The Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop collection boasts eight vibrant, ’80s-inspired designs. Following mysterious advertisements and teasers that sparked fan speculation, Swatch announced this new timepiece line with luxury watchmaker Audemars Piguet. Influenced by Swatch’s ’80s Pop watches and Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak series from 1972, the collection includes eight pocket watches featuring colorful designs and octagonal cases.
Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak watches typically range from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars based on features. However, the more accessible Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop pocket watches launch May 16th in selected Swatch stores. The Lépine version, which positions the crown at 12 o’clock, costs $400, while the Savonnette style with a crown at 3 o’clock is $420. Each pocket watch is accompanied by a calfskin leather lanyard, with additional accessories like a desk clock holder available.
These pocket watches come with vibrant, waterproof Bioceramic cases and use scratch-resistant sapphire glass. They feature a simplified version of Swatch’s Sistem51 movement, now a manual-wind design with a 90-hour power reserve for cost efficiency. Unlike previous self-winding models, this design requires manual winding.
Swatch has previously collaborated with Omega and Blancpain, part of the Swatch Group, on its MoonSwatch and Scuba Fifty Fathoms lines. However, this collaboration is with the independent Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet, still run by the founders’ descendants. This uniqueness may boost collector and scalper interest. To manage anticipated high demand, Swatch limits sales to one pocket watch per customer per store per day, according to Wired.