Swatch’s Latest Blancpain Collab Is the One We’ve Been Waiting For

The ‘Ocean of Storms’ takes a page from the MoonSwatch.

Published January 10, 2024

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Updated January 11, 2024

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When Swatch unveiled its MoonSwatch follow-up last year in the form of a dive watch collaboration with luxury brand Blancpain, the response was positive but far more muted than what we saw with the MoonSwatch. There are several theories as to why that was.

For one, the Scuba Fifty Fathoms is a lot more expensive than the $260 MoonSwatch at $400. Secondly, Blancpain does not have anywhere near the name recognition that Omega possesses. And thirdly, the five-watch collection lacked a more subdued and “realistic” one-to-one recreation of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, as we saw with the “Mission to the Moon” variant of the MoonSwatch.

Well, it’s a new year, and Swatch has rectified that last quibble with the launch of a sixth Blancpain Scuba Fifty Fathoms, and it’s arguably the one we’ve been waiting for all along.

Blancpain x Swatch Ocean of Storms

The new Bioceramic dive watch variant is dubbed the ‘Ocean of Storms.’ But don’t go digging out your globe to search for a sixth ocean with that name; you won’t find one. Instead, Swatch took a page from the MoonSwatch’s book and looked to outer space for this most recent collab. The watch is named for the moon’s largest “sea,” which is actually what’s known as a lunar mare: low-elevation basaltic plains that were mistaken for bodies of water by the earliest telescope users in the 17th century.

Mythology aside, it’s the watch’s looks that’s the real story here. With an all-black Bioceramic case to go along with its black dial, lunar-white hands and indices and subtle orange accents, coupled with its black-and-white NATO strap, the new watch looks much more like a real Blancpain Fifty Fathoms than any Scuba Fifty Fathoms to date. Material-wise, it’s exactly the same as the previous five releases, but with a much less cartoonish look, I can see the Ocean of Storms quickly becoming the most popular reference in the Blancpain x Swatch lineup.

back of a watch — The caseback of the ’Ocean of Storms’ features a digital print of the titular mare of the moon along with an image of the Okenia Luna nudibranch, whose name takes inspiration from its lunar looks.

How to Buy the Blancpain x Swatch ‘Ocean of Storms’

In typical Swatch x luxury brand fashion, the ‘Ocean of Storms’ will be difficult to get your hands on. The watch is set to go on sale January 11 — the day of the next new moon — at select Swatch stores worldwide, which means a couple of things. One, not every Swatch store will have these in stock. Two, you’ll have to show up in person at a Swatch store to buy one. And three, you can expect long lines and low stock. Some scrupulous eBay sellers are already listing “pre-orders” for the watch at up to $1,500 — which is ludicrous, don’t pay that — which goes to show how popular this new reference is expected to be.