Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop Dubai release called off in Dubai Mall and Mall Of The Emirates over public safety concerns
Dubai fans left waiting as Royal Pop debut scrapped with no new date in sight
Dubai: The highly anticipated Royal Pop launch, a collaboration between luxury watchmaker Audemars Piguet and trendy watch company Swatch, scheduled for May 16 in Dubai, has been cancelled due to public safety concerns.
"In view of public safety considerations, we have decided not to proceed with the sale of the product at Dubai Mall and Mall Of The Emirates, and the event has been cancelled," said a post on Swatch's regional Instagram account.
No new date of the launch has been revealed.
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While the majority were gutted about the last-minute cancellation, several users felt that cancelling an event was the safer option for the safety of all.
Rishi Navani, who camped for five hours at Mall Of The Emirates parking and then moved on to Dubai Mall parking for over two hours, said it was absolute chaos.
"It's good that they cancelled the launch as public safety comes first. I am all for waiting and getting my hands on it in a safe way," said Rishi.
Earlier today, social media activity surrounding this much-anticipated Swatch and AP collaboration showed chaotic scenes at the malls.
Serpentine queues are now doing the rounds on TikTok and Instagram reels. As early as 6:45am, a sea of people were spotted crowding the Swatch store at the Dubai Mall and Mall Of The Emirates.
Many watch enthusiasts and collectors took to their social media to express their disappointment at the last-minute cancellation and lack of crowd control.
Neither Audemars Piguet nor Swatch has commented publicly on whether the Dubai launch will be rescheduled or shifted to another format.
Gulf News has reached out for comments from Swatch and the mall managements, but at the time of writing they were yet to respond.
Collectors and fans in the UAE are now waiting for further updates.
"An absolute disappointment. The hype was predictable, yet there was no proper co-ordination and no real-time updates and very poor crowd management," said a social media user who had turned up for the launch.
Collaborations with luxury watch brands have become a global craze in recent years. Following the huge success of Swatch and Omega collaboration, the brand’s limited-edition drops — including its Blancpain collection — have attracted huge demand from collectors, fashion enthusiasts, Gen Z buyers, and resellers.
This new AP and Swatch drop was one of the anticipated launches of the year.
The launches have often resembled sneaker drops rather than traditional watch releases, with fans queuing for hours, and sometimes overnight, to secure a piece. If you check social media, you will see video from various parts of the globe of watch collectors camping outside stores in NYC and Toronto for days to get their hands on the new colourful pop watch.
Several launches globally have also sparked criticism online over safety concerns, crowd control issues, and long waiting times.
