Swatch Unveils the Halloween Capsule Collection

Glow-in-the-dark from end to end.

Thematic capsule collections are a Swatch favourite, with recent launches including watches dedicated to the latest James Bond film and NASA. With hyper-efficient, automated manufacturing and simply constructed watches, Swatch is able to keep current with its thematic collections.

And now with Halloween around the corner, Swatch has just taken the covers off the line up dedicated to the ghoulish celebration – the Halloween Capsule Collection, made up of a pair of watches that are glow-in-the-dark and appear entirely different from day to night.

Your Time is Coming (left), and Run But You Can’t Hide

Initial thoughts

Glow-in-the-dark watches are cool because they light up in the dark. Swatch takes the concept and goes big with the Halloween pair – the watches are a bold 47 mm in diameter and matched with straps that are entirely “lumed”.

The Halloween pair also stand out for the contrast between their day and night looks, a characteristic that makes them all the more striking and attractive. During the day, the dials are surprisingly low-key, with the faces barely visible.

The faces on the dials only reveal themselves at night

And both watches are clearly all about design. The dials are both smartly streamlined, with as few time-telling elements as possible – there are neither hours markers nor a date, or even a seconds hand Even the hands are thin and skeletonised. The hands do the job, but are not quite as inventive as the floating, “ghost” hands found in an prior Swatch Halloween edition.

Admittedly, glow-in-the-dark watches are not novel – A. Lange. & Söhne just launched the Zeitwerk Lumen for instance – the Halloween watches immediately distinguishes themselves with an affordable price tag that’s just US$120. Both are bona fide fun watches.

Day and night

Between the two, the red-dial version is more subtle, at least when the lights are on. Clearly modelled on the titular clown of Stephen King’s It, the dial is in a muted, dark red, while the strap is patterned but monochromatic. During the day, the clown’s face is blacked out, save for the eyes and teeth in grey.

The composition of the “lume” is smartly chosen, with unusual colours such as purple and yellow, leaving it more spooky than a typical dial. And at a distance, the complex dial motif might even pass off as the backlit face of a smartwatch.

Either of two statements on the bezel are visible depending on the light

The green dial is similarly subtle during the day, but the strap stands out more with its mint-green pattern.

And the entire watch is exuberant at night, with the dial bearing a skull inspired by Día de Muertos, the Mexican festival that celebrates the departed, surrounded by radiating lines that bring to mind a disco ball.