Overview
- Following Saturday's Royal Pop launch, large queues led to crowd-control actions, with police using tear gas to disperse about 300 people at Westfield Parly 2 near Paris, according to police.
- The in-store-only release with a one-per-person limit drew overnight lines in many cities, echoing Swatch's 2022 MoonSwatch frenzy.
- Swatch kept several French boutiques closed for safety on Saturday, including Parly 2, Lyon, Deauville, Rennes, Lille, Saint-Tropez and Montpellier, after security was overwhelmed.
- Similar scenes emerged abroad, with scuffles reported at Milan stores, packed lines at New York's Times Square, and daylong closures across Swatch shops in London and other UK cities.
- Resellers listed the €385–€400 pocket-style watches for thousands of euros online, as Swatch warned it may pause sales where queues top set limits and pledged ongoing availability with restocks.