Swatch’s latest luxury collaboration has triggered global chaos, with crowds, police interventions and store closures overshadowing the launch of its new Royal Pop collection with Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet (AP).

The colourful pocket watch range, priced from A$630-670, sparked scenes more akin to a sneaker drop than a traditional watch release.

Collectors and scalpers lined up outside Swatch stores across Europe, the US and Australia over the weekend.

In Sydney, watch enthusiasts camped outside the Pitt Street Swatch store days ahead of Saturday’s launch, with social media videos showing queues of fold-out chairs and tents stretching along the CBD strip.

The frenzy turned ugly overseas. Police in Paris reportedly used tear gas to disperse crowds, while fights broke out in Milan as shoppers and resellers rushed stores.

In the US, videos showed people jumping barricades and banging on shopfront windows after some outlets refused to open due to safety concerns.

Swatch eventually shut stores in several cities globally, urging customers not to “rush to our stores in large numbers” and confirming the Royal Pop collection would remain available for several months.

The collaboration pairs Swatch’s mass-market appeal with AP’s ultra-premium status. Audemars Piguet, best known for its iconic Royal Oak watches, typically sells timepieces starting from tens of thousands of dollars, making the Swatch release one of the cheapest ways consumers can access the AP brand.

That exclusivity fuelled resale demand almost immediately. Listings for the watches appeared online within hours of launch, with some reportedly selling for up to US$6,500 – more than 16 times the retail price.

Analysts say the chaos reflects a growing trend of “manufactured scarcity” in retail marketing, where brands deliberately create hype through limited physical releases and social media buzz.

Swatch has seen similar scenes before with its 2022 MoonSwatch collaboration with Omega, which also triggered massive queues and police responses globally.

Despite criticism over crowd management, Swatch appears to be embracing the attention, claiming the Royal Pop launch generated billions of social media views worldwide.