Queues build again for £335 Swatch pocket watch launch

Swatch closed its Manchester and Liverpool stores for a second day after queues built up again around the launch of its £335 Royal Pop pocket watch, a release that has turned a limited-edition watch drop into a crowd-control problem.

The Swiss company launched the Royal Pop collection at selected stores worldwide on Saturday, May 16, 2026, as a collaboration with Audemars Piguet. Swatch said the range was inspired by the Pop Art movement of the 1950s and 60s and described it as “a disruptive collaboration between two icons of Swiss watchmaking”. The collection reportedly includes eight models, with official prices between £335 and £350.

Demand quickly spilled far beyond a normal retail launch. Swatch warned that queues of more than 50 people may require sales to be paused in some countries, and it asked people “not to rush to our stores in large numbers”. The company said the items would “remain available for several months”, yet the rush continued, with some watches already being resold online for up to £16,000.

The criticism has gone well beyond impatience. Some shoppers and observers said the watches should have been sold on Swatch’s website rather than through a launch that drew crowds to city centres and prompted police involvement. The handling of the release also raised concerns about whether exclusivity marketing had gone too far, turning a luxury promotion into a public safety issue.

Police were deployed near Versailles in France, an event was cancelled in Dubai, and a man was arrested in Cardiff. In Liverpool, police were called to reports of people making threats outside the store. In New York, shoppers reportedly camped in Times Square for a week, and some became unwell while waiting.

The backlash highlights a familiar modern playbook: scarcity drives attention, social media amplifies it, and the resulting frenzy can overwhelm stores, staff and local police. For Swatch, the launch has delivered instant global visibility. It has also exposed the reputational cost of using artificial scarcity to sell an item that, at £335, is meant to be accessible enough for a wider audience than the resale market suggests.