All crazy for the new Swatch: long queues and waits, but some stores postpone sale
The Royal Pop model resulting from the collaboration between Swatch and Audemars Piguet is on sale for 385 euros
Long queues in Rome and Milan, but also in many other Italian cities, to try to grab one of the Royal Pop watches, a collaboration between Audemars Piguet and Swatch. But the surging crowds prevented some shops in different cities around the world from opening their doors. It happened, for instance, at the Mall of the Emirates in Dubai where the "launch was cancelled due to crowd safety reasons", points out Bloomberg reporting on Swatch's Instagram account.
In view of 'public safety, we have decided not to proceed with the sale of the product at the Dubai Mall and the Mall of the Emirates, and the event has been cancelled,' says the Swiss company, which has sent similar messages to shops in London, as well as cities in the north of England and Scotland, and shops in Lyon, Lille, Deauville and Rennes in France and Singapore. In recent days, customers and collectors have queued outside Swatch shops around the world waiting for the watch's launch, despite the 'disappointment of some customers that it was a pocket watch and not a wristwatch'.
The new watch
Inspired by Pop Art, this collaboration reinterprets the iconic codes of the Royal Oak through an innovatively designed pocket watch, available in eight models and designed to be worn in different ways, explain Audemars Piguet.
The cost of the pocket watch is EUR 385 and there are strict rules for buying it: only one per person per day per shop. Thus enthusiasts, collectors, but also those who want one of the limited edition watches in order to resell it at a higher cost
The collaboration between Swatch, a Swiss brand that in the 1980s launched watches with a pop and ironic design at an affordable price, and Audemars Piguet, a brand of fine watchmaking, is an unprecedented collaboration that has surprised the industry. The Royal Pop watch, thanks to a calfskin lanyard, can be worn in many ways: in the pocket, of course, but also around the neck, on the wrist, or as a charm attached to a handbag. Then, thanks to a removable stand, it can also become a table model.
