With the new Audemars Piguet × Swatch Royal Pop, Swatch pays tribute to Audemars Piguet’s iconic Royal Oak with a collection of eight colorful Bioceramic models, presented in a pocket watch format and inspired by Swatch POP.
After a whole week of building huge expectation on social media, Audemars Piguet and Swatch finally present Royal Pop today—an avant-garde collection that combines boldness and positive provocation with haute horlogerie, inspired by pop art, a movement that reinterprets daily iconography of popular culture into works full of vitality, color, and energy. The two brands have merged several of their distinctive elements into an innovative pocket watch, available in eight models and designed to be worn in different ways.
“This alliance is more than a tribute: it is a disruptive collaboration between two iconic Swiss watchmaking brands. The Royal Pop watches take reference from Audemars Piguet’s legendary Royal Oak collection, created in 1972, and the Swatch POP watches, created in the 80s. This collection will transform the way a watch is worn. The models from the AP × Swatch collaboration skip the wrist and are accompanied by a high-quality calfskin strap with contrasting stitching that allows them to be worn in surprising, fun, and dynamic ways, such as hung around the neck, on the wrist, in a pocket, or hooked onto a bag. There are no limits: you can choose between straps of three different lengths, and a small removable stand allows you to convert it into a table clock.”
Swatch
Audemars Piguet × Swatch Royal Pop
In total, eight Swiss-made models have been presented, crafted from Bioceramic and powered by the already iconic SISTEM51 movement, but in a new manual-winding version. Notable features include a power reserve of over 90 hours, an anti-magnetic Nivachron hairspring, and a precision laser adjustment performed directly at the factory.
Each of the eight watches in the collection has a unique color palette, and you can also choose between two versions:
- A Lépine-style pocket watch, where the winding crown is located at 12 o’clock. Reading the time is simplified with two hands, one for hours and one for minutes. This version is presented in six different models.
- A Savonnette-style pocket watch, where the winding crown is located at 3 o’clock. This version, presented in two models, features a small seconds subdial located at 6 o’clock.
The “Petite Tapisserie” dial design has also been one of the aesthetic elements defining the Royal Oak collection since 1972, which is why it is featured on all eight Royal Pop models. For its part, while the Royal Oak’s octagonal bezel is a signature on its own, it doesn’t stop at a simple eight-sided shape: the eight hexagonal screws framing it are perhaps the original watch’s most groundbreaking feature. This signature is enhanced in HUIT BLANC, the white model of the Royal Pop collection, featuring one screw of each color. In all eight models, both the eight screws on the eight-sided bezel and the case back are welded to the case.
For the first time in the Bioceramic collection, the crystals are sapphire, both covering the front and the back of the case of all watches in the collection, featuring an anti-reflective coating.
Additionally, the Bioceramic composition is unique, made of two-thirds ceramic powder and one-third bio-sourced material derived from castor oil, giving it greater resistance and softness. The logos of the Audemars Piguet × Swatch collaboration can be seen on the dial and the crown. The watch head is secured by snapping the back into the clip, which can be removed at will.
The clicking sound during this process also becomes an acoustic signature of this collection.
Audemars Piguet × Swatch can be purchased exclusively starting May 16, 2026, at selected Swatch stores. Just like with other Swatch collaborations, only one watch can be purchased per person, per day, per selected store.
Price
The approximate retail price will be €385 for the version with hour and minute indication (two hands) and €400 for the version with hour, minute, and second indication. Swatch
What do I think of them?
On one hand, the entire pre-launch marketing campaign was incredible, proving that “classic” watchmaking is not as “dead” as we’ve been hearing for a long time. In an era where we monitor our steps, our weight, our heart rate, and receive continuous notifications, returning once in a while to a watch that “only” tells the time is not only possible, but it will also help us manage our day differently.
But anyway, as I was saying, after a week of being one of the main topics on practically every social network—where, thanks to AI, it was hard to tell real images from fake ones—these new watches were finally presented yesterday. The reaction after the presentation has been very curious. Overall, in my opinion, one word defines it: disappointment due to the high expectations and the huge hype generated. Nobody expected a 50% pocket watch, 50% pendant watch. It was known that it would have several uses, but no one expected that wearing it on the wrist wouldn’t be one of them.
Of course, it won’t be long before we see aftermarket cases/straps adapting it for wrist wear, although I have doubts about its actual comfort, since we are starting with a diameter of 40 mm, and any addition will push it to 44 or 45 mm.
Evaluating the watches themselves, trying to set aside the built-up expectations, I really like their design and almost all the color combinations created. While waiting to handle and evaluate them in person, the Bioceramic used on this occasion seems to be the highest quality and best looking to date, mainly due to the increased amount of ceramic in the mix. Additionally, they use sapphire crystal on both the front and the back, something that would have been appreciated in the MoonSwatch and the Scuba Fifty Fathoms.
Finally, I believe this collaboration between Swatch and Audemars Piguet must have other underlying reasons: other collaborations, agreements between the two companies, exchanges? I have my doubts that it was only to create a watch that, apparently, was not designed to be worn on the wrist.
