Violence and store closures over watch collection sale

Fashion

The closed Swatch shop at the Westfield Parly 2 shopping centre (Chesnay-Rocquencourt), where police were present as a crowd gathered ahead of the launch of a collaboration with Audemars Piguet. Credits: Photo by HENRIQUE CAMPOS / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP

By AFP

Automated translation

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Paris, France - The sale of a special Swatch watch collection, created in collaboration with luxury watchmaker Audemars Piguet, descended into chaos on Saturday in several European cities and New York.

The sale of the “Royal Pop” watches, a collaboration between the two Swiss groups, attracted large crowds.

Outside the Swatch store in Times Square, New York, “people were pushing and rushing” to get into the store when it opened, John McIntosh, a 44-year-old New Yorker who had been queuing since Wednesday, told AFP.

The aim was to buy the watches, which were sold for between 400 and 420 dollars, and immediately resell them for a significant profit.

In France, long queues of hundreds of people formed overnight in numerous cities, and there were tense moments with security teams at some stores.

According to a French police source, around 300 people who had gathered before the opening of a Swatch store in a Parisian shopping centre were dispersed by officers using tear gas.

The same source reported that a metal shutter and two security gates were damaged, and police and security officers were assaulted.

The sale was cancelled without a new date being announced, as “the organisers had underestimated the security arrangements”.

Credits: Audemars Piguet × Swatch.

When contacted by AFP, Swatch declined to comment. On its Instagram account, Swatch France simply stated that due to “public safety considerations”, its stores in Lyon, Deauville, Rennes, Lille, Saint Tropez and Montpellier would remain closed for the day.

In Italy, the event also went awry in Milan, where a fight broke out in front of a Swatch store at opening time, according to media footage.

Tensions also arose outside another of the brand's stores when staff announced that the stock had sold out.

In the UK, for the “safety” of customers and employees, the Swiss group closed its stores in London, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, Glasgow and Cardiff for the entire day.

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.

Audemars Piguet

Swatch