Watch collectors have been left disappointed after Swatch closed all London stores and many more in cities across the UK due to 'safety considerations' when thousands of people queued to buy a new limited edition watch. The atmosphere was described as 'tense' in Battersea Power Station when customers, some who had been camping for days, were told they would not be getting a watch.
Swatch Royal Pop Launch Chaos
Swatch was due to launch sales this morning (Saturday, May 16) of their new £335 Royal Pop watch collaboration with luxury watchmaker Audemars Piguet but this did not go to plan. It was announced the new collection, of which there are eight models, will only be available to buy in-store and the level of demand clearly far outweighed the supply - there are reports of watches being put on resale online for up to £16,000.
Eager buyers had been camping outside the Carnaby Street store and huge crowds gathered outside branches in Westfield London and Battersea Power Station, with loud speaker announcements made at some locations when the decision was made that stores could not open.
Eyewitness Account: Hostile Atmosphere
Zachary Martin-Zakheim was one of those queuing in Battersea and he has described the 'significant frustration' and 'pushing, barging, and heckling' that took place. He told MyLondon: 'I joined the queue at the Battersea Power Station Swatch branch at around 6am. At that point, there were roughly 50 people waiting outside, so I initially felt fairly confident that I would be able to purchase the new watch. However, once we were allowed into the shopping centre, it quickly became clear that there were already thousands of people inside waiting ahead of us.'
'The atmosphere became tense almost immediately, with people pushing to move further forward in the queue, which understandably frustrated those who had been camping there for days. After around 30 minutes, a security guard informed everyone in our section, which consisted of a couple of hundred people, that none of us would be getting a watch, as there were only around 100 available for sale. This announcement caused significant frustration among the crowd.'
'Soon after, shouting and arguments broke out, with dozens of people attempting to rush closer to the front. There was pushing, barging, and heckling within the crowd, and additional staff were brought in to help manage the situation. At that stage, the atmosphere had become quite hostile. Managers were also urging another line of people to leave, explaining that they would not have the opportunity to buy a watch either, but many ignored these requests. Shortly afterwards, I decided to leave.'
Store Closures Across UK and Worldwide
Swatch confirmed all London stores will remain closed on Saturday. An announcement posted on the Swatch UK Instagram page at 11am reads: 'In light of safety considerations for both our customers and staff, all our London stories will be closed for the day. Thank you for your understanding.' This was followed up with another post at 11.10am announcing all stores in Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, Cardiff and Glasgow won't open today. Swatch has not announced when the Royal Pop collection will now be available to buy.
Queues have also been building up outside Swatch's branches across the world, including in Paris where riot police had to be called in on Saturday morning and in New York where enthusiasts had been camping for a week. The launch event at Dubai Mall in the United Arab Emirates also had to be cancelled following a large turnout.
