An event at Dubai Mall on Saturday to mark the launch of the Swatch Royal Pop watch was cancelled after the huge turnout raised public safety concerns.
Hundreds of people had queued outside the mall's Swatch store from the early hours.
Swatch said the sale of the watch was cancelled at Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates, in a post on social media.
"In view of public safety considerations, we have decided not to proceed with the sale of the product at Dubai Mall and Mall Of The Emirates, and the event has been cancelled," Swatch said on its Instagram page.
The watches, from a collaboration between Audemars Piguet and Swatch, cost between $300 and $500 (up to Dh1,836).
Demand for the series is high and offers were being made online to people queuing at the mall on Saturday.
Tayyab Naveed, a Pakistani photographer and Dubai resident, had been planning to join the queue to get his hands on a watch.
"I really wanted to get one for myself," he said. "I wanted to keep it as a collectible."
When he arrived at Dubai Mall on Friday at around 5pm, he saw large queues already forming and decided to return on Saturday, until he saw footage of the crowds shared on social media.
"I had my plan to go [back] to the mall, but then I saw the videos."
Miitra Gesota went to the Swatch store in Mall of the Emirates on Saturday in the hope of purchasing the eagerly-awaited watch.
In the queue with me were first timers who wanted to get the watch for the brand name and also to resell," he said.
"When we found out it was cancelled, everyone was gutted."
