Damaged Goods: the Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Oak Debacle
The hype started immediately. Just a little over a week ago, Audemars Piguet and Swatch began teasing the unthinkable: a collaboration. Well, not just a collab, it quickly became clear that this would be another bioceramic recreation, of sorts, of an iconic watch. Named “Royal Pop,” thus evoking the most Veblen of watches, the Royal Oak. Without even showing what the final product would be, collectors, enthusiasts, speculators, hype chasers, pop culture analysts, your awkward relative that texts you everything watch-related they stumble upon, knew this would be big. Not just big in terms of the watch industry, but big in terms of product launches on a global level. Think iPhone, but dumber. When Swatch launched the MoonSwatch back in 2022, there were similar initial reactions. Contempt, excitement, speculation. On the day of launch, I met up with Worn & Wound co-founder Blake Malin to head to a store to maybe pick one up. While on the train, we heard about the lines and decided to bail. Thanks to sites like StockX and eBay, the value of these watches skyrocketed before launch, drawing in a crowd of opportunistic resellers. No shade towards them, a living is a living, but the tone of the launch shifted. It wasn’t for us anymore. Eventually, social media outlets reported that some of the lines were getting rowdy. Not a good look. Despite the inane “boutique” launch model, eventually we got the watches, and, for a time, they were fun. Back to 2026 – despite knowin...
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