By Alessandro Parodi
May 18 (Reuters) - Swiss watchmaker Swatch was forced to shut stores and cap queues after the launch of its Royal Pop pocket watch in collaboration with Audemars Piguet drew large crowds and triggered brawls among shoppers.
The watches combining Swatch's 1980s pop-art style with the Audemars Piguet octagonal bezel sell for $400 to $420, far below the many thousands of dollars commanded by Audemars Piguet's luxury watches, leading many to buy and then flip Royal Pop timepieces online
at inflated prices.
Social media posts and video showed queues of shoppers at stores in New York, London, Barcelona and Dubai at the weekend, with disturbances at some forcing police intervention. Shoppers were caught on video brawling outside a Swatch store in Milan among others.
The frenzy resulting from an aggressive social media campaign forced Swatch to take action rapidly as the situation threatened to get out of control.
"To ensure the safety of both our customers and staff in Swatch stores, we kindly ask you not to rush to our stores in large numbers to acquire this product," Swatch said in a statement over the weekend.
A Swatch spokesperson said on Monday that challenges arose on launch day at about 20 Swatch stores out of a total of 220 globally because of exceptionally long queues and insufficient organisation at some malls, but the situation has normalised.
He added that the company has received millions of clicks on its website and 11 billion views on social media since the launch of the collaboration. The company has yet to disclose data on Royal Pop sales.
FLIPPED FOR A SMALL FORTUNE
A full set of the eight Royal Pop models fetched more than $25,000 on live marketplace StockX on Sunday while various unofficial websites sold custom-made bracelets to convert Royal Pop timepieces to wristwatches for upwards of $50.
"I think there's a small window of opportunity going on here for the flippers who potentially are going to make a lot of money," said Jon White, director of British precious metals dealer Gold Traders.
Whether they maintain that elevated value within the aftermarket is another matter, he said. "It's bonkers, absolutely bonkers," he added.
Audemars Piguet watches can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Auction house Sotheby's said that a 1921 Grosse Pièce astronomical pocket watch fetched $7.7 million last December.
Swatch shares gained almost 18% in a week after the group first teased the partnership this month. But they have fallen more than 7% since a May 8 peak as the market reacted to news that the timepieces would be available only as pocket watches.
(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi in GdanskEditing by Adam Jourdan and David Goodman)
