Insane queues at MBS & ION Orchard as S'poreans flock to buy Omega x Swatch watches

Intense.

Syahindah Ishak | March 26, 2022, 01:30 PM

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Massive crowds were seen at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) and ION Orchard on Saturday (Mar. 26) morning as Singaporeans were eager to get their hands on the new Omega x Swatch collaboration.

ION Orchard

Videos were sent to Mothership by one Boo Yi Lin, showing long queues in ION Orchard hours before the Swatch store opened at 10am.

Some people in the queue were sitting down inside the mall.

Another video showed the crowd moving forward as a man's voice can be heard shouting: "Don't push!"

A Mothership reader also shared these photos, taken at 8am in ION Orchard, two hours before the Swatch store opened.

Photo by Mothership reader.

Photo by Mothership reader.

Photo by Mothership reader.

A reader told Mothership that people queuing were asked to go home. However, nobody complied.

By around 11am, all queue tickets for the Swatch store in ION Orchard had been given out.

Here's a timelapse of the queue in ION Orchard, taken on Mar. 26 morning by reader Tan Jun Da.

Mothership understands that a person at ION Orchard had fainted while queuing.

In response to queries from Mothership, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said that they received a call for assistance at No.2 Orchard Turn at about 9:15am on Mar. 26.

SCDF paramedic assessed one person and the person subsequently refused to be conveyed to the hospital.

MBS

The situation at MBS was just as intense, with the queues occupying three levels.

These photo and videos were taken at around 11am, the store's opening time as listed on its website.

Image via @glimasaur/Instagram.

A video posted on TikTok at around 11:30am claimed that the watches were already sold out, although there were still long queues seen in the mall.

Mothership understands that the long queue at MBS had gone as of 12pm. However, there was still a crowd outside of the store.

As of 12:34pm, the MBS Swatch store was closed, and "Out of stock" signs were placed on its door.

Image via @glimasaur/Instagram.

Collection is not limited edition: Swatch

In a Facebook post published at around 12pm on Mar. 26, Swatch thanked its customers for their enthusiasm.

It added that the MoonSwatch collection is not limited edition, and that there would be more opportunities to purchase the watches in the coming weeks.

Swatch also urged customers without queue numbers to refrain from visiting its MBS store as the watches are temporarily out of stock.

And if you're curious, here's how the watches look:
https://www.facebook.com/SwatchSG/posts/8020541731304537

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Top images via @glimasaur/Instagram & Mothership reader.