Audemars Piguet and Swatch made a $400 ‘pop’ pocket watch

Depending on their size, features, and finish, Audemars Piguet Royal Oak watches can cost anywhere from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop pocket watches will be much more affordable when they become available starting May 16 in select Swatch stores – relatively speaking. The Lépine version, with its crown at 12 o’clock, will cost $400, while an alternative Savonnette version, with its crown at three o’clock, will cost $420. They will each be delivered with a calfskin cord but other accessories will also be available, including a desk clock holder.

In addition to their brightly colored waterproof cases made of bioceramic and scratch-resistant sapphire crystal, the pocket watches feature a variation of Swatch’s Sistem51 movement that the company developed more than a decade ago and which can be mass-produced on an automated assembly line to reduce costs. The Royal Pop’s simplified Sistem51 movement skips the automatic winding functionality of the original for a hand-wound design with a 90-hour power reserve.

This is not Swatch’s first collaboration with a luxury brand. Swatch’s incredibly popular MoonSwatch collection is a collaboration with Omega, while its Scuba Fifty Fathoms range is a partnership with Blancpain. However, Omega and Blancpain are part of the larger Swatch group. Audemars Piguet is instead an independent Swiss watchmaker still controlled by the descendants of Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet.

This will potentially make this collection even more coveted by collectors, as well as potentially scalpers. To meet what will likely be high demand, Swatch is limiting its sales to one pocket watch per person, per store, per day, according to Wired.