The most anticipated, and heavily rumored watch drop of the year is, well, officially here and it’s completely turning the horology world upside down. Following the monumental success of the MoonSwatch (with Omega) and the Scuba Fifty Fathoms (with Blancpain), Swatch has teamed up with one of the holy trinity’s of luxury watchmaking: Audemars Piguet (AP).
Titled the “Royal Pop” Collection, this oddly disruptive partnership breaks away from the traditional wristwatch mold. Rather than a plastic Royal Oak on your wrist, the collaboration brings together the famous octagonal geometry from Audemars Piguet’s 1972 Royal Oak with the playful pop-art attitude from the 1980s Swatch POP.
Not a Wristwatch: The Return of the Pocket Watch
In a massive surprise that left hypebeasts and luxury collectors scrambling, the AP x Swatch collaboration kinda features eight unique pocket watches, not your standard wristwear. The number eight is a direct, deliberate nod to the eight sides and also eight iconic hexagonal screws of the legendary Royal Oak bezel, kinda like the whole thing is quietly insisting on that shape. Crafted from Swatch’s signature Bioceramic material (a blend of ceramic and bio-sourced materials derived from castor oil), the 40mm case manages to replicate that complex rounded-octagon look from the Royal Oak, pretty faithfully.
The front and back of the cases are protected by premium sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating, and it includes the dual Audemars Piguet x Swatch logos on the dial and the crown.
How to Wear the Royal Pop Collection
Designed to be very versatile, kinda individual, and always in motion, the Royal Pop watches pretty much rethink how a timepiece fits into everyday fashion. Each watch in the collection shows up bundled with:
Calfskin Lanyards: premium leather lanyards with contrasting stitching, offered in three lengths. You can wear it around the neck, hook it to a belt loop, or clip it in place as a fancy charm onto a tote, or a backpack.
Acoustic Signature: the watch head clips into its holder with a sharp , satisfying “click” sound that Swatch describes as the collection’s acoustic signature.
Desk Stand: a small, detachable desk stand is packed in the box too, turning the pocket watch into this high-end minimalist desk cloc k, almost like magic.
A Brand New Hand-Wound Sistem51 Movement
Purists will be sort of delighted to know that Swatch didn’t just drop a standard quarts battery into these luxury inspired cases. The Royal Pop collection sort of debuts a brand new, manually wound version of Swatch’s automatic SISTEM51 mechanical movement , which feels closer to the thing you do with a pocket watch back when.
Redesigned specifically to catch the authentic, nostalgic ritual of winding a classic pocket watch, the mechanical movement has 15 active patents . Depending on the model, in the 8 piece lineup , some even bring a dedicated small seconds sub dial right on the dial face.
Price, Charity, and Availability
So, the Audemars Piguet x Swatch “Royal Pop” collection launches today, sort of exclusively at select Swatch boutiques, with a strict one watch per person limit. The usual Lépine models come in at $400 (approx. ₹33,500) and the more premium Savonnette variants are $420 (approx. ₹35,000). Because global demand is, well, kind of extreme already, Indian resale prices have been pushed up close to ₹2,000,000. And as a little philanthropic angle, 100% of Audemars Piguet’s proceeds from this collaboration will be set aside for global environmental and cultural preservation initiatives.