Audemars Piguet X Swatch Teamed Up For The Buzziest Pocket Watch Collab Of The Year
The luxe horologist and the affordable watchmaker join forces for the new “Royal Pop” line.
A handsome Audemars Piguet watch is a luxury status symbol chased by many but secured by few, and in the same vein as its recent slew of affordable timepiece collaborations, Swatch is bringing a taste of the rarefied AP life to the watch-wearing masses.
Perhaps the most buzzed-about watch collaboration of the year first caught fire online over the past week, as enterprising wrist game sleuths from Reddit and the style mavens at GQ speculated over what the luxury horologist might bring to the table with playful timepiece brand Swatch. The results are here via a teaser of what’s to drop on May 16, as Audemars Piguet x Swatch gear up to debut a lineup of eight Bioceramic pocket watches. Yes, pocket watches, rather than the wrist-ready and affordable yet enviable Omega x MoonSwatch series (which now totals more than 30 distinct editions).
For its part, one YouTube watch channel said the AP x Swatch partnership “changes everything,” offering a wildly agreeable alternative to the grail-worthy Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, yet with a few twists and turns. With the forthcoming debut of the accessible and yet unique pocket watch lineup, GQ said that “watch culture enters a new chapter” with this never-before-seen meeting of the minds.
The buzzy partnership, this time around in clever pocket watch form, boasts the same hallmarks of many an Audemars Piguet watch, including the AP “Tapisserie” dial design and cushioned geometric case. The watchmaker didn’t cut corners internally, outfitting each colorful pocket watch with a manually wound mechanical SISTEM51 movement to go along with its distinctly Audemars Piguet Royal Oak-shaped case.
Vibrant colorways dot the new Audemars Piguet x Swatch lineup, including dual logos at the 3-o’clock watch pusher. Dubbed the Audemars Piguet x Swatch “Royal Pop,” one might expect the heavily discussed partnership to fetch just as much interest as the 2022 debut edition of the Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch collaboration, which similarly mimicked iconic watch design in a price-friendly ceramic case. Audemars Piguet x Swatch draws a direct line back to the poppy Swatch “Royal Pop” collection of the 1980s, this time drumming up intense interest from watch forums and all corners of the ‘wrist game’ space.
Set on a lanyard that appears to (largely) match the case color in question, the series of eight vivid pocket watches are no doubt set to appear as a collector’s item, if lucky buyers are able to snag one (or multiple) at select Swatch stores. As watch publication Hodinkee rightly notes, Audemars Piguet x Swatch and its official introduction caps off a multitude of rumors and online speculation. As Hodinkee tells it,”the cat is out of the bag on what is likely to be the biggest watch news of the year.” Look for more from Audemars Piguet and Swatch starting May 16th, with pricing information available in the days ahead.