Depending on the size, features, and finish, Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak watches can range in price from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop pocket watches will be far more affordable when available starting on May 16th through select Swatch stores — relatively speaking. The Lépine version, with its crown at the 12 o’clock position, will be $400, while an alternate Savonnette style, with its crown at three o’clock, will be $420. They’ll each come with a calfskin leather lanyard but other accessories will also be available including a desk clock holder.
In addition to their brightly colored waterproof cases made from Bioceramic and scratch-resistant sapphire glass, the pocket watches feature a variant of Swatch’s Sistem51 movement the company developed over a decade ago that can be mass-produced on an automated assembly line to reduce cost. The simplified Sistem51 movement in the Royal Pop skips the original’s self-winding functionality for a manual-wind design with a 90-hour power reserve.
This isn’t Swatch’s first collaboration with a luxury brand. Swatch’s incredibly popular MoonSwatch collection was a collaboration with Omega, while its Scuba Fifty Fathoms lineup came from a partnership with Blancpain. However, both Omega and Blancpain are part of the larger Swatch Group. Audemars Piguet is instead an independent Swiss watchmaker still controlled by the descendants of Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet.
That will potentially make this collection even more coveted by collectors, as well as potentially scalpers. To help with what will probably be a high demand, Swatch is limiting sales to one pocket watch per person per store per day, according to Wired.
