Switzerland
Audemars Piguet and Swatch have unveiled their “Royal Pop,” a new collection that brings together creativity and audacity with haute horlogerie.
Spearheaded by Audemars Piguet’s CEO Ilaria Resta and Swatch Group CEO Nick Hayek, the line reimagines the iconic Royal Oak design into a modular pop-art pocket watch and pendants where joyful boldness and positive provocation meet fine watchmaking.
Inspired by Pop Art, the two CEO’s collaboration reinterprets Royal Oak iconic codes through a disruptive pocket watch, available in eight models and designed to be worn in multiple ways.
The result is far more than a timepiece, it’s a statement of creativity in the form of a watch.
And that statement takes shape in a collection that breaks the rules of watchmaking and disrupts the traditional way of wearing a watch.
“Why this collaboration?” asks Ilaria Resta. “For the joy and boldness it represents. Because audacity is often the starting point of innovation and new ideas. And because it invites a broader audience including the younger generations to experience mechanical watchmaking differently.”
With the Royal Pop, the timepiece moves beyond the wrist to express itself differently. Worn around the neck, in the pocket, as a bag charm or as an accessory, each piece stands out with a high-quality calfskin lanyard with contrast stitching, adding a playful yet contemporary dimension.
This is not a plastic Royal Oak. It’s inspired by Genta’s design language for the Royal Oak but is not a copy, bringing it to younger generations in a surprising format, the world of charms and wearable accessories, “a complete new way to wear time” as Swatch put it.
Royal Pop is a transformable pocket watch that can be worn around the neck, clipped onto bags, displayed as a desk clock (Swatch will offer desk stands) or carried in your pocket. Notably there are no wrist straps on sale as yet, though anyone with access to a 3D printer can create their own instantly.
This colourful bioceramic collection is powered by Swatch’s innovative SISTEM51 movement, presented here in a new hand-wound version incorporating 15 active patents.
It offers over 90 hours of power reserve, an anti-magnetic Nivachron balance spring and laser-based precision adjustment performed directly at the factory.
From a design perspective, the Royal Pop incorporates key Royal Oak signatures, including the “Petite Tapisserie” pattern, the octagonal bezel, and its eight hexagonal screws.
The vertical satin finish on the bezel and case back reinforces the collection’s identity, while Super-LumiNova Grade A on the hands and hour markers ensures optimal nighttime readability.
The entire collection features two sapphire crystals on the front and back of the case.
The design cues are unmistakably Royal Oak, from the octagonal bezel and screws to the geometric Petite Tapisserie pattern on the dial and the typography. The execution, however, is all Swatch, in terms of bright colours and cutesy multilingual names for the eight variations.
Six are time-only, and two have a small-seconds subdial. They also vary by crown (the time-only designs are Lépine-style, with the crown at 12, and the small-seconds are Savonette, with the crown at 3).
The clever thing is that the watches work as designs in themselves.
They are a way of bringing new audiences to watchmaking (always the point of Swatch), all without detracting from the Royal Oak’s status as a grail watch.
The Audemars Piguet x Swatch collection is only available in a selection of Swatch stores.
As part of this collaboration, Audemars Piguet will use 100% of its proceeds to fund a dedicated initiative supporting the preservation and transmission of watchmaking savoir-faire, with a focus on rare skills and the next generation of horological talent.
Project: The Bioceramic Royal Pop Collection
Designers: Ilaria Resta and Nick Hayek
Manufacturers: Audemars Piguet Holding S.A. and The Swatch Group Ltd.
