“In view of safety considerations, we have decided not to proceed with the sale of the [Swatch x Audemars Piguet Royal Pop] at Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates and the event has been cancelled”.
So said the Instagram account of Swatch in the UAE, as the world’s biggest shopping mall was swamped with punters aiming to get their hand on the most hyped timepiece since the MoonSwatch.
Daily newspaper Gulf News shared video of crowds gathering outside the Swatch store in Dubai Mall, although the footage appears to show most people rubber necking at the queue, rather than joining it.
An earlier Instagram post, from 3am in the mall, did suggest several hundred customers were prepared to battle for the plastic (sorry, bioceramic) pocket watch.
Around the world, it was like watching New Year’s Even firework displays go off as stores opened in early timezones.
There appear to have been contrasting levels of hysteria. Social media posts from Australia and New Zealand looked like launches were busy, but undramatic.
Hong Kong and mainland China were more lively, but went ahead without incident.
Prices already appear to be softening on the secondary market.
On eBay, advertisements for the Royal Pop, which appeared as soon as the product was unveiled on Wednesday, had “pre-sale” listings offering it for over £1500.
By last night, this reporter was receiving e-mails saying the listings I had been watching had dropped their prices by £500.
The Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop is a collection of eight colourful fob watches made from sustainable bioceramic and powered by a Swiss-made mechanical Sistem51 movement.
Prices start from £335.
The automatic movement, which is visible through an exhibition case back, has 90 hours of power reserve and is made with a Nivachron balance spring.
There is a version with just hours and minutes hands and an alternative with a small seconds, which presents an opportunity for another pop of colour on the dial.
They are inspired by the Swatch Pop watches of the 1980s and promoted with Andy Warhol-style Pop Art, including AP CEO Ilaria Resta and Swatch Group CEO Nick Hayek immortalised like a Marilyn Monroe portrait.
The watch head is a playful facsimile of the Gerald Genta-designed Royal Oak, complete with a Tapisserie textured dial and the famous octagonal bezel attached with eight colourful screws.
Importantly, the slots in the screw heads precisely align around the dial, just as they do in every Royal Oak.
There may be disappointment that the watch is not designed to be worn on a classic Royal Oak bracelet, which is an important part of its design language, but the watch head can be ‘popped’ out of its lanyard clip, so no doubt some enterprising engineer will come up with a solution, or Swatch will launch a wrist-worn piece in the future.
Shoppers will have a much bigger range of Swatch stores to camp outside than they could for the first MoonSwatch launch in 2022.
Five stores in London will have the products on sale from Saturday, in addition to eight more cities from Cardiff to Edinburgh.
Discover more from PressNewsAgency
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.