Swatch, Audemars Piguet Collaborative Watch Launch Sparks Scuffles and Chaos at Stores Across Europe and the US

(CNA, Paris, May 16, comprehensive foreign dispatch) The Royal Pop series of pocket watches, a collaboration between Swiss watchmakers Swatch and Audemars Piguet, went on sale today in major international cities like Paris, London, and New York, but triggered widespread chaos. French police even used tear gas to maintain order at a store near Paris. According to Agence France-Presse, hundreds of people queued overnight, with some waiting for several days, just to get their hands on the watches from the collaboration between Swatch and luxury watch brand Audemars Piguet. In several French cities, hundreds of people lined up overnight. A police source indicated that about 300 people gathered outside a Swatch store in the Paris region, and officers deployed tear gas to control the scene. The situation was equally out of control in Milan, Italy, where local media broadcasted footage of fights breaking out at the entrance of a Swatch store as it opened today. At the Swatch store in New York's Times Square, pushing and shoving occurred among the queuing crowd when the store opened. John McIntosh, a 44-year-old man who had been waiting since the 13th, told AFP, "It was just like a mosh pit at a concert." Like many others, McIntosh hoped to grab one of the colorful pocket watches, purchase it at the retail price of about $400 to $420 (approximately NT$12,600 to NT$13,200), and immediately resell it for a higher price. Due to the massive crowds at stores everywhere, Swatch was forced to close its locations in London and six other UK cities for safety reasons. (Translator: Kao Chao-fen / Editor: Chen Yen-chun) 1150517