The Audemars Piguet x Swatch Collab has Landed, and Nothing will be the Same Again

And just like that, watch culture enters a new chapter. Yep, Audemars Piguet x Swatch have just dropped a collection of Royal Pop pocket watches into the chat, and they sure do hit different. Feast your eyes on them, screenshot them, pop them in that very active “OMG AP x Swatch” Whatsapp group you just set up, do what you need to do. Then when you’re ready, scroll down to find out everything about this unlikely horological coexistence – so spectacularly unexpected that less than a week ago absolutely no one (myself included) could have possibly believed such a collab could ever happen.

Last Wednesday at Swatch HQ, that changed – at least for me. Looking up to see Ilaria Resta, Audemars Piguet CEO, and Nick Hayek, Swatch Group CEO, walk out of the Nicholas G Hayek Conference Hall together was a real ‘holy shit’ moment on a par with Nick Mohammed cheating on Joe Marler in Celebrity Traitors. What they proceeded to share with a small group of journalists – ones with no preconceived ideas or AI-designed bioceramic Royal Oaks clouding their judgement – stands to be a bigger deal than the MoonSwatch when it was unveiled in March 2022.

“We are not just bringing a new dial or a new band; we have something new to say. It’s a win-win what we have done,” Hayek tells me 10 minutes after unveiling the Royal Pop collection. And Resta backs up his sentiment: “The only way to play safe is to not do anything, and that’s not in AP’s DNA. If people don’t criticise the project then we haven’t pushed hard enough.

“I see this as a gift for the entire industry because what we are doing ultimately is educating people to love watchmaking in Switzerland.”

Every detail about the Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop

The one-off collection comprises eight pocket watches in eight different colourways (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; pink/yellow/teal, Otg Roz). Depending on how competent you are on Duolingo, you’ll clock that each name is made up of ‘eight’ and the colour of it in French, English, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, German and Romansh (a lesser used language in Switzerland).

You’ll also notice some very strong design elements from AP’s iconic Royal Oak. There’s the very unique octagon (eight-sided) shape and the bezel which has eight bezel screws. (By now, you might have noticed eight is the recurring theme.)

Each dial pays its respect to the famous “Petite Tapisserie”, the very recognisable pattern you get on a Royal Oak and the 12 hour markers set out on the dial and coated with Grade A Super-LumiNova are also very Royal Oak coded. There is a protective sapphire plate on the front and on the back, making it 8.4mm in thickness in total. Oh, and every lanyard is made from calfskin and has a bioceramic attachment that the watch case can click in and out of (hence the ‘Clack!’ teasers). The Royal Pop measures 40mm without the clip and 44.2mm by 53.2mm with it.

The movement in the Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop

There’s a bit of ‘business up front, party at the back’ vibe when you flip over the watches to see the caseback. Each piece has its own unique Pop Art visible on parts of the movement. As suspected, Swatch’s trusty SISTEM51 calibre is powering the Royal Pop pieces, however real ones will notice it has been completely reconstructed to make it a hand-wound mechanism (these are pocket watches folks, so you don’t need a self winding mechanism), which has an impressive power reserve of 90 hours.

There are 15 active patents for this movement and while I’m not going to go into all of them, one of the most important ones is the barrel drum you might have noticed. Some little holes are visible, which act as a power reserve indicator; when the watch is completely empty, the dots are grey. Wind it about 80 times to completely wind the mechanism and when you do, the dots will change to yellow gold. The piece de resistance is the anti-magnetic Nivachron balance spring, which some people have rightly predicted might feature in the collab as Swatch and AP have worked on the development of this exact part before.

Easter eggs to look out for

If you know your pocket watches, you’ll know there are various types and styles. Two of the most popular are the Lépine, where the crown is at 12 o’clock and a Savonnette pocket watch is where the crown is located at 3pm. Six of the pieces are Lépine and the two Savonnette boast petite seconde subdials. Of the two Savonnettes (Lan Ba and Otg Roz), the latter is inspired by Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe painting – can you tell?

