Since 1875, Audemars Piguet has been at the core of Swiss watchmaking, relentlessly blending luxury with bold designs in the Royal Oak. The avant-garde craftsmanship is now shared with Swatch to deliver a collaboration first Royal Pop in eight different models. The watch, designed to be worn in multiple ways, is not a traditional wristwatch, but a vision of an Instagram-worthy pocket watch. Don’t miss the pop of colors and the innovative audacity that underlie the ethos of this new collaborative timepiece when sharing a picture of it on your profile.
The eight colorful pocket watches by Audemars Piguet and Swatch are inspired by the former’s Royal Oak and the latter’s POP watches from the 1980s. This may be Swatch’s first partnership with AP, but the watchmaker has a history of making exciting collaborative models such as the Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch. While the new watches share the same Bioceramic case as the MoonSwatch, there are many differences, lets learn them in detail below.
Designer: Audemars Piguet x Swatch
The joyful collaborative Royal Pop makes a statement with its bold colorways and the intent to give a new vision to the traditional way of wearing a watch. The watch features Swatch’s patented Bioceramic (a composite material) case, but the larger distinction – or similarity, if you may – is its Royal Oak inspiration. It has an octagonal bezel slapped with eight hexagonal screws, ‘Petite Tapisserie’ pattern on the dial, and comes with three lanyard lengths to wear it in different ways.
The colorful Bioceramic Royal Pop pocket watch with Royal Oak pedigree measures 40mm in diameter, and it is only 8.4mm thick. The hour and minute hands under the sapphire crystal feature Super-LumiNova for readability in the dark. Other interesting aspects of the Royal Pop are its see-through caseback and its innovative SISTEM51 movement, designed by Swatch.
As noted, the Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop comes in eight different models. These are further divided into two distinct configurations: Lépine and Savonnette. The six Lépine-style pocket watches feature hour and minute hands and a crown at 12 o’clock. Two Savonnette-style watches, on the other hand, have a crown placed at a more recognizable 3 o’clock position, and in addition to the hour and minutes, also have a small second hand at 6 o’clock.
Bioceramic Royal Pop pocket watch, as mentioned, is powered by Swatch’s hand-wound SISTEM51 movement, which is reportedly the only mechanical movement with a “100% automated assembly.” The movement features an anti-magnetic Nivachron balance spring along with laser-based precision adjustment set directly at the factory. It will provide the pocket watch with up to 90 hours of power reserve. The Bioceramic Royal Pop Collection is now available for purchase through selected Swatch stores, starting at $400 for the hour-and-minute versions. The model with a small second hand will cost you $420 before taxes.
