OMEGA has collaborated with Swatch to produce a collection that is a playful take on its iconic Speedmaster chronograph.

The design partnership, a first for OMEGA and Swatch, follows the popular trend of collaborations between luxury and street brands to create innovative new products that blend the best of both worlds.

For OMEGA, the joint mission is both a fun undertaking and a respectful nod to the plucky company that risked it all to kick-start the ailing Swiss watch industry during the quartz revolution, the company said.

The brands have drawn their design inspiration from space, to create a collection of 11 Swatches named after planetary bodies, from the giant star at the centre of the solar system to the dwarf planet at its periphery.

All of the Swatches are in Bioceramic, a unique mix of two-thirds ceramic and one-third material derived from castor oil. Although colours like pink and pale blue offer strong clues that these are not your standard Speedmaster watches, a hard-core Moonwatch fan would be hard-pushed to find the difference in the overall look. The key Moonwatch design features are all there. The asymmetrical case, the famous tachymeter scale with a dot over ninety and the distinctive Speedmaster subdials, which all work perfectly.

For OMEGA President and CEO Raynald Aeschlimann, the new collection is a source of pride. “OMEGA’s long and distinguished history may have been cut short if it wasn’t for the vision and the courage taken by Swatch. The MoonSwatch collection salutes the saviours of our industry in a witty and accessible way.

“The Swatches are perfect for budding Moonwatch fans and I can’t think of a more appropriate icon for our shared project. We went to the moon, now we’re exploring the whole Milky Way. They’re great watches, in fantastic colours and they make me smile.”

The new collection, in rarely seen colours, is all about giving OMEGA’s professional timepiece a playful twist. Each MoonSwatch features its own mission statement, inspirational engravings and joint OMEGA X SWATCH logos on the dial and crown. The battery cover on each watch features a depiction of its planet.

A spacesuit-ready VELCRO strap adds a final touch of astronaut chic.

The MoonSwatches are available in selected Swatch stores from March 26.