The making of the Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop
Resta’s first-ever watch was a Swatch at 13 years old, a reward she got after doing well in her exams. Today, two and a half years after taking over at AP, Resta’s vision for an AP x Swatch has been realized.
“Compared to a lot of people from the traditional watch industry, Ilaria’s mind is open. She’s not blocked by ‘you cannot do this’. That was really cool,” says Hayek on working together. “And I give her credit for the pocket watch—that came from her. Immediately, I said, ‘You’re right. Swatch has the Pop watch, this is perfect.’ So the name Royal Pop was easy. We were both in agreement that there would be no wristwatch.”
For the history fans out there, Swatch’s Pop has been around since the ’80s, and AP’s Royal Oak debuted in 1972, so now feels like as good a time as ever to pool together the genes of these icons.
“The way we worked with Nick has been very informal and very creative,” says Resta. “We are two people who like to think outside of the box and not be constrained by fear or judgment. We do what we believe is right.”
Both Swatch and Audemars Piguet share a similar mission to keep evolving the watch industry, which is why this partnership could be so fruitful for both brands. “We wanted to donate AP’s entire proceeds to initiatives supporting the preservation and transmission of watchmaking savoir-faire, with a focus on rare skills,” says Resta. “This is something that is endangered, and this is a way where pop culture can support high-end watchmaking. We don’t see this as a commercial activity; rather, we leverage the scale of Swatch to reach more young people. Audemars Piguet is exclusive when it comes to the number of watches we can produce because we preserve our philosophy of handmade finishings and complications. But at the same time, we don’t want to exclude people. That’s where Swatch came in.”
How to get hold of the Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop
Prices start from $400 for the Lépine-style pocket watches and $420 for the two Savonnette-style pieces. Come Saturday, they will be available to purchase in-store at 200 selected Swatch stores, with one piece per person per store per day. It is worth noting that there are also longer lanyards and desk clock holders (in all eight colors) and these accessories will be available online. The accessories purposefully don’t share the ‘”Royal Pop” branding.
This story originally appeared on British GQ.
