Horological Meandering

According to a (very informative and well written) report published today at bloomberg.com , Elmar Mock , co-inventor of the Swatch and one of the most important figure in the Swiss watch industry (and Prix-Gaia laureate), offered dire outlook on the Swis...  

Very interesting, although I would agree with the fact that the Apple Watch is a gadget, what else would it be? However, gadget from Apple have a good track record for selling like hot cakes and I believe it to be much easier for a company like say, Swatc... 

"supposed" to evolve but it wouldn't hurt ;) :) Cheers D

nothing :)

I remember when I was about 11-12 years old our class went to visit a small zoo in Switzerland, the zoo keeper pointing toward the monkeys said that we all "descend" from monkeys, however, some descended faster.....in my naivety, since then, I have hold a... 

that completely wrong misconception that we descend from monkey(s) was told children :)

..when I look around, I am sure of it;) Cheers Francois

brutal :)

as the price range the mainstream Apple Watches are in there is very little 'little cogs, screws and wheels' - mostly quartzes and batteries ;-) Best, Magnus

our ABR case and the ikepod strap... There will be repurcussions for the sub-$1k market, no question. for watchgeeks and "WIS" I'm not so sure... interesting food for thought. TM

Consider this: despite increasing Swiss production, I suspect in many (most?) markets the number of people who wear a watch at all has declined year over year for some time. (Perhaps someone has that data?). If in fact Apple sells 30m watches, or even put... 

conversation about the fact that the iWatch is sold without a strap. One side was really whipped into a frenzy - "how much for a strap?!?" the other side was saying, "you don't understand. just imagine the ecosystem that will develop around the strap busi... 

This is actually also what Mr Mock refers to. Magnus

There will be some young people who have not worn a watch before and who are the type to have every new tech item who will buy this watch. Some may very well become intrigued by the idea of wristwatches and will look at what has already been out there-whe... 

and a very clever one spearheaded by Jean-Claude Biver and others. How could it look like this time? The same again?

And I do not think a new response is needed. Smart watches will not attract buyers away from Swiss/German luxury brands. Their appeal is to a different market.

I buy Patek, Urwer, and etc., but I also plan to buy smartwatch, I can't be the only one...... I have worked in tech. for a long time and also a photography gear nut, and saw first hand what digital tech. did the the film industry, so I wouldn't underesti... 

It's not so much the digital pixels that killed the film industry, it's the fact that digital technology brought a change to consumer behaviour. When it first appeared, diehard film user argued film is here to stay, that it offer better quality, etc., etc... 

In making my point I see excluded ALL mechanical watch buyers from an interest in smart watches. Of course that is ridiculous. But I will stick to my main point: the smart watch will have little to no affect on the mechanical watch industry. Will you stop... 

..I have just read this article and wanted to share in order to keep things in perspective. Wow! US$ 17'000.00 for an Apple watch? I'll get a tree here for much less than that:) Please delete if posting this link is blasphemous! Cheers Francois

The Swiss industry just don't sell electronics nor great software but luxury goods. How do you want any Swiss brand to compete in this field and with these volumes? It make just no sense to compare both. Cheers, Goldenlutin

Even if Swiss watch industry takes notice, what can they do? I don't see Swatch, Rolex or Patek come up with an OS, and just throw a few sensors into what they have now, won't really make it a "smartwatch". Real smartwatches requires a vertical integratio... 

which I particularly find difficult to imagine in secretive Swiss watch valleys... Magnus

Mechanical movements are almost deliberately anachronistic and this aspect to them in thrown into sharp relief by this Apple watch. This Apple watch does have an attractive design all the same, albeit derivative of other watches, especially the Manatee. I... 

10K and below, what will that do to the Swiss watches at those price points? Raising prices on those watches will not increase sales and lowering them will eat into profits. Losing entry level mechanical watches seems to me to be bad for the industry.

a real threat to the industry which might repercuss even in the higher market ranges. But again this all depends how open-minded the industry reacts. Magnus

because if it is so, i understand the strategy, a new gadget for apple fans...but for the rest of the world? If i wanted to buy the iwatch, i should buy the iphone. please correct me if i'm wrong ;)

NT

to my eyes is meaningless in the next year probably we'll see an iwatch working without iphone ot other mobile phone, but now is for iphone owners only. a nonsense....

which makes sense given memory, processing power and battery limitations. Today a computer is pretty much useless without being tied to the internet (with the extreme example of Google's Chrome OS), in fact even more objects get their tie ('internet of th... 

Apple has already sold 500 million iPhones and I know very few who do not own one so this is hardly an issue. ...  

if someone calls you, you'll have to talk into the watch and hold the phone to your ear. Try doing that without looking like an idiot !

if you want to use the apps, email notifications, etc., that come with it. Otherwise, you may use it just as a watch. Aloha, Bob

nt

nt

MJ Pics Source: Google Images S ...  

Actually I don't see that the impact on the traditional Swiss watch industry will be great. At the low end, a classic Swatch is priced well below the Apple watch. It offers something radically different..artistic style, interesting themes and colors. At h... 

