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Watch enthusiasts started queuing the night before at selected Swatch stores as the highly anticipated pocket watch collaboration went on sale on May 16.
The queue that formed outside of Ion Orchard on Saturday morning (May 16) ahead of the launch of the Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop collection. (Photos: CNA/Baani Kaur, Joyee Koo)
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Long queues formed outside Swatch stores at Ion Orchard and Marina Bay Sands (MBS) on Saturday morning (May 16) as watch enthusiasts turned up for the highly-anticipated launch of the Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop collection.
At Swatch’s Ion Orchard outlet, crowds started forming as early as 4pm on Friday outside the mall near Bacha Coffee, with security and police patrolling the area and clearing crowds. By 11.15am on Saturday, the final customer was making payment and all available stock were sold out in under two hours.
A similar situation with an organised queue unfolded at the MBS outlet, which also sold out its pieces for the day.
The queue for the Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop pocket watch at Swatch’s Marina Bay Sands outlet on Saturday (May 16). (Photo: CNA/Joyee Koo)
Meanwhile, the VivoCity outlet announced it was closing due to "overwhelming crowd".
In an Instagram Story posted on its Singapore account, Swatch said: "Due to the overwhelming crowd today, we will unfortunately need to close our VivoCity location for the rest of the day."
The watchmaker added that the closure was a "collective decision made together with the local authorities to ensure the health and safety of both our staff and customers".
Screengrab of Swatch Singapore's Instagram story.
The launch marks the latest high-profile collection for Swatch following the frenzy that ensued worldwide with the Omega MoonSwatch release in 2022, which saw massive crowds and snaking queues starting from as early as 5.30am. Swatch had also collaborated with Blancpain in 2023, for the latter's iconic Fifty Fathoms dive watch.
Scenes at Saturday’s launch echoed that earlier MoonSwatch hype, with customers at Ion Orchard entering in batches of five from around 9.30am while many others waited outside hoping for a chance to purchase one even after queues had been cut off.
Some had tested their luck at multiple outlets.
A prospective buyer named Jay shared that he first joined the queue at MBS at around 4pm on Friday but was cut off after the first 50 people later into the night. Jay, who said he was number 56 in line, arrived at Ion Orchard at 8.30am on Saturday together with another buyer, Ally, only to find the queue was already capped.
They shared that the appeal lay in owning a piece of the collaboration with Audemars Piguet as an enthusiast.
The collectibility was an evident draw for many of the fans outside of Ion Orchard on Saturday. Nic shared with CNA Lifestyle that he was keen to add it to his collection as a collector’s item, like Trevor, who was looking forward to wearing the product out.
Trevor successfully made his purchase after queueing from 7pm the previous evening, described the journey to the cashier as one of the toughest queues he had experienced, witnessing pushing and shoving, though praising the service within the store itself.
Ben, an avid Audemars Piguet collector who did not manage to get one on Saturday, said the appeal of the collaboration came down to accessibility.
He noted that compared to a traditional Audemars Piguet piece, which costs tens of thousands of dollars, the Royal Pop offered a relatively affordable means to own something associated with the prestigious Swiss watchmaker at a price tag starting from S$535.
He also suggested the resale potential may have attracted buyers who were less interested in the watch itself.
And indeed, it seemed not everyone was there to buy for themselves. Deni, 24, from Myanmar said he started queuing at MBS on Friday, 2pm. Once he got one, he sold it immediately for an extra S$500.
His piece was bought by 25-year-old student He Qiao Mu, who had been giving out bubble tea since this morning, in the hopes of getting someone to buy one for him – and he intends to sell it as well.
But the overnight queues were not without drama.
Faith, who had stayed overnight in a camping chair outside Ion Orchard after arriving at 4pm on Friday, said police and security repeatedly asked her group to leave.
Another buyer recounted how some people allegedly attempted to mislead others by falsely claiming the mall entrance was elsewhere, causing several queuers to abandon their spots.
Over at Marina Bay Sands, some disgruntled people in the queue voiced out their displeasure on missing out – there were reportedly two sections for the queues, one of which was for 50 guaranteed customers, which Swatch staff later denied.
What makes the collaboration even more eye-catching is that the new Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop collection is not a wristwatch.
The collection comprises eight pocket watch models inspired by AP’s iconic Royal Oak design and Swatch’s Pop watches from the 1980s.
Mounted on calfskin lanyards, the watches are attached to a removable clip and designed to be worn around the neck, carried in a pocket or used as a bag charm.
The collection includes six Lepine-style models with the winding crown positioned at 12 o’clock and two Savonette-style versions with the crown at 3 o’clock and a small seconds subdial at 6 o’clock.
The caseback of the watch is pad-printed with the Royal Pop logo. (Photo: Swatch)
The watches come in 40mm Bioceramic cases and are powered by Sistem51 movement in a new hand-wound version, offering a 90-hour power reserve. The whole collection also features two sapphire crystals on the front and back of the case.
The Royal Pop watches are not limited editions, though purchases are restricted to one watch per person per day. That said, listings have started appearing on Carousell, with prices in the three to four-digit range – and even one listed at S$10,000.
