Overview
- Following Saturday’s in‑store‑only release, crowds outside Swatch boutiques from New York to London grew so large that many locations shut, with Swatch U.S. citing extraordinarily high demand.
- Police intervened in multiple cities, including tear gas near Paris, K9 units at London sites, and a 25‑year‑old arrested in Cardiff as officers dispersed hundreds trying to enter malls.
- Swatch urged people not to rush stores and stressed the Royal Pop line is not limited, setting one‑per‑person rules and, in some countries, capping queues at 50 with sales pauses if needed.
- The company said some shopping centres failed to manage lines, while the in‑person‑only drop and reseller interest pushed overnight queues and jostling that led to store closures.
- The pocket watches retail for about $400–$420 and initially listed for thousands on resale sites over the weekend, though prices started to ease by Monday as Swatch reiterated ongoing availability.