A renowned watch brand had to close its stores worldwide due to chaotic scenes and “mosh pits” forming outside shops for a new limited item. Swatch unveiled a temporary collaboration with luxury watch label Audemars Piguet, causing frenzies in UK high streets and shopping centers. Customers lined up for hours and even camped out to purchase a pocket watch from the Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop Collection, priced from £335, in contrast to the luxury brand’s higher-priced models.
The collaboration release led to tumultuous scenes outside Swatch stores globally, prompting store closures on the launch day. In Manchester’s Trafford Centre, chaos erupted, resulting in police intervention but no arrests were made. Meanwhile, in Cardiff, a 25-year-old man was arrested for attempting to access a Swatch store with around 300 others.
Witnesses in New York described pushing and shoving in queues outside a Swatch store, likening the atmosphere to a mosh pit. Some individuals waited for days to buy the pocket watch, planning to resell it at a higher price. Reports indicated online listings for the limited edition watch reaching up to £16,000.
Violence broke out in some queues, exemplified by a video from Milan showing shoppers in altercations with each other and security personnel outside a Swatch store. Swatch took to Facebook to announce the closure of several UK stores for safety reasons, urging customers not to rush to purchase the product. The company emphasized limited sales to one watch per person per day and per store for the collaborative collection inspired by the Pop Art movement.