Swatch and Audemars Piguet: camping for days for a plastic watch

The idea is not new at Swatch: a luxury watch, previously Omega or Blancpainis recreated as a Swatch. Very similar, but made of Swatch material, i.e. plastic. The idea of ​​Nick Hayek Jr. went extremely well, the luxury Omegas have been a bestseller since the very beginning, and that’s what came after that Blancpainboth brands from the Swatch group. This time the cooperation goes one step further. Audemars Piguet is a third-party brandalso from Switzerland, founded in 1875. So two big names have joined forces.

Die “Royal Pop”-Audemars Piguet x Swatch collaboration combines two iconic watches, two defining design eras. The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, a classic of modern luxury watch design since 1972, designed by Gérald Genta, the man who gave a face to the Nautilus and the Royal Oak; and the colorful Swatch Pop watches of the 1980s. The new collection includes eight Swiss-made bioceramic models, which will be available to buy from May 16th.

Goal: resale

International guests in particular benefit from this sales launch: the majority of the 25 people in front of the Swatch store in Vienna are not Austrians, but rather guests from abroad. They are hoping for a watch – only one will be given away per person – and for resale on the secondary market. “I want to sell them,” says someone who has been camping in front of the shop for days. He’ll try to saturate on the secondary market 1.500 Euro to get for it.

A good deal if it works out. The watch costs 400 or 420 euros in the storethat would be more than tripling on the secondary market.

Anyone who observes the scene knows that there are such things, especially in the first few days after the launch “Private prices” definitely in there. Even with the Swatch-Omega collaboration or the Swatch-Blacpain collaboration, the prices on the secondary market were initially very high, but then they leveled off at slightly higher than the original price.

About the secondary market said Nick Hayek in an earlier interview with KURIER: “I generally don’t like limitations because they exclude customers. But when a product like the MoonSwatch is so popular and people want to make additional business out of it, unfortunately you can’t prevent that. But we always communicate not to buy them on the secondary market at overpriced prices, because our watches are not limited.”

The watch as a pendant

The special thing about the watch: The watch can be attached to the H as desiredWear it on your wrist, hang it around your neck or hang it somewhere as a pocket watch. This is made possible by three calfskin straps of different lengths and a holder with which the clock can also be used as a table clock. There is no official watch strap.

The design of the Royal Oak remains unmistakable: The octagonal bezel with eight screwsthe iconic “Petite Tapisserie” dial pattern and the satin finish on the case and bezel were adopted and translated into a new, colorfully playful design language.