Swatch and Audemars Piguet Unveil Royal Pop Collaboration
▼ Summary
– Swatch and Audemars Piguet collaborated on a series of pocket watches called the Royal Pop Collection, not wristwatches, based on AP’s Royal Oak design.
– The collection was revealed early, ahead of the May 16 date initially teased by Swatch in social media posts.
– The watches combine design elements from Audemars Piguet’s 1972 Royal Oak and Swatch’s 1980s POP watches.
– The movement is a new hand-wound version of Swatch’s Sistem51, offering a 90-hour power reserve.
– The eight colorful pocket watches, named after the word “eight” in various languages, are available from May 16 in Lépine ($400) and Savonnette ($420) styles.
Swatch has officially launched its highly anticipated collaboration with Audemars Piguet, confirming a partnership that had already sparked a wave of AI-generated fakes across Instagram since the announcement on May 8. Rather than a traditional wristwatch, the duo has created a series of pocket watches inspired by AP’s legendary Royal Oak design, debuting earlier than the May 16 date originally teased by Swatch on social media.
Dubbed the Royal Pop Collection, these colorful timepieces are described as “a groundbreaking union of Audemars Piguet’s iconic Royal Oak and Swatch’s POP watches from the 1980s.” The design fuses key elements from AP’s 1972 Royal Oak with the playful aesthetic of Swatch’s 1980s POP line. In a statement, Swatch declared that “this collection will change the way we wear watches. The watches in the AP x Swatch collaboration break free from the wrist … allowing you to wear the watch in unexpected, playful, and dynamic ways.”
Industry speculation had pointed to Swatch’s Sistem51 automatic movement as the likely power source, given its fully automated assembly. However, Swatch has engineered a new hand-wound caliber specifically for this collaboration, reworking the Sistem51 to deliver an impressive 90-hour power reserve.
The pocket watches launch on May 16 in two distinct styles: Lépine (crown at 12 o’clock) and Savonnette (crown at 3 o’clock). They will be available at 200 select Swatch stores worldwide, with a strict limit of one piece per person per store per day. The Lépine style retails for $400, while the Savonnette style is priced at $420.
The one-off collection includes eight pocket watches in eight vibrant colors, each named after the word for “eight” in different languages: white (Huit Blanc), pink (Otto Rosso), green (Green Eight), lime green/blue (Blaue Acht), navy/orange (Orenji Hachi), blue/light blue (Lan Ba), black/white (Ocho Negro), and pink/yellow/teal (Otg Roz).
(Source: Wired)
