New Swatch watch is resold for crazy prices

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• The new "Royal Pop" pocket watch from Swatch and Audemars Piguet is already being resold for thousands of francs.
• The official retail price was around 400 francs or dollars.
• There were riots and police operations in several countries due to the rush.

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The "Royal Pop" pocket watch launched by Swatch and Audemars Piguet on Saturday appeared on resale platforms at massively inflated prices shortly after it went on sale. According to media reports, a complete set of the eight models was resold on StockX on Sunday for more than 25,000 dollars. On Ebay, individual models were on offer on Monday for the equivalent of over 7300 francs.

The official selling price was around 400 euros or 400 to 420 dollars, depending on the market. For many buyers, reselling was part of the deal right from the start. Outside the Swatch store in Times Square in New York, one buyer told the AFP news agency that many had waited up to a week to buy watches and resell them immediately at a significant mark-up.

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A Swatch spokesman spoke on Monday of "phenomenal" demand. He did not give any sales figures. However, the company achieved millions of clicks on its website and 11 billion views on social media.

Eight colored models on offer

There were problems at around 20 of the 220 sales outlets worldwide because the queues were extremely long and the organization of individual shopping centers was inadequate. In France, Italy, Great Britain, Thailand and the USA, according to observers, there were riots, police interventions or temporary store closures. Swatch announced that the situation had normalized in the meantime.

The "Royal Pop" went on sale in selected stores on Saturday, with a purchase limit of one watch per person, per store and per day. In Geneva, for example, more than a thousand people tried to get their hands on a pocket watch.

The collection includes eight colorful pocket watch models inspired by Audemars Piguet's Royal Oak luxury watch line. With its marketing and limited availability, "Royal Pop" is reminiscent of previous bestsellers such as the "Moonswatch" launched in 2022, which Swatch developed together with its sister company Omega.