Wristbuddys Royal Pop Straps: Pocket Watch → Wrist Watch
Wristbuddys is launching eight color-matched wrist straps for the Swatch x AP Royal Pop pendant, one per colorway. Here's the full lineup and how to get on the early-access list.
By Marcus Chen
The Swatch x Audemars Piguet Royal Pop launched on May 16 as a pendant — a Royal Oak-inspired watch case worn around the neck on a leather lanyard. Cool concept, divisive execution. For everyone who loved the watch but wanted to wear it on their wrist like a normal human, there's now an answer: Wristbuddys is launching color-matched rubber straps for all eight Royal Pop variants.
> Related: New to the Royal Pop? See our Swatch x AP Royal Pop buying guide — the launch story, the full lineup, and where to find one on StockX, GOAT, and eBay right now.
Here's the full lineup, what the conversion does, and how to get on the early-access list.
What the Wristbuddys conversion does
Wristbuddys has been quietly building a business around making Swatch's funkier releases more wearable. Their original viral product was a rubber wrist strap for the Blancpain x Swatch Scuba Fifty Fathoms, which Swatch sold as a NATO-only piece. The conversion turned a hard-to-wear collab into a daily-driver dive watch and racked up six-figure unit sales.
The Royal Pop conversion is the same idea: a custom-molded rubber strap that fits the octagonal Royal Oak case shape, attaches through the pendant loop, and lets you wear the Royal Pop on your wrist instead of around your neck. Each strap is color-matched to a specific Royal Pop variant — eight watches, eight straps, named with the word "eight" in eight different languages.
The full Royal Pop strap lineup
There's one strap per Royal Pop colorway. Click any name to jump to its product page on Wristbuddys.
Orenji Hachi (Japanese — Orange Eight)
The signal-orange variant, matched to Swatch's orange/yellow Royal Pop. Most eye-catching of the eight and historically the colorway that sells out first on Wristbuddys releases.
Reserve the Orenji Hachi strap →
Ocho Negro (Spanish — Black Eight)
The most versatile of the eight. Matches the black Royal Pop, but the all-black rubber works as a "stealth" strap if you want to tone the watch's loudness down for everyday wear. Pair with the Otto Rosso (below) for a clean two-strap rotation.
Reserve the Ocho Negro strap →
Otg Roz (Romanian/Hungarian — Pink Eight)
The hot-pink strap, matched to the pink Royal Pop. Loudest piece in the lineup. Wear it if you want the case to be a conversation starter — this is the strap people will ask about.
Làn Ba (Vietnamese — Blue Eight)
A muted light-blue that pairs with the powder-blue Royal Pop. The most "wearable to the office" colorway in the collection if you're trying to ease your way into the Royal Pop look.
Blaue Acht (German — Blue Eight)
Deep navy strap matched to the navy Royal Pop. The closest the collection gets to a traditional sports-watch aesthetic. If you're coming to the Royal Pop from a Royal Oak Offshore admirer's perspective, this is your strap.
Reserve the Blaue Acht strap →
Otto Rosso (Italian — Red Eight)
Red strap for the red/pink Royal Pop. Plays well in a Ferrari-adjacent garage. The richest, most saturated red of the eight — closer to fire-engine than pink.
Reserve the Otto Rosso strap →
Huit Blanc (French — White Eight)
Crisp white strap, matched to the white Royal Pop. Best paired with a wardrobe that has a lot of black or denim — the contrast pops. Also the dirtiest strap to maintain; budget for replacements.
Reserve the Huit Blanc strap →
Green Eight (English — Green Eight)
Kelly-green strap, matched to the green Royal Pop. The third-most-anticipated colorway behind pink and navy if Wristbuddys' typical pre-order data holds.
Reserve the Green Eight strap →
The naming convention is a small touch but a smart one — it leans into the global resale audience the Royal Pop attracted. The Otto Rosso strap is mechanically identical to the Orenji Hachi, but the brand treats each colorway as its own piece, which keeps the resale market for one-off matched pairs alive.
Why a wrist conversion matters
The Royal Pop's pendant format was the most controversial part of the launch. Watch traditionalists hated it. Sneakerheads who love the case shape weren't sure how to wear a pocket-watch-pendant in 2026 without it feeling costumey. The reaction online was split roughly down the middle the moment images dropped.
A wrist strap solves the format problem without compromising the design. You get:
- •The same case shape — the octagonal Royal Oak silhouette stays intact
- •A daily-driver wear position — strap on your wrist instead of pendant around your neck
- •Color matching — pairing each strap to the exact Royal Pop colorway preserves the "complete look" Swatch intended
- •Reversibility — the conversion doesn't modify the watch case, so you can switch back to the lanyard for occasions that suit it
If you bought a Royal Pop on May 16 and you're already regretting the pendant format, the Wristbuddys strap is probably the cheapest fix you can buy — $15–40 typical Wristbuddys price range, vs. selling the watch at a resale loss.
When the straps go live
As of writing, the Royal Pop straps are listed on Wristbuddys' site as pre-order / coming soon — pricing isn't published and availability is showing as inactive. Wristbuddys typically opens pre-orders 1–3 weeks before shipping, so expect a buyable date in early-to-mid June.
The fastest way to get notified the moment they go live is to browse the Royal Pop strap collection and use their email-when-available signup on the specific colorway you want. Wristbuddys tends to ship in waves — the highest-demand colorways (pink, navy, white) sell out within hours of release, the more niche colorways stick around for weeks.
What about Amazon?
Wristbuddys is the official launch partner for the Royal Pop strap collection, but third-party Royal Pop-compatible straps are starting to surface on Amazon as well. The first few listings appeared within 48 hours of the watch's May 16 release, and we expect more variants — including some at sub-Wristbuddys pricing — to arrive on Amazon in the coming weeks.
Browse Royal Pop watch straps on Amazon →
Quality varies wildly with third-party Amazon straps. Wristbuddys' straps are custom-molded to the Royal Pop's exact case geometry; cheaper Amazon alternatives are usually generic 20mm rubber straps with adapters that may or may not fit cleanly. If you're matching the case color or want a guaranteed fit, Wristbuddys is the safer bet. If you just want a wrist conversion for under $15 and you're not picky about exact color match, Amazon's selection will be worth checking back on.
How this pairs with the Royal Pop drop
If you missed it, we covered the full Royal Pop launch — including Swatch's own statement asking buyers not to rush stores, the cultural moment around the drop, and where to find the watches on the aftermarket — in our Royal Pop guide. That piece is the buying flowchart for the watch itself. This piece is the conversion accessory.
The combined math: pick up a Royal Pop at retail or near-retail on the aftermarket ($300–450 depending on colorway), add a matched Wristbuddys strap for ~$20–40 when they're live, and you've got a wrist-mounted Royal Pop for under $500 total. That's the same money as a Tudor strap kit, and it gets you the same watch design DNA as a $50,000 Royal Oak in a daily-driver format.
The bottom line
The Wristbuddys Royal Pop strap collection is the kind of accessory that closes a loop — Swatch shipped a divisive format, the market wanted a wrist-mounted alternative, and Wristbuddys is dropping eight color-matched answers within weeks of the launch. The economics work, the design intent stays intact, and the brand has the manufacturing track record (Blancpain x Swatch straps) to deliver.
Shop the Royal Pop strap collection at Wristbuddys →
If you have a specific Royal Pop colorway in mind, hit the matching strap's product page and sign up for the availability alert. The first wave will go fast — and Amazon's third-party options are worth watching as a budget Plan B in the coming weeks.
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