The Swatch x Audemars Piguet Royal Pop watch launch on May 16, 2026, led to disorder in major cities including Paris, Milan, London, New York, Amsterdam, Utrecht, and near The Hague [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]. In Paris, police fired tear gas at a crowd of about 300 outside a Swatch store, with damage to metal shutters and security gates reported [1, 2, 3, 4]. Swatch closed stores in London and six other UK cities citing safety concerns after large crowds gathered [1, 3, 6].
In Milan, a fight broke out at a Swatch store at opening on May 16, captured on local media footage [1, 2, 3, 4]. Dutch police intervened near The Hague as hundreds flocked to the store, leading to the decision not to open it; the Amsterdam and Utrecht stores also remained closed over the launch weekend [2, 3, 4]. In New York’s Times Square, pushing and shoving erupted among a crowd queuing since May 13. Police used pepper spray and made four arrests at Roosevelt Field mall on Long Island [1, 2, 3, 7, 9].
The Royal Pop is a collaboration combining Audemars Piguet's Royal Oak design and Swatch's 1980s POP line. It is a brightly colored bioceramic pocket watch retailing at US$400-420 but reselling for up to US$4,000 or more [1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9]. Swatch limited purchases to one watch per person at about 200 selected stores worldwide [1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9].
Swatch reported launch day challenges at roughly 20 of 220 global stores, mainly due to long queues and safety issues, but said conditions had since normalized [6]. A spokesperson urged customers not to rush stores in large numbers for safety reasons and requested limiting queue sizes [6, 8]. Social media hype, including AI-generated images misrepresenting the product as wristwatches, intensified demand and confusion [5].
Observers noted that despite the watch’s affordable retail price, the frenzy revealed strong market demand for scarcity, hype, and luxury adjacency. "People were buying movie tickets to random movies to enter via the cinema," said Zerxes Wadia, noting scalpers and resellers crowded queues and that some launch events were canceled due to the chaos [8]. A reseller explained, "Retail for them is about $400 — I sold one just now for $4,000." Another buyer said, "It’s basically $2,000 over retail, but you can’t get an AP for less than $2,000, so I think it was a steal" [3].
The official launch was preceded by a reveal on May 12 and queuing beginning May 13 in several cities including New York [1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8]. The disruptions on May 16 mark the latest challenge for retailers managing high-demand product drops across multiple countries.
