Horological Meandering

but I also and still think that this kind of interest comes from when you are younger, and if you don't have the references when you are young.
And I'm not worried for the brands because of the owners, but because of the mechanical watches.

There is a major difference betweena mechanical watch and any of todays portable electronic devices.
The electronic devices have product lifetimes of a couple of years, a watch is at least several decades.
Even if by chance the e-device is still working after 5 years it will be so out that you would be ashamed to be seen in public with it.
Look at the people around you.
Many people only start appreciating long term value after reaching a certain age.
That will happen with todays young people too. They just need a couple more years.
And don't get too caught up in the Silicon Valley fast money hype even if your business profs are big believers.
Look, analyse and decide yourself.
Don

...substituted by another hype but the today young people will not be interested in mechanical watches, because it was not and won't be part of their lives.

they get legal issues first !

Its already accpeted that they were inspired by the previous designs (well, now Ikepod's designer Marc Newson is 'Apple in-house'). Best, Magnus

I am a lawyer (but not specialised in intellectual properties not a patent attorney) and i was intrigued by the claim of a swiss patent attorney on a local newspaper that Apple could have a claim for the design. Highly doubtful because the only similarity is the case and -- as you point out -- the case back is entirely different. I even think the only similarity will be the shape as the apple watch crown position and the curves might be different to the moser watch.  I would be very surprised if Apple would have a case -- at least here in Switzerland. 

which considers itself as luxury brand steal the design of someone else and be proud of it? If the reply of the Swiss luxury watch industry is to steal Appel's design, I think one can be worried.  

what did they steal? I think there are similarities in the case but can a company trademark or patent a shape? Just imagine if a company had the exclusive rights to a certain case

I hope you are kidding. If you just see "similarities" so all watch cases look the same.

you cannot really patent or trademark a universal shape (square or squarish watches) so beside the case there is nothing that close (crown, movement, functionality, dial etc.). Apple is also not new to "borrowing" designs: www.cnet.com

think about Royal Oak similarities with Hublot, Calatrava with many Vacheron models etc. etc. at least they didn't attempt to create a watch so similar to another mechanical one

in terms of boredom we have excellent example of the top brands issuing another ultra-expensive watch for the 0.000001% of people that can afford it and let's not forget the illusory limited supply: is that really more fair play? I think for a small company like Moser this was an excellent move. I really like their way to enumerate the differences between the swiss alp and the apple watch. They tried the same in the funky blue promo video "the original smartwatch" and that was really not as captivating. This is good fun!

For a small maufacturer with a small amount of annual production, polarizing opinions and generating discussion (which is what's happening in this thread) by issuing a LE is a smart way of marketing or raise brand awareness. It's meant to be a double-edged sword, so it the sense of humor expressed in Moser's video, which I really like.

Great marketing move by H. Moser & Cie!

Now let's see if Apple tries to sue Moser for this watch...

Cheers,
Anthony

... with all the fuss this headlines made in the tech-blogs, it gave them a bit of free publicity as well. I would be very surprised if Apple would even bother to react. It a different product, a different league, different customers...
Particularly, since no-one ever copies a Samsung smart watch (why should someone, nobody knows them anyhow?)...
Magnus

Many thoughts that I get looking at this. In no particular order:
- it is a rather nice looking watch. The fume dial, the case shape, the square-ish movement, the power reserve at the back, the kudu leather strap... I have to say I really like the product
- H. Moser & Cie is of a difficult size. Not so small as to be able to completely keep it in the family and rely on word of mouth alone, yet not large enough for meaningful economies of scale or adequate marketing budgets. Also the wrong size to be able to accumulate adequate reserves to weather a lengthy storm
- making noise raises awareness. If I remember correctly, the CEO also wrote an open letter to the Swiss Central Bank after they removed the peg to the Euro, there was the smart watch campaign, now this. If you have little money, there is a need to create awareness in another way
- the Apple Watch is a grateful target. First of all, many watch enthusiasts are curious about what effect the Apple Watch will have, so the likelihood of this being noticed by the actual target population is good. And if Apple engages in a heavy handed litigation against it, there is masses of free publicity to be had
- H. Moser & Cie is in a precarious position. If there is actually less interest in mechanical watches (if, I know), and the overall market is cooling off, they may be in trouble. Irrespective of how fine and rare their pieces are, if there is a downturn, everything with a lesser known brand gets to suffer first. I guess wealthy individuals will rather go with known quantities like PP, AP, VC, etc. in such a situation, making life exceedingly difficult for smaller players.

from the ground here in Switzerland:

I find small and relatively large players to be often more secure than the medium sized ones. But to get to large or at least fair sized, you need to navigate the difficult waters in between and for that you either have ample resources, a killer product, or lots of luck.

Do not get me wrong, I'd love a Moser watch and wish them well but easy, their situation is not. Let's see what they manage to do out of it

very well devised.

But Moser's recent communication, as you alude to, also reveals - willingly or not - their problems as they see them:

• the strong CHF must have a real impact on their sales, otherwise they would barely bother to feature this in an 'open letter' to the president of the national bank
• their continuous communication around the smart watch must be driven by (i) humour, genius or (ii) by a preceived threat smart watches pose to them.

H. Moser is a relatively small but deeply vertically integrated watch brand. I suppose that their ROI/margin is lower than of less integrated companies, at least in the short- to mid term. However, since they are young they are vulnerable particularly in difficult times, thus small perturbations in the market have a greater impact to them compared to long established brands. People seek confidence and feel attracted by traditional values in such times. Can H. Moser offer this?

Magnus

As you said they are both relatively 'young' in the current iteration and likely do not have the same level of RoI as more established players.

Vertical integration - initially - is one of possible reasons, the other being their relatively lower bargaining power vis a vis retailers. Probably too small to realistically rely exclusively on own boutiques, yet without the killer must have product forcing watch retailers to stock them come what may.

Now that the big brands are muscling in on the territory of the retailers these are harder pressed, and may drop the odd brand with low stock turnover.

So for Moser it could be doubly problematic if a crisis hits - consumers becoming more wary and the number of PoS dropping at the same time.

On the bright side, manufacturer boutiques can also make Moser more interesting to watch retailers due to lesser comparability and better margins, so who knows...

At any rate the current moves generate both publicity and awareness to an extent their advertising francs could not get them otherwise, so if no publicity is bad publicity, they may be on to something

I love this watch, and I hope Apple will not sue But it's true in my eyes that H. Moser, whose watches I love by the way, could maybe have avoided this kind of communication coup ...

sullies and cheapens the brand IMO

I hope this campaign will catch on in a viral way and explode. It's a good message for the Swiss watch industry, whether or not the Apple watch is a real threat.

Best,

CaliforniaJed