first watch worn on the moon by US astronauts including Buzz Aldrin.

Swatch said Omega has been dealing with “supply shortages of the Speedmaster Moonwatch after a soaring increase in demand.”

Swatch chief executive officer Nick Hayek told Bloomberg News this month that sales of the Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch jumped 50 per cent in Omega stores after the launch of the MoonSwatch.