The Royal Oak debuted in 1972 as a luxury sports watch with an octagonal bezel and eight hexagonal screws that the industry thought were either brilliant or outrageous. Swatch’s POP line came out of the 80s with a totally different energy—playful, colorful, democratizing the wrist. Now, with the AP x Swatch Royal Pop watch, those two eras collide in the most unexpected format possible: the pocket watch—set for release in Tokyo on May 16.
It’s a deliberate flex. Two brands that rewrote their respective moments in watchmaking have chosen a form that predates both of them by centuries.
The eight models, the number chosen as a nod to the Royal Oak’s iconic octagonal case and eight-screw bezel, come in two case configurations. Six are Lépine-style (crown at 12 o’clock) with two hands. Two are savonnette-style (crown at 3 o’clock) with a small seconds subdial at 6.
Where to Get the Royal Pop Watch in Tokyo
Release: Saturday, May 16 at 11am
Price: ¥57,200 – ¥61,000
Limit: one watch per person, per store, per day.
Case: 40.0mm bioceramic (44.2mm × 53.2mm with clip)
Movement: SISTEM51 hand-wound, 90-hour power reserve
Water resistance: 2 ATM
Extra lanyards: ¥6,710 (sold separately)
Models: 8 variants
Tokyo stores:
The Eight Royal Pop Models
Each model’s name is multilingual, a nod to the global scope of the collaboration. All share the iconic Petite Tapisserie (textured grid pattern) dial design that has defined the Royal Oak since 1972.
Otto Rosso: Pink case, cherry red bezel & crown. Pink lanyard, cherry red stitching. Lépine.
Huit Blanc: White case, white bezel with eight multicolored screws—the showiest of the eight. Lépine.
Green Eight:
Green case and dial, light green bezel and screws. Lépine.
Blaue Acht:
Lime green case, light blue bezel. Unexpected combo that works. Lépine.
Orenji Hachi:
Navy case, orange screws. Classic contrast. Lépine.
Lan Ba:
Blue case and dial, light blue subdial at 6 o’clock. Savonnette.
Ocho Negro:
Black case, white bezel, black screws. The understated pick. Lépine.
Otg Roz:
Pink case and lanyard, teal dial, yellow bezel. Savonnette with pink subdial.
How to Wear It?
Each watch comes on a calfskin lanyard with contrast stitching in three lengths. Wear it around your neck, on your wrist, clipped to a bag, or set it on the included mini-stand as a desk piece. The case back clips in and out with what the brand calls an “acoustic signature”—a satisfying click that, honestly, you’ll do more times than necessary.
There’s something appealing about a watch that doesn’t demand your wrist. If you’ve ever felt conflicted about layering a timepiece over a sleeve or just don’t want something strapped to you all day, this format gives you options most luxury watches don’t. Although without a doubt, third-party companies are already producing straps for people to wear the watch on their wrists.
Swiss Engineering Worth Understanding
Each watch runs Swatch’s SISTEM51 movement, now in a new hand-wound version with 15 active patents. For context, SISTEM51 is the only Swiss-made mechanical movement assembled 100% automatically. It carries a 90-hour power reserve and uses a Nivachron balance spring, which was co-developed with Audemars Piguet and appears in some of AP’s own watches. A laser performs the final precision adjustment at the factory.
There’s also a genuinely clever power reserve indicator built into the mainspring barrel: gray means it needs winding, gold means fully powered. It’s that simple, no additional complication needed.
The case is bioceramic, two-thirds ceramic powder, one-third castor oil, which gives it both scratch resistance and a matte smoothness. Both front and back use a sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating. Hands and indices are coated with Grade A Super-LumiNova in blue luminescence. Water resistance sits at 2 ATM.
Should You Line Up For the Royal Pop Watch?
If you’re already a Swatch collector or have been eyeing the MoonSwatch phenomenon from the sidelines, the Royal Pop is another rare, one-time drop that will absolutely sell out on day one. The pocket watch format means it doesn’t compete with your regular watch rotation, nor does it bring down the value of the iconic Royal Oak.
At 40mm across (44.2mm with the clip attached), it’s not tiny, but it’s not exactly trying to be discreet, either. The one-per-person, per-store limit will generate queues, and the more colorful variants will go first. Plan accordingly.
Shibuya, Harajuku and Ginza are the three Swatch stores in Tokyo carrying the watch. Doors open at 11am, first come, first served.
Store Locations:
Swatch Ginza Store
Swatch Harajuka Store
Swatch Shibuya Store
AloJapan.com