Everything You Need to Know about the Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop (Live Photos & Video)

For the past few days, if you’re even remotely into watches, your Instagram feed has probably been flooded with speculations about Swatch’s next big collaboration. Ever since the first teasers dropped, the rumours have only grown louder. And, honestly, the clues were becoming impossible to ignore. Swatch would be teaming up with Audemars Piguet, and some Royal Oak DNA would be recombined to create what would be named the Royal Pop… But without knowing exactly what to expect? In many ways, the anticipation was part of the fun. The cryptic hints, the endless discussions, the close examination of every teaser frame, all of it helped build the excitement around a project that already felt special long before its official reveal. Well, the wait is finally over, and it is time to lift the veil on that unusual, fresh, funky project…  We’ll take you through every detail of this highly anticipated and very cool Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop, from its design inspirations to the subtle touches that make this collaboration unique. And importantly, it’s not just a bio-ceramic version of the Royal Oak wristwatch. The Royal Pop turns the RO into a hand-wound, transformable pocket watch. 

The Genesis

Before delving into details, let’s first take a moment to look back at the history of the collection and of its genesis. The Swatch brand itself needs little introduction, being truly embedded in popular culture. A game-changing idea of Nick Hayek to rejuvenate the brand, Swatch’s collaboration saga took off in 2022 with the launch of the MoonSwatch. Omega’s iconic Speedmaster Moonwatch was reimagined in colourful bioceramic versions at an accessible price point. The launch sparked massive queues around the world and introduced a new generation to Swiss watchmaking. Building on that success, Swatch unveiled the Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms in collaboration with Blancpain in September 2023. And naturally, speculations were going around to figure out what could be the next horological icon to be revisited, within the portfolio of the Swatch Group? Could it be the Breguet Type XX, as many speculated for the past months?

Well, the teasers posted a few days ago were quite explicit. The new collaboration model for Swatch isn’t with a brand from the Group. We’re getting an Audemars Piguet x Swatch collaboration instead… And to be honest, what watch could be better for Swatch than the Royal Oak to create hype? The AP Royal Oak is arguably the ultimate watchmaking icon: a timepiece with exceptional horological pedigree that has evolved into a genuine modern cultural icon. Importantly, for such a collab, you need a brand ready to embark on such a project. And among haute horlogerie names, AP has always embraced an open-minded vision of watchmaking, engaging in collaboration with diverse worlds, particularly within the sphere of contemporary pop culture. 

The Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop

So what could be the Royal Pop? A Royal Oak Jumbo wristwatch in colourful bio ceramic? Not quite… This would have been too easy and potentially harmful to the RO. The best way to define the Royal Pop is probably to name it a “convertible Royal Oak pocket watch inspired by the Swatch POP.” This interesting choice from the two brands is surely motivated by the desire to break away from traditional watchmaking codes and to interestingly create new ways of wearing a time object. For Audemars Piguet, it is also a way to engage in a popular collaboration without creating a straightforward, affordable reproduction of a Royal Oak wristwatch. Instead, the brand has chosen the Royal Oak Pocket watch reference 5691 as one of its sources of inspiration.

To understand where the Royal Pop name comes from, we have to remember the Swatch POP, a series launched in the early 1990s. It was designed as a small round watch head on a pin or clip system, so you could wear it in all types of creative ways, thanks to different accessories: pinned to clothing, onto a bag, attached to a bracelet…

In the same spirit, the AP x Swatch Royal Pop is built to allow you to wear and use your timepiece in different ways: around your neck, in your pocket, attached to a handbag, as a table clock, and maybe at some point on the wrist… Indeed, Swatch doesn’t provide a system to wear it on the wrist, but leaves the door open to external suppliers to imagine other ways to wear a Royal Pop. And, if you have a bit of imagination, you can find numerous other cool ideas. 

The Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop is clipped to a pocket watch holder with a calfskin lanyard. Different Bioceramic clip holders and lanyards (in different lengths and colours) can be later acquired as accessories. And again, you can imagine dozens of potential colour configurations, from classics to the most unusual and fun ones. There is also a small removable stand that lets you turn it into a desk clock, and that can be closed to protect the dial. Talking about protection, the Royal Pop features two sapphire crystals on the front and back of the case, contrary to the synthetic material used on the MoonSwatch and the Scuba Fifty Fathoms.

This colourful Bioceramic Royal Pop pocket watch measured 40mm in diameter and only 8.4mm in thickness without the case holder, not too far away from the dimensions of an actual AP Royal Oak Jumbo (and compact enough to potentially wear it on the wrist…) When mounted on the clip, the Royal Pop measures 44,2mm x 53,2mm. It follows the traditional codes of the Royal Oak with an octagonal bezel, a vertical satin finish and 8 screws. One particularity of the Huit Blanc white/rainbow version, the 8 screws come in different colours, which are actually positioned randomly from the factory, giving thousands of possible configurations. The dial features most of the Royal Oak’s signature elements, such as the Petite Tapisserie pattern and bathtude-shaped hands and hour markers. The hour and minute hands, as well as the hour markers, are coated with Super-LumiNova Grade A for optimal legibility in all conditions.

Hand-Wound Sistem51 movement

Just like the Swatch x Blancpain Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms, the Royal Pop is powered by the Sistem51 movement, a calibre known for its innovative conception, and for the first time in a hand-wound version. The Sistem51 is known as the first mechanical movement with fully automated assembly. The escapement does not have a regulator (no-index assembly), and the rate, or precision, is factory-set using laser technology. Precision is rated at -5/+15 seconds per day. An interesting point, it boasts a solid 90-hour power reserve and an anti-magnetic Nivachron hairspring. 

The movements are visible through the exhibition caseback of the watch and are decorated with a colourful pop-art inspired printing, reminiscent of Roy Lichtenstein. An original touch, the barrel is openworked with circular openings where the coils of the mainspring are visible, and as the watch is wound or unwound, the changing tension and spacing of these coils act as a natural power reserve indicator. As explained by Swatch, “When the barrel chambers are grey, they reveal the coils of the mainspring. This means the watch needs to be wound. Conversely, when the colour is gold, the mainspring is no longer visible through the barrel chambers. It is fully compressed, indicating that the watch is fully wound and running at full power.”

The Full Royal Pop Collection

The Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop comes in 8 different versions across two distinct configurations: a Lépine-style pocket watch with a crown at 12 o’clock and hour-minute indication only, and a savonnette-style pocket watch with a 3 o’clock crown and a small second at 6 o’clock (for 2 of the 8 versions).

The 8 models, a nod to the octagonal bezel of the Royal Oak, are named in different languages, combining colours and the number eight: Otto Rosso (red and pink), Huit Blanc (white and rainbow), Green Eight (green and light green) Blaue Acht (lime green and light blue), Orenji Hachi (navy blue and orange), Lan Ba (light blue and mid-blue), Ocho Negro (black and white), Otg Roz (pink, yellow and teal).

Thoughts, Availability & Price

Like the MoonSwatch, this Audemars Piguet x Swatch collaboration will surely get its share of critics. Within the team, we think it is fun, fresh, and contributes to the whole industry by creating global hype around collectable Swiss watches. And judging by the buzz already building online, you might want to start planning your spot in line outside the boutiques now. The Royal Pop will be available from selected Swatch Boutiques only (which can be checked on swatch.com). To manage expectations, purchases should be limited to one watch per person and a few units for the accessories (the latter are also available online, but not the watches). 

The price is set at CHF 350 / EUR 385 / USD 400 for the hour-and-minute versions and CHF 375 / EUR 400 / USD 420 for the small seconds versions. Last but not least, Audemars Piguet will use 100% of its proceeds to fund a dedicated initiative supporting the preservation and transmission of watchmaking savoir-faire, with a focus on rare skills and the next generation of horological talent.

For more details about the Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop, please visit www.swatch.com and www.audemarspiguet.com.