Space telescope images star on new ESA-endorsed Swatch watches

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You can now customize Swatch X You wristwatches with European Space Agency (ESA) space telescope images.
(Image credit: Swatch)

Now you can select your favorite swath of the universe and display it on it your wrist, thanks to a new collaboration between Swatch and the European Space Agency (ESA).

For a limited time, Swatch is making a collection of ESA’s space telescope images available for customizing a range of Swatch X You watches. Six new Swatch X You ESA designs are now available through Dec. 17, each featuring an image that was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope or James Webb Space Telescope.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to share our fascination for space and science through these beautiful, inspiring designs,” said Carole Mundell, ESA’s director of science and head of the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), in a statement. “Astronomers were originally the keepers of date and time. Today, our telescopes look back thousands, millions, even billions of years. Whenever you check the time, these watches will also give you a breath-taking glimpse of time and space on a cosmic scale.”

Related: Our expanding universe: Age, history & other facts

The Swatch X You ESA (European Space Agency) collection of space telescope images will be available for order through Dec. 17, 2023. (Image credit: ESA)

Using Swatch’s “online configurator” on the Swatch X You website, fans can now select from one of the six ESA space telescope images and then move, rotate or zoom in and out to position their own perfect slice of a nebula, globular cluster or protostar that they want to wear. Users then choose the color of the watch mechanism and whether the dial has indexes, as well as an optional personalized message for the back of the case before previewing and placing their order.

The available ESA images to choose from include:

NGC 3324: A young star-forming region in the Carina Nebula, this Hubble Space Telescope image features blue and reddish-brown tones.
Liller 1: A globular cluster, Liller 1 lies 30,000 light years from Earth within the Milky Way’s “bulge,” the dense and dusty region at our galaxy’s center. This image of the star cluster taken by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 contains a mix of very young and very old stars.
Pillars of Creation: The James Webb Space Telescope captured this mid-infrared view of the iconic Pillars of Creation, a small region within the vast Eagle Nebula located 6,500 light years away from Earth.
Protostar L1527: Revealed by the James Webb Space Telescope’s near-infrared camera, this image L1527 shows the protostar encased in the cloud of gas and dust sustaining its growth.
Lagoon Nebula: Originally released in celebration of the Hubble Space Telescope’s 28th year in orbit in 2018, this image includes only a small part of the light-years-wide Lagoon Nebula.
Veil Nebula: Located around 2,100 light years from Earth, the Veil Nebula can be found in the constellation Cygnus (the swan). This Hubble Space Telescope photo showcases the colors and energy of this supernova remnant.

Each customized watch from the Swatch X You ESA collection will come with a postcard of the space telescope image used. (Image credit: ESA)

Each finished ESA space watch is delivered with an ESA-branded loop on the strap, a special sleeve and a postcard featuring the space telescope image used for the design. The ESA-customized Swatch X You watches retail for $135 each.

“The starry night sky and what lies beyond what our naked eye can see have captivated human imagination for centuries. Thanks to the Swatch X You ESA designs, the cosmic wonders that exist outside the confines of our known world are more accessible than ever before,” Swatch said in a statement.

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Robert Pearlman is a space historian, journalist and the founder and editor of collectSPACE.com, an online publication and community devoted to space history with a particular focus on how and where space exploration intersects with pop culture. Pearlman is also a contributing writer for Space.com and co-author of “Space Stations: The Art, Science, and Reality of Working in Space” published by Smithsonian Books in 2018. He previously developed online content for the National Space Society and Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, helped establish the space tourism company Space Adventures and currently serves on the History Committee of the American Astronautical Society, the advisory committee for The Mars Generation and leadership board of For All Moonkind. In 2009, he was inducted into the U.S. Space Camp Hall of Fame in Huntsville, Alabama. In 2021, he was honored by the American Astronautical Society with the Ordway Award for Sustained Excellence in Spaceflight History.

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