Well, it’s here. After a great deal of speculation, Swatch and Audemars Piguet’s new “Royal Pop” collaboration has been unveiled. Only a few years ago, a partnership between Swatch, known mostly for inexpensive, colorful quartz watches that often serve as a gateway to a life of watch enthusiasm, and Audemars Piguet, a “Holy Trinity” brand that makes the Royal Oak, one of the most exclusive and coveted watches in the world, would have felt impossible. But the MoonSwatch changed all that, and now it seems like just about anything is possible in the world of high/low collaborations.
The first thing to point out is the very obvious fact that this is not a wristwatch. These are, in fact, pocket watches, in bioceramic Royal Oak shaped cases. There are eight watches in total in two different styles, and they are powered by manually sound SISTEM51 movements.
The Royal Oak design motifs are easy to identify here. Each has the expected “Petite Tapisserie” dial that the Royal Oak is known for, as well as an 8 sided bezel. They even included the hexagonal screws.
Let’s go through the multiple variants of the Royal Pop. First we have the “Lépine” style case, which has a crown located at the 12:00 position. There are six colorways of the Lépine style case: Otto Rosso (pink and red), Huit Blanc (white with rainbow accents), Green Eight (green on green), Orenji Hachi (navy with orange accents), Blaue Acht (lime green and light blue) and Ocho Negro (black and white).
The “Savonette” cases are distinguished by a small seconds dial at 6:00 and a crown located at 3:00. There are two variants here, the Lan Ba, which has a dark blue dial and a light blue bezel and subsidiary seconds, and the OTG ROZ, which feels like the flagship of the entire collection to me, and features a case in pink with a bright yellow bezel along with a teal dial.
This appears to the first instance of a SISTEM51 movement that is manually wound and not automatic (it is still made via an automated system without human intervention). There is a subtle power reserve indicator on the movement itself (visible of course through an exhibition caseback). The visible barrel chambers change color depending on how much power is left in the mainspring. When they are gray, they provide an indication of the total power reserve, and when they are gold, it is an indication that the watch is fully wound. The movement has a total power reserve of approximately 90 hours when fully wound. The movement decoration is a lot of fun and one of the more charming aspects of the watch – it is pure pop-art and centers the design language in something very specific.
Part of the impetus for these watches seems to be to adjust how we think of “wearing” a watch. There are a number of ways these watches can be worn with the included lanyard detachable clip that each case fits into. Each watch can conceivably be worn around the neck, in a pocket, attached to a bag, or set up as a desk clock. There are a lot of possibilities. The cases measure 40mm in diameter without the clip, and 44.2mm by 53.2mm when mounted inside the clip. They are 8.4mm thick.
I have written about the MoonSwatch over the years with a certain amount of dread, even disdain. From almost the very beginning, that project seemed like a callous money grab to me. I’m not sure if it was the blatant corporate synergy, the lack of “Swatchness” inherent in what amounts to a simple replica of the Speedmaster, or some combination of both, but I’ve never warmed to the MoonSwatch over the many (endless) iterations of that watch that we’ve seen.
The Royal Pop feels different to me for two reasons. First, it’s a collaboration that exists outside the Swatch Group universe. That alone sends a message that there’s perhaps a more authentic desire to collaborate on the part of the two brands than with a collaboration between holding group partners. I also think it’s an incredibly smart decision to make something that is not a wristwatch. It makes the Royal Pop a genuine novelty, and prevents it from being mistaken as a Royal Oak knockoff. A bioceramic version of the Royal Oak in fun Swatch colorways would have been predictable, boring, and probably very cheap feeling if they attempted to make a Royal Oak style bracelet out of the bioceramic material.
Lots of the discussion from the collector community prior to the reveal today has been centered on “devaluing” the Audemars Piguet brand. As a major AP skeptic who frankly feels the brand is devaluing itself already by reveling in their exclusivity and keeping literal walls up between itself and the public (see: their booth at Watches & Wonders) this release actually might foster some goodwill toward the brand from people who they’ve turned off in recent years.
The Royal Pop Lépine watches are priced at $400, and the Savonette watches are $420. They are available beginning May 16 at select Swatch stores (and on eBay, no doubt!) and are not limited editions. Swatch
Zach Kazan
2026-05-12 20:52:00