There’s a general assumption – among the footballing community at least – that this is Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s world and we’re all just living in it. That may well have just extended to include other planets in the universe after football’s very own Thor was spotted wearing one of those bioceramic Swatches that broke the internet back in March. You know, the collection of watches named after all the planets that is still prompting ordinary, sane people to queue up outside Swatch stores around the world to get hold of one. Surely, you’ve come across them somewhere – the ones that look like an Omega Speedmaster but cost £218 instead of about £4,500 and epitomises affordable luxury at a time when a lot of things aren’t, well, affordable.
After Robert Lewandowski flashed a gold Casio at the Ballon d’Or ceremony, this could easily be a timely reminder that anything other footballers do, Zlatan can do it better – and that includes sporting affordable watches that have the potential to be game-changing. Given that Ibrahimovic has been quoted as saying things like “I think I'm like wine. The older I get, the better I get”; “I do not need a trophy to tell myself that I am the best;” and “I can't help but laugh at how perfect I am”, we are under no illusions of how seriously he takes himself – presumably enough to not believe hype, and rather draw his own conclusion and opinions. It’s why his acquisition of a MoonSwatch is perhaps bigger news than it seems – acting as some sort of validation to Swatch and Omega for making the decision to collaborate and create an affordable version of a classic icon. ‘Zlatan has spoken and this is good’ kind of vibes.
After releasing the watch collaboration of the century last year, Omega and Swatch are at it again – releasing a shiny new MoonSwatch. Only this time it might be even harder to come by
The fact that Ed Sheeran – the second biggest celebrity watch nerd behind John Mayer – is the only other notable name to be seen proudly rocking a MoonSwatch points to the fact that, those in the know, know how major a deal this is, and how significant a move it will end up being in the grand schemes of horology and time telling.
Quite how Sheeran and Ibra got hold of one of the prized pieces is unknown – either they queued up to get one, or they caved to the hype and paid far too much money on eBay. While Sheeran has been spotted wearing the Mission to Moon version of the MoonSwatch, which is black and looks almost identical to an original Speedmaster, Ibrahimovic has gone for the Mission to Mars, which is red and white. His current club, AC Milan’s colours are red, black and white, while Ajax who he played for 20 years ago, are red and white – so his choice could be a nod to the favourite teams he's ever played for? It's speculative at best.
More likely, he’s done his research and worked out that from the 11 options in the collection, he's not going to be enough of a joker to go the down baby blue Mission to Uranus route. Instead, the Mission to Mars suits him best because it has the most easter eggs attached to it, and has garnered by far the most amount of attention. As well as the fact the statement hues create a talking point on his wrist, its nods to an ‘If You Know You Know’ Speedmaster Alaska project from 2008 (hello to the capsule-shaped hands that whizz around when pressing the pushers) means the Mars is already something of a cult hit in its own right – just like Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
