Swatch has revealed Blancpain as its latest watch collaborator via Instagram following a slew of mysterious ads published in some of the world’s biggest newspapers on September 1.
The Swiss watchmakers adopted double-page spreads in publications like the New York Times, Japan's Nikkei, and Germany’s The Frankfurter Allgemeine, where Highsnobiety spotted the enigmatic ad.
For those who haven’t seen the below image, the ad comprised an image of water and a very minimal Swatch logo that only offered the letter "S," a presumed release date (September 9, 2023), and a curiously blank space that has since been filled with Blancpain.
Though Swatch’s collaborator, Blancpain, has been revealed, what exactly the partnership will entail when it lands on September 9 is still very much up in the air.
The water in the initial ad paired with Swatch’s Instagram reveal is hinting towards a diving watch of sorts, although we were also questioning whether Swatch was rebranding as a luxury water company at first.
Whatever the result of Swatch x Blancpain turns out to be (it’ll be a watch, not water), it’s going to have some job in surpassing the popularity of Swatch’s much coveted OMEGA collaborations.
Still, when it comes to watches — especially Swatch — anything is possible and, if we’re going by Swatch’s recent success stories, its Blancpain could well give the MoonSwatch a run for its money.
This ending feels extremely fitting, but hey: watch this space. Nice right?
