Much like the collaboration with OMEGA, Swatch’s collaboration with Audemars Piguet opens up the world of AP to the general masses—well, almost, because unlike the teaming with OMEGA, this Swatch blend of an AP timepiece is not whole. It is a pocket watch that comes with a strap of a different kind—or a lanyard, to be precise—plus a desk stand. In other words, it is not destined for your wrist.
Well, not if these aftermarket watch strap makers can help it.
Just days after the reveal of the reimagined Royal Oak, at least two companies have already started working on turning the Royal Pop into an actual wristwatch, so you can check the time from your wrist instead of pulling it out like a 19th-century gentleman in a three-piece suit.
The first company is a Singapore-based outfit called Delugs. The company’s Project WristPop is a set of case straps for the Swatch x AP Royal Pop. For the Savonnette-style models (with small seconds), it is a pretty straightforward case with the crown at 3 o’clock, but Delugs’ solution for the Lépine-style models (two-hand versions) is kind of odd.
The proposed case puts the crown, which is at the top in pocket-watch form, at an angle somewhere between 1 and 2 o’clock. This means the 12 o’clock mark on the dial ends up at around 2 o’clock too, a.k.a. the driver’s-watch reading angle. It looks kind of weird, though, IMHO.
Sweden-based Wristbuddys, on the other hand, goes with the flow. Its proposed case has a cutout to accommodate the crown at 12 o’clock on the Savonnette-style models. Meanwhile, the case for the Lépine-style models remains just as straightforward.
Pricing for these upcoming Royal Pop accessories is still to be announced.
Images: Delugs/Wristbuddys.
Story via Uncrate.
Swatch x AP Royal Pop wristwatch conversion
