«Royal Pop» on Ricardo : booming interest, slow sales

The « Royal Pop » collection by Swatch x Audemars Piguet, launched on Saturday, 16 May 2026, has caused a stir worldwide. In Switzerland too, people who were unable to get hold of one of the sought-after pocket watches in stores appear to be trying their luck on the online marketplace Ricardo : on the launch day alone, around 7% of all searches on Ricardo were related to the newly released watch models. So far, around 290 « Royal Pop » listings have been published on Ricardo, although sales have remained rather slow during the first few days.

Last Saturday, 16 May 2026, Swatch launched the sale of its « Royal Pop » pocket watch collection, created in collaboration with Audemars Piguet, in Swatch stores. Shortly after purchase, some of the currently scarce and highly hyped watches were already being resold on the online marketplace Ricardo : to date, around 290 listings have been published.

These listings attracted particularly strong interest at the start of sales. Around 7% of all searches entered on Ricardo that day were aimed at the new « Royal Pop » models from Swatch x Audemars Piguet.

Despite the exceptionally high demand reflected in search activity, only around one in five listings has so far resulted in a successful sale. One possible reason for the slow sales could be that models available in stores for a maximum of CHF 375.00 were in some cases listed on Ricardo at several times their original retail price.

Highest sale price on Ricardo : CHF 1699.-

The highest sale price achieved on Ricardo so far was CHF 1699.- for a « Royal Pop Otto Rosso ». The watch was listed last Saturday and changed hands just a few hours later through a buy now purchase.

While much higher resale prices are being reported internationally, the passion for watches and collectibles in Switzerland appears to reach a certain limit when it comes to pricing. The example of the newly launched « Royal Pop » collection on Ricardo shows how supply, demand and actual willingness to pay often regulate themselves when highly sought-after, but non-limited products hit the market.

See the current « Royal Pop » listings on Ricardo