Hands-On: Swatch x Damien Hirst Mickey Mouse Watch

Life’s too short to be serious all the time, and so this time we go hands-on with the Swatch x Damien Hirst Mickey Mouse ‘Mirror Spot Mickey’ watch Reference SUOZ290S (quite the mouthful). 

This collaboration between Swatch, Hirst & Disney was launched as a celebration of Mickey Mouse’s 90th birthday. It resulted in the release of a limited ‘Spot Mickey’ (1999 pieces) and the less limited Mirror Spot Mickey (19999 pieces). The Spot Mickey was only available the day itself, sold out in a heartbeat. While the Mirror Spot is sold-out by now as well, it took a little longer.

A Mickey Mouse (S)Watch is never wrong – never. So when this one came around, I was ready to jump on it. Unfortunately the ordering process didn’t work out for me when I went online (read: the site was overloaded). When trying to complete the order the next day, I was unfortunately too late. A few days later, on a very unsuspecting afternoon I received a call from Switzerland followed by the alarming text message: “Jan, please call me if you are available”.

As I was in the middle of a serious lunch, I briefly excused myself: “It’s an emergency” . I hastily type back: “Having biz lunch right now. Call you right after?”

My message was answered almost immediately by the following epic reply: 

Seeing that this is truly and indeed an emergency, I apologize to the table as I continue typing to secure the order (rude, I know). Meetings have been interrupted for much less important matters surely. In the end I ended up securing the two, in theory one for each of my kids…

Now what did Hirst actually do here? No, the watch didn’t come suspended in formaldehyde, as he is known to do with his art pieces. Although that would have been pretty cool. Instead, he essentially applied his typical Spot style painting and reinterpreted Mickey Mouse by use of 14 well-aimed ‘spots’ on the dial. A refreshing take of the usual Mickey Mouse characters found on watches ranging from the first one by Ingersoll to the very fancy ones by Gérald Genta. 

The Mirror Dial is really that, a Mirror. It’s actually a surprisingly nice effect on the dial. The omission of the seconds hand helps balance out the overall dial and design. The case and caseback is made from a semi transparant plastic so you can actually see the movement ticking away.

In addition, the bright and lively strap is signed by Damien Hirst. The buckle is also matching the overall theme and has the same transparent composition as the case:

The size, 41mm, is a bit on the large size for a Mickey Mouse themed watch. The more exclusive black dial ‘Spot Mickey’ was released in a vintage 34mm size, and that would have been a great size for the Mirror Spot too. The 41mm looks absolutely huge on kid’s wrists. So I guess mom & dad will have to wear these instead…

 This is very much a fun Swatch, and very much a Mickey Mouse watch indeed.