Sunday Morning Showdown: Audemars Piguet × Swatch Royal Pop Vs. Omega × Swatch Speedmaster MoonSwatch

Welcome to another Sunday Morning Showdown! This week, we pit two Bioceramic hype monsters against each other. Daan defends the original Omega × Swatch Speedmaster MoonSwatch. Thomas counters with the recent Audemars Piguet × Swatch Royal Pop. Which collaborative Swatch model did it better? Let’s see!

The Royal Pop retails for €385 or €400, depending on the variant. Meanwhile, the original MoonSwatch is a bit more attainable at €275. We’re comparing apples to oranges in other ways as well. After all, the Pop isn’t even a wristwatch, while the MoonSwatch most certainly is. Still, we figured the following question was valid: which of these Swatch collabs did it better? We’ll let Daan and Thomas make a case for each, and then it will be up to you to decide.

But first, last week’s results

Before we get into all of that, let’s have a quick look at the results of last week’s showdown. Jorg and Mike pitted two recent retro designs with angular cases and bracelets against each other. Jorg picked the King Seiko Vanac, while Mike represented the Tudor Monarch.

The vote was split fairly evenly. The King Seiko won by a narrow margin — 52% versus 48%. That’s particularly interesting because the KS also sits a full €2,000 below the Tudor.

Scrolling down to the comments, we see a reflection of this close vote. It seems the King Seiko scored points with its more integrated and cohesive design. When it comes to the calibers, the opinions were sharply divided. The KS seemingly lost some votes to its excessive use of text on the dial. Now, with that out of the way, let’s get into today’s showdown!

Thomas: Audemars Piguet × Swatch Royal Pop

Good morning, Fratelli! And, good morning, Daan. Something tells me we’re touching on a sensitive topic today. The Swatch collabs in Bioceramic, be it the MoonSwatch, Scuba Fifty Fathoms, or the latest Royal Pop, tend to trigger strong emotions. I would propose we tread lightly, Daan, but I also don’t really want to because I, too, have some strong feelings.

Admittedly, I am torn about all of this. On the plus side, I admire the whole thing from a marketing perspective. In an industry struggling for relevance, not many brands can build hype even remotely like this. Additionally, it catches young people’s attention. We have to applaud all initiatives that bring in new enthusiasts and rejuvenate the field. Then again, you might ask how many of these teenage scalpers end up collecting mechanical watches in the long term. Only time will tell.

On the flip side, I have to admit I get a bit sick to my stomach when I see droves of kids trying to triple their allowance, people fighting, stores getting vandalized, and more, all over a plastic, ultimately disposable gadget. I cannot help but feel that Swatch could have been more prudent if the goal was truly to bring new people on board. I had this feeling about the MoonSwatch back in 2022. I had it even more with the recent Royal Pop.

The Audemars Piguet × Swatch Royal Pop over the MoonSwatch

Okay, before I get too gloomy and ruin your good Sunday mood, let me switch to the actual comparison at hand. Given the choice, I would certainly opt for the Audemars Piguet × Swatch Royal Pop. The keyword here is “ambition.” Allow me to elaborate.

The MoonSwatch was ambitious in its daring concept. To reimagine an iconic high-end watch as a broadly accessible Swatch reiteration was gutsy. Maybe it wasn’t so daring from Swatch’s perspective, as the brand had little to lose from it. But it was most certainly a risk for Omega. We have heard that real Speedmaster sales increased after the MoonSwatch hype, but we can only guess at the long-term reputational effects. Will people who have been wearing a MoonSwatch for a couple of years now aspire to upgrade? If so, when? The risk is even greater for Audemars Piguet. As a non-Swatch Group brand, it doesn’t have the cute big brother/little brother connection. Additionally, the house operates at a much more elevated, aspirational level. The last thing it wants is to see Royal Oaks on every street corner.

This isn’t the type of ambition I am speaking of, though. Audemars Piguet and Swatch upped the game by steering clear of a straight-up Royal Oak homage in Bioceramic with a quartz caliber. This would have been the easy route, but it makes sense that AP wouldn’t play ball. After all, this would make the Royal Oak too common. The type of ambition I am speaking of is both technical and creative.

