Chaotic scenes unfolded across major global cities this week, as police deployed tear gas in Paris and a fistfight erupted in Milan, Italy. Meanwhile, all-night queues snaked from Swatch stores in London, Singapore, and New York— the latest examples of status-symbol “drop culture” to flash across the globe when status symbols and resale value collide.
At the centre of it all is Swatch, no stranger to over-the-top retail outbreaks, said it was time to chill. The Swiss watchmaker issued a statement on Monday, urging calm and assuring the public that there is no shortage of its Royal Pop pocket watch, a collaboration with luxury timepiece brand Audemars Piguet.