For the white ‘Huit Blanc’ Royal Pop, you’ll notice that the indexes are all different colours. Each piece will have the same sequence of coloured hour markers on the dials, however the same won’t apply to the coloured screws on the bezel. They have been assembled at random so Swatch says there are three million possibilities, meaning each ‘Huit Blanc’ pocket watch will be unique.

How big will the hype be?

Back in the very same room in March 2022, I was present for the unveiling of the first MoonSwatch collection. I predicted they would break the internet and wasn’t far off. This Swatch x Audemars Piguet collab breaks new ground though, for two reasons. A) the noise is already arguably greater because of AP’s place within popular culture compared to Omega, but B) the Royal Pop is also more groundbreaking because it is potentially going to redefine how people wear watches.

“Do I think there will be queues,” jokes Hayek, “is this really a serious question? The question will be, are we facing the crazy queues from the first MoonSwatch? Are we facing 5,000 people in front of a store in Australia? It might be. I don’t know.” So far, the signs are ‘yes, it will’ as queues have already started to form outside Swatch stores in London and New York.

Hayek and Resta were on the same page when they confirmed that while there will be a limitation in terms of how long the Royal Pop will be produced, Swatch will not eternally continue to make them. “There is not a number that we are fixing and sending out to people. Perhaps eight months or 18?” says Hayek. “The only thing [they can confirm] is it’s a one off collaboration.”

This will of course make it attractive to resellers. “It’s unavoidable – they know that the product will be short. It’s very selective. It’s not online. You can only buy it in a store,” adds Hayek.

It is also novel and exciting, and very much aimed at the Gen Zs who are keen to get into watchmaking. It’s inscribed in this philosophy I have that watchmaking is not only the product, but it’s also the culture around it so it’s very important to be a bit audacious and ambitious and go after the next generations,” says Resta. “The idea of this lanyard is smart because it’s a very premium way to attach it around your neck or to a bag. I really see many more expressions as we will not be able to tell people how to use it. We want people to tell us how to use it so we want people to play with it.”

The making of the Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop

Resta’s first ever watch was a Swatch at 13 years old after doing well in her exams. Fast forward to now, two and half years after taking over at AP, and Resta’s vision for an AP x Swatch has been realised.

“Compared to a lot of people from the traditional watch industry, Ilaria’s mind is open. She’s not blocked by ‘you cannot do this’. That was really cool,” says Hayek on working together. “And I give her credit for the pocket watch – that came from her. Immediately I said, You’re right. Swatch has the Pop watch, this is perfect, so the name Royal Pop was easy. We were both in agreement that there would be no wristwatch.”

For the history fans out there, Swatch’s Pop has been around since the ’80s and AP’s Royal Oak debuted in 1972, so now feels like as good a time as ever to pool together the genes of these icons.

“The way we worked with Nick has been very informal and very creative,” says Resta. “We are two people that like to think outside of the box and not be constrained by fear or judgment. We do what we believe is right.”

Both Swatch and Audemars Piguet share a similar mission to keep evolving the watch industry, which is why this partnership could be so fruitful for both brands. “We wanted to donate AP’s entire proceeds to initiatives supporting the preservation and transmission of watchmaking savoir-faire, with a focus on rare skills,” says Resta. “This is something that is endangered and this is a way where pop culture can support high end watchmaking. We don’t see this as a commercial activity; rather we leverage the scale of Swatch to reach more younger people. Audemars Piguet is exclusive when it comes to the number of watches we can produce because we preserve our philosophy of handmade finishings and complications. But at the same time, we don’t want to exclude people. That’s where Swatch came in.”

How to get hold of the Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop

Prices start from £335 for the Lépine-style pocket watches and £350 for the two Savonnette-style pieces. That converts to €385/€400 across Europe, CHF350/375 in Switzerland and $400/$420 in the US. Come Saturday, they will be available to purchase in-store at 200 selected Swatch stores around the world, with one piece per person per store per day. It is worth noting that there are also longer lanyards and desk clock holders (in all eight colours) and these accessories will be available online. The accessories are purposefully not branded with ‘Royal Pop’.