Omega and Swatch's MoonSwatch line of fashion wristwatches may not qualify as haute chronologie or a showcase of the watchmaker's craft, but they have managed to introduce what may well be a unique function in the Mission to EarthPhase watch.
The partnership between luxury watch brand Omega and pop street brand Swatch at first seems very odd, but such pairings sometimes have unexpected results. In this case, it's not just unexpected, but flat out eyebrow raising because it's produced a new complication that's not only the first of its kind I've ever seen, but one based on an amazingly geeky bit of trivia.
If you've looked at enough watches, you've certainly come across a moonphase complication. This is a little window with a stylized Moon that shows what phase our natural satellite is in, from New to Full. However, there's a neat little fact that, as Sir Micael Caine would say, not a lot of people know.
That is, the phases of the Earth and Moon are exactly reversed, so when the Moon is New, the Earth is Full. This is something you can verify for yourself by looking at the Moon in a suitably dark place when it's just starting to wax. If you look very carefully, you'll notice that the vast darkened part of the Moon is faintly illuminated.
This is called Earthlight, which is sunlight reflected from the Full Earth onto the almost New Moon.
It's also the clever bit of the Mission to EarthPhase watch. Along with two Moonphase complications (one for the Northern and the other for the Southern Hemisphere), the watch has an Earthphase complication to show how our planet looks from the surface of the Moon and turns in the opposite direction to the Moonphase dials.
The Mission to EarthPhase watch is based on the Omega Speedmaster, so it has a chronograph as well as a tachymeter on the bezel. The disappointing quartz movement is set inside a largish 42-mm water-resistant case made of Bioceramic, which is made from a mixture of ceramic and castor oil. The crystal is made of "biosourced" glass and the gray dial has Super-LumiNova-coated markers and hands.
The new Mission to EarthPhase is available from November 2 in a non-limited edition for US$330.
Source: Omega