Swatch has called on watch enthusiasts worldwide to exercise restraint following the chaotic reception of its newly unveiled collaboration with Audemars Piguet, after the “Royal Pop Collection” launch triggered dangerous crowd surges at retail locations globally.
Planned launches at two of Dubai’s most prominent shopping destinations — The Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates — were called off on May 16 after authorities and store management determined that public safety could not be guaranteed amid the sheer volume of people who had gathered.
The Swiss watchmaker issued a formal statement asking customers not to converge on stores en masse. “To ensure the safety of both our customers and our staff in Swatch stores, we kindly ask you not to rush to our stores in large numbers to acquire this product,” the company said.
Swatch also disclosed that in certain markets, gatherings of more than 50 people outside stores may not be tolerated, and that sales could be suspended in locations where crowd control becomes unmanageable.
To ease the pressure, the brand confirmed the Royal Pop Collection would be available for purchase over “several months” — a signal intended to discourage panic-buying or overnight queuing.
The launch mirrors the disorder that followed Swatch’s earlier pairings with Omega and Blancpain, both of which produced scenes of overnight camping, extended waiting lists, and heavily inflated resale prices in secondary markets.
Audemars Piguet, the Geneva-based manufacture widely regarded as one of watchmaking’s most storied names and the creator of the Royal Oak, brings considerable collector cachet to the collaboration. The Royal Pop Collection is understood to take visual cues from the Royal Oak’s angular, sports-luxury identity while folding in Swatch’s more accessible aesthetic sensibility.
