For the first time in 54 years of history, Audemars Piguet and Swatch join forces: the DNA of the Royal Oak leaves Le Brassus to land in a boutique of the iconic colorful brand from Biel. This is no small thing: AP had never licensed its most iconic silhouette to any external partner.
The first surprise is the form of the object. The Royal Pop is not a wristwatch: it is a collection of eight Bioceramic pocket watches, powered by a new hand-wound SISTEM51 movement, designed to be worn on a lanyard, clipped to a bag, or kept in a pocket. A bold choice, driven by the desire not to simply replicate a Royal Oak at a lower price point — something that would have undermined the positioning of the original.
On the design front, the 40mm case retains the full visual language of the Royal Oak: octagonal bezel, satin finishing, and eight exposed screws. The eight colorways are all bold and vibrant, with a Pop Art inspiration declared from the very name — a nod to the Swatch POP line of the early Nineties.
Pricing starts at $400 for the hours-and-minutes models, and $420 for the small seconds variants. The launch is set for Saturday, May 16, in-store only, with a limit of one watch per person per day. And in keeping with the spirit of the project, AP has chosen to direct 100% of its proceeds toward the preservation of watchmaking savoir-faire and the training of the next generation of horological talent.
