Shoppers across the world scrambled to buy budget wristwatches recently released by Swiss luxury watchmaker Omega.

Footage shows customers waiting outside a Swatch store in London's Carnaby Street on March 26 to buy their own model of the bioceramic 'MoonSwatch'.

Onlooker David Noble said: 'It looks like the queue has completely broken down. chaos.'

The timepiece manufacturer Omega has partnered with Swatch to create the MoonSwatch collection – a series of 11 celestial-themed watches referencing the iconic Speedmaster which was made by Omega and worn by U.S. astronauts on NASA missions.

Customers can buy the watch for around 260 USD (about 198 GBP). The price is a fraction of the cost of the original Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch, which sells for a minimum of 6,769 USD (5,145 GBP).

Swatch officials have said that the collaboration watches are not limited, but will be limiting purchases to one per person. They said in a statement on their website: ‘The launch of the Bioceramic MoonSwatch Collection is an incredible success that exceeded all expectations. We would therefore like to remind you that there will be watches available in the selected Swatch Stores in the coming weeks as it is not a limited edition.

‘For the moment, we have to update the purchase limit to one watch per person until further notice. We will revert back to two watches per person as soon as possible.’