Swatch x Audemars Piguet Royal Pop official images: here is your first look

Swatch and Audemars Piguet have officially pulled back the curtain on the Royal Pop Collection. And the first images do not disappoint.

Eight pocket watches that blend the legendary Royal Oak design with Swatch‘s playful POP watches from the 1980s.

At the heart of the collection is a world first. Swatch has reimagined its signature SISTEM51 movement as a hand-wound caliber.

That’s really cool. The SISTEM51 has always been fully automated in production – so reworking it for hand-winding is a genuine technical milestone, dressed up here with a Pop Art flourish.

The watches come in two classic pocket watch styles: Lépine and Savonnette (where the crown is located at 3 and 12, respectively).

The colour combinations are bold and fun – think pinks, turquoises, yellows, crisp whites and deep blacks. This is not a collection for the shy retiring type, and they’re actually much more fun than the AI renders.

Each watch features a display caseback showing off the movement, a small seconds dial, and the AP x Swatch logo printed cleanly on the dial. The Pop module clips directly into the frame, which is a satisfying detail when you see it in action.

As expected from all the teasers so far, a lanyard appears to be the intended way to carry these. What’s notably absent from everything shown so far is any kind of wrist strap. Whether that’s an option further down the line, Swatch is leaving it open. We expect third party manufacturers are ready to fill the gap.

Swatch will be selling longer lanyards and desk clock holders (in all eight colours) online however.

The Royal Pop Collection goes on sale on May 16 at selected Swatch stores worldwide, with buying limited to one piece per person per store per day.

The Royal Pop will cost US$400 / £335 for the Lépine-style pocket watches and US$420 / £350 for the two Savonnette-style pieces.

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Spencer Hart Buying Guide Editor

About

As Buying Guide Editor, Spencer is responsible for all e-commerce content on Stuff, overseeing buying guides as well as covering deals and new product launches. Spencer has been writing about consumer tech for over eight years. He has worked on some of the biggest publications in the UK, where he covered everything from the emergence of smartwatches to the arrival of self-driving cars. During this time, Spencer has become a seasoned traveller, racking up air miles while travelling around the world reviewing cars, attending product launches, and covering every trade show known to man, from Baselworld and Geneva Motor Show to CES and MWC. While tech remains one of his biggest passions, Spencer also enjoys getting hands-on with the latest luxury watches, trying out new grooming kit, and road-testing all kinds of vehicles, from electric scooters to supercars.

Areas of expertise

Watches, travel, grooming, transport, tech