A Swiss watchmaker had to close multiple locations and restrict customer lines after the debut of their newest timepiece sparked chaotic scenes and physical altercations among buyers worldwide.
Swatch’s new Royal Pop pocket watch, created in partnership with Audemars Piguet, retails between $400 and $420 – significantly less expensive than typical Audemars Piguet luxury timepieces that cost thousands. This price difference has motivated many purchasers to immediately resell the watches online at dramatically increased prices.
Video footage and social media content documented lengthy customer lines at retail locations in New York, London, Barcelona and Dubai over the weekend, with disruptions at several sites requiring law enforcement response. Footage captured customers fighting outside a Swatch location in Milan and other cities.
The chaos stemming from an intense social media marketing push forced Swatch to respond quickly as circumstances threatened to spiral beyond control.
“To ensure the safety of both our customers and staff in Swatch stores, we kindly ask you not to rush to our stores in large numbers to acquire this product,” Swatch said in a statement over the weekend.
A company representative stated Monday that difficulties occurred on the release date at approximately 20 Swatch locations out of 220 worldwide due to unusually long lines and inadequate organization at certain shopping centers, though conditions have since stabilized.
The representative noted the company has recorded millions of website visits and 11 billion social media impressions since announcing the collaboration. Sales figures for Royal Pop have not yet been released.
Complete sets of all eight Royal Pop designs reached prices exceeding $25,000 on the StockX marketplace Sunday, while unofficial retailers sold custom straps to convert the pocket watches into wristwatches for more than $50.
“I think there’s a small window of opportunity going on here for the flippers who potentially are going to make a lot of money,” said Jon White, director of British precious metals dealer Gold Traders.
He questioned whether the inflated values would persist in secondary markets. “It’s bonkers, absolutely bonkers,” he added.
Audemars Piguet timepieces typically sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Auction house Sotheby’s reported that a 1921 Grosse Pièce astronomical pocket watch sold for $7.7 million last December.
Swatch stock prices rose nearly 18% in the week following the initial partnership announcement this month. However, shares have dropped more than 7% since reaching a peak May 8th as investors learned the timepieces would only be offered as pocket watches.
