In Search Of Lost Time: Watch Weirdness In King Of Prussia Part Of Global Phenomenon

KING OF PRUSSIA, PA — It was 4 a.m. on a Saturday morning in mid-May and the the massive crowd pushing at the gates of the King of Prussia Mall looked like a Black Friday mob bewitched by an Eagles loss. Or win.

But there was no Crisco on the doors and that was not Kevin Patullo's house in the distance, but a luxury watch retailer called Swatch. As police would later say, the crowd grew increasingly more defiant with time. Eventually they began to break in.

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Their target was Swatch's May 16 global release of something called a "Royal Pop" pocket watch. Because the watches are rare and sold only in stores, they instantly generated a massive resell value.

So the crowds at King of Prussia did not dispel. They grew. Some succeeded in breaking in to other parts of the mall. Police were alarmed. More than 100 officers were eventually called to the scene to quell the chaos.

See also: 100 Officers Called To Massive Crowd At KOP Mall

King of Prussia was not alone. Swatch has some 3,300 stores around the world. From Denver, London, and Long Island to Dubai, Toronto, and Paris, the release sparked unruly, enormous crowds of unbearable patience in search of the unwearable timepiece.

The wake of the bizarre incident, one of many which drew global attention, left numerous questions and no easy answers. Who was actually to blame? Was it simply the members of the mob itself, who saw an opportunity to buy a watch for $400 and re-sell it for, apparently, thousands? Was it King of Prussia Mall, for not having sufficient security? Had police not properly anticipated how the scrambling situation could devolve?

Or was it Swatch, for releasing this limited edition watch in a way that inevitably fed the creation of a volatile secondhand market while simultaneously generating a massive, worldwide, free public relations campaign for itself?

As the clock ticked and the violence mounted, Swatch put out a gentlemanly request over the weekend.

"To ensure the safety of both our customers and our staff in Swatch stores, we kindly ask you not to rush to our stores in large numbers to acquire this product," they said.

They also notified customers that "in some countries/regions," lines of more than 50 people will not be allowed. In such cases, sales must be paused.

King of Prussia Mall was closed until noon Saturday to handle the fallout. The Swatch store was shut down through weekend and into this week, first by the mall, and then by Swatch itself. More soberly, white paper signs taped to the doors at Swatch later read, in all caps, "AUDEMARE PIGUET SWATCH COLLABORATION WILL NOT BE SOLD AT THIS LOCATION."

Call it by its name, they said.