The Royal Pop is technically and creatively more ambitious

The Royal Pop simply set a higher bar than the MoonSwatch. The collaboration set out to revamp the Sistem51 movement. Not only does the Royal Pop introduce a manually wound version, but it also incorporates a clever power reserve indicator. Last but not least, Audemars Piguet apparently helped develop a new Nivachron hairspring that is also used in AP watches. These may sound like minor details, but they give the Royal Pop some actual credibility among watch aficionados.

Similarly, the switch to the Pop form factor makes a ton of sense. It celebrates Swatch history and keeps these collabs off wrists. I do wonder if no one involved saw the third-party bracelets coming, but okay, at least most Royal Pops will serve as desk clocks and pocket watches.

All in all, the Audemars Piguet × Swatch Royal Pop feels more creative and lighthearted to me than the MoonSwatch. Sure, it costs €100 more. However, with two sapphire crystals, a mechanical movement, and the fun pop-out mechanism, I think it is worth the upcharge. Okay, I will pass the keyboard to Daan to make his case for the MoonSwatch. Take it away, Daan!

Daan: Omega × Swatch Speedmaster MoonSwatch

Thanks, Thomas, and good morning to you all. Let me start by saying that I completely agree with you, Thomas. From a marketing perspective, the Audemars Piguet and Swatch collaboration is a genius move. The hype was unreal, and people who never talk about watches suddenly wanted to know everything about the Royal Pop. My friends and family started asking questions about how to get their hands on one. As a watch enthusiast and professional, I found it fun to notice such a spike in people’s interest in watches.

However, when you create such hype, you also have the responsibility to manage the situation properly. Swatch knew exactly what was going to happen at its boutiques all over the world. Massive lines had already formed for several MoonSwatch releases, and the same happened to a lesser extent for the Fifty Fathoms Scuba. Based on those experiences, Swatch, in collaboration with AP, should’ve thought about how to handle the people in those lines.

A bad image

I completely agree with you, Thomas, that the AP Royal Pop is technically and creatively a great product. The decision not to simply create a Bioceramic copy of a Royal Oak that could be worn on your wrist was a brave one. It shows that this collaboration isn’t a blatant copy of the previous ones and that there was actually some consideration behind it. That’s why it’s such a shame that the turmoil around the launch completely ruined the product’s image for me.

Swatch Group CEO Nick Hayek stated that only 10% of the stores were affected by overcrowding and violence and insisted that the Royal Pop launch was a good news story. However, I think the huge mess worldwide completely ruined the product’s image. Any time we bring up the AP Royal Pop in the office, we rarely talk about the pocket watch itself. The conversation quickly switches to how badly the launch was handled. It almost makes us want to avoid the topic entirely. That, again, is such a shame and could have been easily avoided by looking at how other popular (watch) releases are handled.

Alternative vs. accessory

All right, let’s go back to the watches themselves. Of course, because the MoonSwatch is a wristwatch and the Royal Pop is a pocket watch, they are fundamentally different in the way you use them. I’ve owned the MoonSwatch Mission to Saturn since it came out in 2022, and I wear it every once in a while when I don’t feel like wearing one of my more expensive or heavier watches. I even bought the new official rubber strap for it, which, by the way, is much more comfortable than the stock strap. Because of this, the MoonSwatch plays a regular role in my watch rotation.

The AP Royal Pop, on the other hand, is a pocket watch. That’s a watch format most people don’t carry with them anymore, let alone daily. That means you need to get familiar with using and wearing it. You can indeed drop it in your pocket, hang it on your bag, or put it around your neck. To be honest, though, that makes the AP Royal Pop more of a fashion accessory than a watch that will be used in a regular rotation. Therefore, I expect the AP Royal Pop will end up in a drawer way before the MoonSwatch’s battery runs out of juice. Let’s hope I’m wrong, but for now, that’s why I think the MoonSwatch is the more exciting and relevant watch here.

Sure, the MoonSwatch is the simpler of the two products. Swatch literally made a Bioceramic Omega Speedmaster case, put an existing quartz chronograph movement inside, and called it a day. However, based on the number of MoonSwatches I see out there, its simplicity is also the basis of its success.

Time to cast your vote!

There you have it — another Sunday Morning Showdown. It was indeed an installment featuring two hot topics, so let’s see if we didn’t step on too many toes there. What do you think? Would you go for the Royal Pop or the MoonSwatch? Make sure to cast your vote below, and let us know in the comments below why you voted the way you did. See you next week for another Sunday Morning Showdown!