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Swiss watchmaker Swatch was forced to temporarily close several of its stores across the United Kingdom after massive crowds gathered to purchase its newly launched limited edition Royal Pop pocket watch collection. The highly anticipated collaboration with luxury watchmaker Audemars Piguet attracted hundreds of eager buyers, leading to safety concerns and police intervention in some cities.
The closures affected Swatch branches in London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, and Sheffield after long queues formed outside stores early on Saturday morning. In some locations, customers had reportedly camped outside stores for days in hopes of securing one of the exclusive watches before they sold out.
Swatch announced that the stores would remain closed “in light of safety considerations for both our customers and our staff.” The company later urged customers not to rush to stores in large numbers, emphasizing that the Royal Pop Collection would remain available for several months. According to the company, some regions may not allow queues of more than 50 people and sales may be paused if crowds become unmanageable.
The Royal Pop collection features eight different models priced from £335 and combines the classic Royal Oak design from Audemars Piguet with the playful modular style of Swatch’s POP watches from the 1980s. Swatch described the collection as “a disruptive collaboration between two icons of Swiss watchmaking,” inspired by the Pop Art movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
Despite the official retail prices, demand for the watches quickly pushed resale prices to extreme levels online, with some listings reportedly reaching as high as £16,000. The rapid increase in resale value only added to the frenzy surrounding the launch.
In Liverpool, crowds began gathering outside the Paradise Street store in the Liverpool One retail area, with some shoppers reportedly camping there for two days. Merseyside Police confirmed officers were called to the scene after reports that a group of males had been acting aggressively and making threats outside the shop at around 07:00 BST. Police stated that officers attended the scene and the crowd later dispersed.
In Cardiff, South Wales Police responded to reports that approximately 300 people were attempting to enter the St Davids shopping centre early Saturday morning. A 25 year old man from Pengam was arrested and issued with a dispersal notice banning him from entering Cardiff city centre for the remainder of the day.
The excitement surrounding the collection was not limited to the United Kingdom. Long queues were also seen outside Swatch stores in cities such as New York, Tokyo, Dubai, and Biel in Switzerland, where Swatch headquarters is located. Reports from New York indicated that some watch enthusiasts had camped outside stores for up to a week, while others reportedly became unwell during the long wait.
Swatch also cancelled its launch event at Dubai Mall in the United Arab Emirates due to the overwhelming turnout. Images shared online showed huge crowds gathering outside stores internationally as collectors and watch enthusiasts rushed to secure the limited edition timepieces.
The situation highlights the growing global demand for exclusive watch collaborations and the influence of limited edition releases in the luxury fashion and collectibles market. The Royal Pop collection has quickly become one of the most talked about watch launches of the year, attracting attention from collectors, fashion enthusiasts, and resellers around the world.
