Marina Bay Sands

Following snaking long queues, only the first 50 in line were allowed to stay. The rest of the queue was dispersed. And even then, only 40 pieces in total were allocated, with the remaining 10 being on the “waitlist” in case people chose not to exercise their right to purchase.
Source: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYY4F9EJ4x0/?igsh=MXQwcjd5ZnI2YXVkeg==

Ion

Honestly not sure what went down last night, if anyone could fill us in that would be greatly appreciated!

VivoCity

(shall give a breakdown of the lead up to the launch cancellation from my pov)
The queue outside the store was dispersed when the mall closed the night before. Was informed by mall security to wait at a designated waiting area outside the mall, but you could see that here they had already lost control of the situation. Everyone was just loitering around and trying to find a way to enter the mall, knowing that once doors opened it would’ve been a free for all.

The mall was supposed to open at 7am, but at 5+am someone somehow managed to open the entrance and everyone came flooding in. People wanted to start queuing outside of the store but the mall hadn’t opened yet, so security asked everyone to leave. Mall security gradually dispersed the crowd and asked people to form a line again outside. While the majority did, a significant number of people were still lingering in the mall - many realised that up to this point there was no official “queue” system established, and they knew if they joined the line outside they’d certainly not get the watch.

All of a sudden (I witnessed this with my own eyes btw), a group of youngsters coordinated to start making a ruckus for fun, and I kid you not it was a scene straight out of a zombie apocalypse. People from various nooks and crannies dispersed around the area started sprinting back to the start of the queue area inside the mall (different from the line outside that had already formed). By now, the people inside realised that staying put would be the best chance of getting their watch.

To be fair tho, given the circumstances, once everyone stayed put we were all quite friendly with one another and there wasn’t much pushing and shoving. We even collectively sang happy birthday to someone lol. But yeah, by this point there wasn’t any possible way to get a proper queue sorted, with everyone pushed up against a barricade. The police was called in and after some discussion they announced the cancellation of the launch.

While obviously disappointed - objectively it was definitely the right call, and the whole thing was quite an interesting experience. Felt like everyone was playing a game of hide and seek + catching in an abandoned shopping mall hahaha.

Final thoughts

Vivocity’s mall management: Clearly underestimated the situation, as this was their first time handling such a launch (as compared to MBS and Ion who experienced the moonswatch launch and seemed to have better systems in place this time).

Swatch group: Knowing how popular the moonswatch was at launch previously, with proper planning surely you could have increased your production this time to increase the total number of units, and have better organisation on the ground. Clearly, you did not learn your lesson.

Do let me know your thoughts on this whole situation! The most baffling thing to me is honestly the number of units available at each store.