After weeks of online rumors and cryptic teasers it is finally here. Or at least on its way, as the Swatch x Audemars Piguet Royal Pop is released on Saturday in selected Swatch around the globe. As you have probably seen on the news people have been queueing in New York since Monday, and probably elsewhere too. So, what is the hype all about?
Royal Pop: A love child in eight versions from a marriage of one of the most iconic watches ever and a plastic 1980s disco diva. The 54-year-old octagonal Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, first launched at Baselworld in 1972 is fused with a forever young 40-year-old: the Swatch POP, which first launched in 1986. These 47-millimeter watches had a detachable case and a clip case, which made it possible to clip it on to shirt, bag, cuff – whatever ticked your fancy.
Today’s Royal Pop, which comes in eight colors, and has eight pending patents for the case made by Bioceramic. Eight colors is not a coincidence – two of the strongest details of Royal Oak’s design by Gerld Genta is its eight-sided o bezel, as well as the eight-sided screws fastening it to the case.
On its own the Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal POP measures 40 millimeters, and when mounted in the clip, the measurement is 44.2 by 53.2 millimeters. Its slimness of 8.4 millimeters will make it fit in any pocket, including the coin pocket on your jeans – originally this little pocket was actually called watch pocket.
So, even though the Royal POP is foremost a pocket or a pendant watch with a high-quality calf skin lanyard available in three different lengths – this automatic watch powered by the Sistem 51 movement can also be worn like the pop, thus allowing for a myriad ways of showing it off.
When speaking of the pop-colored dials, the black, pink, frog green, mint green, white, and midnight blue – all with contrasting indexes and hour and minute hands painted with Grade A Super-Luminova®, come in the so-called lépin style, with the crown at 12 o’clock. The other two, with sky blue and turquoise dials, are in the savonnette style – with the crown at 3 o’clock. The savonnette styled models also has a small seconds subdial. All dials are made with the petite tapisserie pattern – a nod to the classical Royal Oak.
Worth noting is also that the Royal POP will age better than most 1980s Swatch watches, as it has a sapphire crystal on the front and back.
As the 1980s trend is lingering, as Hubba Bubba chewing gum colors are in vogue, and as collabs like this are still super-hot, we expect loooooong queues on Saturday. We expect headlines in the newspapers. Wise from the unexpectedly chaotic Swatch x Omega MoonSwatch drop in 2022, each client can only buy one Royal Pop and one Lanyard per day per boutique.
If I had a magic lamp with a genie, I would use my three wishes in the following way: That a majority of the Royal POP watches end up with watch lovers and not with scalpers and flippers. That this cool collection will be the starting point for a new generation of collectors as well as more seasoned. And last but not least that the queues won’t be too long, so that I can pick up a savonnette – I love pocket watches!
Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop
Functions: Hours and minutes / Hours and minutes and small seconds
Movement: Automatic Sistem 51
Case: 40 millimeters. When mounted in the clip, 44.2 by 53.2 millimeters. Thickness: 8.4 millimeters
Material: Bioceramic
Price: 350 for the hours and minute lépin style, 375 for the small seconds savonnette style
