Massive queues shut Swatch stores as hundreds clamour for £335 limited edition watch

BBC

Swatch has closed its stores in cities across the UK after hundreds of people queued outside branches eager to buy a new limited edition watch.

The Swiss firm said it would not open its branches in London “in light of safety considerations for both our customers and our staff”.

Stores in Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield will also remain closed with a man arrested in Cardiff.

The firm had been due to launch its new Royal Pop pocket watch collaboration with luxury watchmaker Audemars Piguet, with eight models priced from £335.

However the watch has been put on resale online for up to £16,000.

Better known for its colourful watches from the 1980s, AP Swatch has described the items as “a disruptive collaboration between two icons of Swiss watchmaking”.

BBC News has contacted the company for comment.

Swatch

In the Liverpool One retail area, some shoppers had been camping for two days outside the Paradise Street store.

Merseyside Police said it had received a report “a group of males were acting in an aggressive manner and making threats” outside the shop at about 07:00 BST on Saturday.

“Officers attended and the crowd dispersed shortly afterwards,” a force spokesperson said.

Instagram/Swatch

Meanwhile, South Wales Police said it was called at 06:20 on Saturday with a report of approximately 300 people trying to enter the St. Davids shopping centre.

The force said: “A 25-year-old man from Pengam was arrested and issued with a Section 35 dispersal notice with the conditions that they are not to enter Cardiff city centre again during Saturday 16 May.”

EPA

Queues had also been building up outside Swatch’s branches internationally, including in New York where watch enthusiasts had been camping for a week, with reports that some had become unwell during the wait.

The firm also cancelled its launch event at Dubai Mall in the United Arab Emirates following a large turnout.

EPA

Swatch has said the new watches were inspired by the Pop Art movement of the 1950s and 60s and combined “joyful boldness and positive provocation” with watchmaking.

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