- are used to smart devices and their daily need to be charged, so I think this is not much of an issue for those customers - could ( subjunctive !) be even attracted to the 'real watch' market, thus bear the potential to adding to the watch industry. Now... 

an iwatch.

Hackers. And code Crackers, etc. I test software (IT Quality Assurance), and this would be an interesting device to test all-around. We thought mobile devices and phones were a challenge, now the Apple watch presents a bit of a new one. I welcome it (it's... 

Coi ncidentally wearing my 1973 JLC Chronometre that defied the quartz crisis I read Nick Foulkes article about Sir Jonathan Ive and the AppleWatch last weekend at the dawn of Apple’s entry into the watch market. It was crammed with blatant marketing guff...  

I think most of you totally underestimate the new watch concept. Apple Watch is just the start and nobody knows what we will see in five years or so. Desk divers wear their Rolex Submariners but I have never seen a real diver who would not wear a dive com... 

Our watches are already relics. We're wearing centuries old technology on our wrists. Their value and appeal is not challenged by technology. To the contrary, their appeal is a reaction to the "throwaway" technology of the current age. A smart-[INSERT NAM... 

. . . but easily could have is that many of us have come to appreciate horology from memories of our fathers' timepieces. Two generations hence, memories fond or otherwise will be of smart watches. The serious threat to mechanical watches isn't now; it's ... 

Let\'s take Max Busser as an example. Max Busser describes his MB&F watches as \'machines\' and as wearable art. A smart watch doesn\'t replace our desire for one of his watches by virtue of its utility. Those who find Max\'s art compelling will continue ... 

and apply it to watches. Maybe you are right. My first watch at all was a mechanical 'Ruhla' from the now extinct GDR. At the time I was at school I desperately wanted a Casio digital watch - so cool! Now, I am back to mechanicals... ;-) imprinted? Most l... 

I am not that sure that "most of us underestimate" the new watch concept. Perhaps many "of us" are overestimating it!? After all I do remember when these Casio, Pulsar and other brands were coming on the market many years ago. These were novelties, cheap ... 

Some people mentioned google glass and how it failed, but google glass has different issues all together. First of all nobody likes to put glasses or a device on their face if they don't have to, and for those who don't mind, well, other people do mind, t... 

That sums up my feeling but I\'ll buy one - it\'s my obligation as a moderator to brave this new world.

I have heard many watch nuts been saying they do not want to wear the same watch everybody does. At one stage, I remember seeing Casio in a number of different places. I also remember seeing the then very popular black titanium quartz on a great number of... 

They're appealing to different markets in many way, I think. But it calls into question, interestingly, why consumers buy mechanical watches in the first place. A good many purchase Swiss watches as mere status symbols. I know it's not a popular opinion t... 

Frankly, I don't understand the appeal of the Apple Watch as it does little an iPhone will not. Also find the styling unattractive and the use of gold utterly inappropriate to an item produced by a company otherwise quite dedicated to Ulm school, Bauhaus ... 

and the name of that difference is Marc Newson. ...  

Yes Magnus, certainly agree Apple's thoroughness in developing their case making metallurgy is most impressive and something the Swiss watch industry could certainly learn from.

Then again, perhaps I spoke too soon. Quote from a recent Forbes magazine article: "A new Apple patent has surfaced for a “Method and Apparatus for forming a gold metal matrix composite.” In simple terms, this new “Apple gold” is lighter, stronger and mor...  

These whirligigs haven't even been launched widely to consumers yet. Who knows how they'll hold up, what early-adopter tech issues there will be (Was the whole iPhone "Bend-gate" so long ago that it's been forgotten?), whether people will want to actually... 

...it takes a lot of sunlight and stakes to keep a girl down forever. :-) Hope you are enjoying your weekend! :-) Daos

The technological journey has one common denominator, miniaturization. IMHO the technology contained in an iwatch is on its own journey as stated above. As this technology evolves it will be contained in ever smaller sizes so while there will be an impact... 

On a final point, the history of "smart watches" such as the old Casio calculator watches and the like Have all had the handicap of a small screen, the iwatch is no different. Let us consider the difference between the iPhone 5 and the iphone 6... The scr... 

Quartz watches and smartwatches are completely two different beasts. And screen size is not the limitation on how well smartwatches will develop. If that were the case, why even bother with wrist watches, people would have stick to pocket watches, you can... 

will a utilitarian device replace a luxury item? Because mechanical watches are without a doubt luxury items. The Quartz crisis pushed pretty much all mechanical watches into the luxury item bracket. I just don't see how a utilitarian device can displace ... 

I think they are different. Digital photograph changed the way people photograph and sharing, quartz watches essentially is just a cheaper and more accurate way of powering a watch. Smart wearables have the potential to change how people uses wrist device... 

NOT a quartz crisis for high-end Swiss mechanical. Anyway, the comparison between the quartz crisis and wearable "crisis" does not make a lot of sense to me. They are entirely different.