Incidents in Lille, Milan, Thailand, and the United States: Swatch acknowledges problems.

The Swiss group Swatch claims to have recorded an “exceptional” demand for its new collaboration with the independent watchmaking house Audemars Piguet. Indeed, the launch of the “Royal Pop” collection on Saturday, May 16, led to significant crowds in several countries, even prompting some stores to temporarily close.

According to the Swiss watchmaker Swatch, incidents were reported in about twenty out of the 220 worldwide sales points affected by the launch of the year’s collaboration: the partnership between Swatch and one of the world’s oldest luxury watch manufactures, Audemars Piguet.

The cause? Particularly long queues and sometimes insufficient security measures at certain shopping centers.

“On the day of the launch, there were problems (…), because the queues of interested people were extremely long and the organization made by certain shopping centers was not sufficient to contain this rush,” indicated the Swiss group.

Even before the opening on Saturday, May 16, hundreds of enthusiasts and resellers were already lining up, sometimes for several days, outside certain Swatch stores.

In several cities, the influx quickly escalated, requiring police interventions and immediate store closures.

“The reaction to the Royal Pop collection worldwide is phenomenal, and the demand is immensely high,” added the watch group, comparing the launch of this model with Audemars Piguet to that of the MoonSwatch model in 2022, in partnership with Omega.

In Chesnay-Rocquencourt, near Lyon, nearly 300 people gathered outside the Swatch store at the Westfield Parly 2 shopping center were dispersed by law enforcement using tear gas, and in Lille, several people claimed to have been victims of physical violence in the queue and now wish to file complaints.

Incidents were also reported in Milan, where an altercation broke out in front of a store, as well as in Thailand and the United States, where crowd movements were observed. Only Japan was spared.

“Like the MoonSwatch, things somewhat ‘normalized’ after the launch day,” specified the Swiss group, “especially after we communicated again that the Royal Pop collection would be available for several months.”

This is also a way for the brand to reduce pressure around the initial days of commercialization.

Previous Successful Collaborations

Indeed, in 2022, Swatch had launched a collaboration with Omega, one of the prestige brands of the group. Given its success, Swatch renewed the experience in 2023 by creating a watch with Blancpain, another brand in the group known for its dive watches.

The collaboration with Audemars Piguet, however, marks a notable evolution: this time it is a partnership with an independent brand, considered one of the most prestigious in Swiss watchmaking.

It is worth noting that Swatch Group, which owns 16 watch brands, reported a turnover of 6.28 billion Swiss francs in 2025, approximately 6.86 billion euros. The group does not detail the commercial performances of each of its brands. However, according to an analyst report published last week by Gian Marco Werro from the Zurich Cantonal Bank, it is estimated that the Moonswatch generated additional sales of around 250 million francs in 2022 and 450 million francs in 2023, including the model created with Blancpain.