The crowd of customers who came this Saturday to the doors of the Swatch store on Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona prevented the opening of the establishment and forced the intervention of the Mossos d’Esquadra and the Guardia Urbana to avoid incidents. The queue, of up to 300 people, was due to the sale of a collection of pocket watches, called Royal Pop, designed in collaboration with the luxury brand Audemars Piguet. These special models, with a limited edition, cost around 400 euros, but are inspired by an original from the collaborating brand that reaches 20,000 euros.
The Swatch brand launched this Saturday a campaign, previously announced, to sell a unique collection of watches worldwide, produced together with another Swiss brand, with more than 150 years of history, but which is in a much higher price range. At the Passeig de Gràcia store with Gran Vía, the opening was impossible “for security reasons.” Sources from the Mossos d’Esquadra and the Barcelona Guardia Urbana reported that people had been queuing for days, even at night, in front of the store’s doors.
According to EFE, these new watches are highly coveted by resellers, because in that market they are estimated to multiply their price by four. This morning the crowd collapse, which generated moments of tension, prevented the store from opening normally.
The Mossos d’Esquadra sent up to three vans from the ARRO riot control unit and the Guardia Urbana also went to the place with several patrols to prevent incidents and regulate the access queue. Faced with the hundreds of people who wanted to enter the store, the managers chose not to open the doors.
Read more «Te lo pago después» or why lending money to a friend can blow up the relationship
Swatch has another store in the Illa Diagonal shopping center, which was able to open its doors normally but shortly after had to also manage a massive influx of buyers and close the doors. The launch of this collection today worldwide has generated queues in multiple stores of the Swiss watchmaker Swatch, such as those in Tokyo, Geneva, Singapore, London, or New York.
View this post on Instagram
In its Instagram announcement, Swatch announces that it is putting on sale eight unique pocket watches “created to unleash your style with creativity.” In front of images of colorful pocket models, the brand adds that “two Swiss icons,” referring to the two companies signing this campaign, present a collaboration never seen before of the emblematic Royal Oak by Audemars Piguet and the Swatch POP watches from the 80s. Additionally, it adds that “a new version of the emblematic SISTEM51 movement, reinvented with a manual winding caliber and finished with a touch of Pop Art” will be available. All this for sale in selected stores starting May 16. The honey on the lips of the sharpest.
Read more Barcelona will set up a giant screen in Glòries to watch the Women’s Champions League final