MoonSwatch drops always bordered on urban myth but this “Cold Moon” edition actually has all the makings of one. That's because Swatch's new Mission to Earthphase Moonshine Gold "Cold Moon" watch will only be sold on days when Switzerland reports snowfall.

MoonSwatches have become one of the most chaotic collectible watches of the past decade. They get their shapes from Omega’s Speedmaster timepiece but are made of Swatch’s accessibly priced Bioceramic make, yielding an affordable timepiece that ignites campout energy usually reserved for sneakers. Few watches have crossed culture this cleanly.

The palette of this newest MoonSwatch flips to a snow-white Bioceramic case with icy blue markings. The dial keeps its twin rotating indicators, one showing the Moon from Earth, the other reversing the view back from the Moon. Snoopy and Woodstock still sit at nine as per usual for Moonshine Gold MoonSwatch, their space helmets now dusted in thematic snow.

The Moonshine Gold disc is where things get strange. Moonshine is Omega’s proprietary pale-yellow alloy, normally reserved for Speedmasters in a completely different price bracket. Here it appears on a sub-$500 watch with a laser-engraved snowflake.

No two are alike. Swatch used natural snowflake geometry to create individual engravings, giving every Cold Moon its own pattern, a mass-produced watch with micro-uniqueness.

"Cold Moon" both taps into the original hype cycle and nods to December’s Cold Moon, the final full moon of the year. Drops of earlier Moonshine MoonSwatches were tied to lunar cycles, save for one that aligned with a Swiss holiday. Cold Moon keeps on theme save for swapping full-moon timing for snowfall.

After its initial December 4 drop, "Cold Moon" will only be available at Swatch's participating MoonSwatch boutiques for $450 on days when Swiss forecasts show snowfall. The rules aren’t spelled out with perfect clarity, which only adds to the legend. Collectors must refresh weather charts the same way sneakerheads refresh raffles.

So if you want the Cold Moon, watch the clouds over the Alps. People might be dreaming of a white Christmas. MoonSwatch fans are dreaming of a white release date. Let it snow.

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