The Catastrophic Swatch x Audemars Piguet Launch Was Entirely Predictable and Utterly Avoidable

Key points

• At 9 am, as stores opened, London’s Carnaby Street location lasted half an hour before police were called.
• In New York, fights broke out amid rumors of a stabbing in the line.
• At locations around the world, police had to assist staff as the vast majority of customers left empty-handed, since most of the shops had fewer than 200 watches available.
• Deals were done within queues as scalpers flipped watches for profit.
• Within minutes of the first sales, the plastic watches were hitting eBay for thousands of dollars.