Hundreds of folding chairs line the sidewalks outside the Nordstrom at the Galleria in anticipation of the Swatch x Ap collaboriation.
Jamil David/Chron
There’s community everywhere, even at the AP Swatch line at the Galleria. You may have seen photos of chairs lined up outside Nordstrom this week and wondered what was going on. For days, watch enthusiasts, hypebeasts, and resellers have been camping out for an exclusive collaboration between AP and Swatch. And yes, it is serious enough to prompt people to camp out six days before its Saturday release.
Venturing to the Galleria to gain some firsthand knowledge of the situation was an enlightening experience. Why would someone sit outside for days just for the chance to buy a luxury watch? Turns out, it’s actually a luxury sports pocket watch, and it’s extremely rare for a luxury watch brand to release one.
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Swatch, the Swiss watch company known for affordable high-quality watches, partnered with Audemars Piguet. This luxury timepiece brand makes high-end, highly sought-after wristwatches that sell for thousands of dollars. The Royal Pop Collection from AP and Swatch features eight octagonal pocket watches priced at a modest $420 each. The watch is a true combination of both brands’ vibes, making the eight distinct colorways an extremely unique collection of timepieces.
The Swatch store at the Galleria couldn’t officially comment on the matter, but did indicate that the AP of it all has made this an incredibly sought-after pop-up. Outside the air-conditioned confines of Houston’s iconic mall, the brave souls camping out for their chance at an Audemars Piguet piece are forming cliques, battling “ghost chairs” and opportunistic line cutters until Saturday.
“We know each other, we’ve been here since the first day, and we know all the other people that’s been here since the first day,” Edric Gray, a watch enthusiast hoping to score an AP Swatch, told Chron. “So we got each other’s backs if some go left.”
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“A piece of history”
Cliques that form in the line are necessary in an event like this, where people will steal your spot if it’s left defenseless.
“I’ve probably met three or four new people that I’ve been dealing with and kind of like cliqued up with, but like all the rest of my people are people I’ve known for years,” said Jordan Providence, one of Gray’s allies who owns about 15 chairs of real estate in the line.
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“It’s actually been wild how some of the people that we didn’t know until we got here, we actually got tight with them,” Gray added.
Hundreds of folding chairs line the sidewalks outside the Nordstrom at the Galleria in anticipation of the Swatch x Ap collaboriation.
Jamil David /Chron
It’s a delicate dance and cooperation, and the honor code has to be upheld, or chaos ensues. Some individuals have attempted to overtake swaths of the line, coming in at night and disrupting the established order. The run-ins in the evening, according to Gray and Providence, have resulted in some altercations as the line has grown.
Outside of the potential for drama, the makeshift community has been looking out for one another and even sharing food.
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“We’ll bring food, or we’ll order pizza, and we’ll share,” Providence said.
Apparently, one woman who runs a ghost kitchen has been bringing food to people in line, providing hot meals in exchange for donations.
The appeal of the watches themselves was probably the most surprising discovery. Gray and Providence had never done anything like this before, especially for a watch, but they are enthusiastic, and the chance to actually line up and walk into a store and purchase an AP is something rare. They explained that you usually have to be put on a waitlist by an authorized dealer and deal through brokers, and it takes some serious time before you can actually buy one of these luxury watches.
“You don’t get too many opportunities to actually sit in line and wait on the watch,” Gray shared.
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“Watches aren’t normally like on a first-come, first-served basis,” Providence added.
It’s also an opportunity for middle-class watch enthusiasts to own a piece of watch history. Priced at $420, it’s extremely accessible, and that accessibility (despite the lines) is one of the reasons for the positive vibes in the enthusiast community that’s camping out.
“AP kind of did this for the middle-class people who take the brand seriously,” Gray said. “If you are able to get a timepiece, then OK, there’s your piece of history right there.”
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