The Swatch x Audemars Piguet ‘Royal Pop’ Is Hyped, Bright, and Will Feel Like Plastic

The Omega MoonSwatch is the most important watch of the past decade. Before its release, Swatch was a disposable relic and Omega a third-rate luxury brand that had failed to seem cool despite the hundreds of millions spent on James Bond product placements. In a single release, one inexpensive product made them the most talked-about brands of the year. It was the perfect release at the perfect time: inexpensive, limited, cool, and therefore easy to flip, which made it even more desirable.The only problem was that the MoonSwatch was a bad watch. It was made of the same cheap, weak plastics as many other Swatch releases — but unlike those releases, it was not under $100, particularly on the resale market.The MoonSwatch brought attention to both brands without devaluing the Omega name, but it made many buyers feel ripped off. They had bought something that looked like a luxury watch but felt — and broke — like cheap plastic. The Blancpain Scuba Fifty Fathoms Swatch improved on this somewhat by replacing the quartz movement with Swatch’s innovative SISTEM51 automatic, but the Swatch group did nothing with the legacy and design of the Blancpain brand, and so nobody cared about the release. Swatch should have devoted attention to reviving the legendary dive-watch brand, not making a cheap knockoff of it.Swatch x Audemars Piguet ‘Royal Pop’. Courtesy of SwatchA lack of attention has not been an issue with the latest release, the Swatch x Audemars Piguet “Royal Pop,” launched yesterday.The collaboration celebrates two watches: the famed Audemars Piguet Royal Oak — second only to the Patek Philippe Nautilus and Aquanaut as the most desired sports watch on the market — and the Pop Swatch, which is marking its 40th anniversary. The Pop Swatch was a small quartz watch that detached from its strap to become a pocket watch, a tiny clock, or anything else, and was one of the most important products for the Swatch brand. As such, despite the hopeful AI renderings, the “Royal Pop” could not be mistaken for the actual steel Royal Oak. It’s a colorful pocket watch that comes attached to a lambskin lanyard but can be popped out, clipped to a bag, mounted on a small stand, or fitted to aftermarket straps such as those offered by Delugs.Swatch x Audemars Piguet ‘Royal Pop’. Courtesy of SwatchFor the core specifications:The case is 40mm across, expanding to between 44.2mm and 53.2mm when mounted in the clip;It’s 8.4mm saphhire;The front and back are sapphire;The movement is a hand-wound version of Swatch’s SISTEM51 movement;And the case and bezel are made from Swatch’s “bioceramic” material.To be clear, the “bioceramic” label is just marketing language. The watch may look like a Royal Oak — with the same octagonal bezel, “Petite Tapisserie” dial, and hand and marker designs — but this material has more in common with Tupperware than with the actual ceramic Audemars Piguet. It will look and feel like plastic; hence, it also only has 20 meters of water resistance.Much like the MoonSwatch, the “Royal Pop” comes in a range of color combinations, most of which are on the ugly side of bland. The white-and-black variant will be the best seller. The full green and pop-art white watches are the most interesting, with the closest connection to real Royal Oak variants. And the pink, teal, and yellow colorway is a tribute to bad taste or colorblindness.Swatch x Audemars Piguet ‘Royal Pop’. Courtesy of SwatchSix variants are in the “Lépine” style — with no subdial, and the crown at 12 o’clock — and two are “Savonnette,” or “side-winder,” cases, with a small seconds subsidiary dial and the crown at 3 o’clock. The Savonnette will be a better fit for an aftermarket strap, but it will also sit sideways on its lanyard.At $400 a watch — or $420 for the Savonnette-style — they’re not outrageously expensive, but they’re also just a cheap plastic knockoff. Why buy one of these when you could get a Tissot PRX?You’re unlikely to be able to buy one at retail anyway: flippers camped out for days outside Swatch stores, hoping to resell them for a profit on StockX and eBay. Swatch was forced to close several stores yesterday owing to the frenzied demand. The New York Police Department confirmed an arrest had been made at a Manhattan Swatch location while at the watchmaker’s store in Roosevelt Field Mall on Long Island, police officers resorted to using pepper spray to subdue crowds.

The Swatch x Audemars Piguet ‘Royal Pop’ Is Hyped, Bright, and Will Feel Like Plastic

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