Sydney CBD shoppers queue for 15 hours to buy Swatch X Blancpain Fifty Fathoms watch
Sydney CBD shoppers queue for 15 hours to buy Swatch
Devoted watch fans queued for more than 15 hours in Sydney’s CBD to get their hands on an exclusive release from two of the world’s leading watch manufacturers.
Swatch released its collaboration with Blancpain on Saturday to mark the 70th anniversary of the historic watchmaker’s famous Fifty Fathoms dive watch.
The Swiss manufacturer designed five Fifty Fathoms watches after the five oceans and gave each ocean a corresponding slug.
Slugs are colorful sea snails found all over the world, so each watch features artwork of a nudibranch native to the waters.
Each watch cost A$630 and was only available in select stores.
Devoted watch fans camped out overnight (above) to purchase the Swatch
One of the stores chosen was the Swatch store in Sydney’s CBD.
Photos and videos circulating on social media showed eager customers starting to camp outside the store on Friday evening before the launch at 9am on Saturday.
A photo on Facebook showed dozens of Swatch and Blancpain fans getting ready for a cold Friday evening at the Pitt St shopping centre.
“No hassle in Sydney, queues formed just after 6pm,” the caption read.
The watches were also available in selected stores in Brisbane and Melbourne.
The queues fascinated Sydneysiders on Reddit and Twitter, with many surprised customers willing to wait more than 15 hours in the middle of a cold snap.
One Redditor wrote, “Man, I get excited when something comes out, but I never excitedly wait for the first day in a line.”
“Between JD, Swatch, and even that BTS store, every trip to work now seems to involve a walk past rows of resellers and hypebeasts,”
The collaboration between the two Swiss watchmakers includes five watches (above) designed after the five oceans of the world
Each Fifty Fathoms watch features a sea slug artwork from the watch’s assigned ocean (photo, Swatch X Blancpain Scuba Fifty Fathoms collection)
Swatch said the new Fifty Fathoms watch “pays tribute to the first true dive watch.”
“Created 70 years ago by a passionate diver, it revolutionized the watchmaking world by becoming the first timepiece to successfully meet all the needs of underwater exploration,” the website says.
‘The five mechanical watches in the Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms Collection faithfully reproduce all the hallmarks of this Swiss watchmaking icon, while referencing our own diving watch line, the SCUBA.
‘Inspired by the deep seas, each model celebrates one of the five oceans and the beautiful, colorful animals known as nudibranchs that dwell in their depths.’
Sales of the Swatch X Blancpain Scuba Fifty Fathoms collection were limited to one watch per person.
A previous collaboration between Swatch and Omega attracted an equally large audience in March 2022.
Some customers waited in line for more than 15 hours from Friday evening until the Swatch store opened at 9am on Saturday
Police were called to a Sydney Westfield in an attempt to control the crowd at the highly anticipated launch.
Thousands of customers rushed to stores in Sydney and Melbourne for their chance to win the limited edition MoonSwatch.
Melbourne journalist Luke Dennehy tweeted about the launch: ‘The Swatch store will probably have a maximum of five customers. It’s going to be an interesting day.’