Swiss Manufacturer Creates High-End Mechanical Apple Watch Clone

[Tiger8]

$25k for a device styled as a blatant ripoff? LMAO

Except that, this $25K rip off will probably triple it's value, Apple's signature edition will be old tech in March and drop in half

A friend of mine made a fortune buying and selling limited edition watches, where only a few thousands were made, let alone 50

 

[MH01]

Your argument applies to any solid gold watch, maybe even more so for white gold. Why pay for solid gold when you get the same look with gold-plating or with white gold also with other much cheaper metals?
[doublepost=1452111802][/doublepost]
You mean Apple was the first one to sell five-figure watches?

For a digital ....guess so

 

[melendezest]

I agree with Tag Heuer's CEO that the iWatch is too girly. But with Apple things have been going that way since they got a girly CEO...

Given the iwatch's iOS requirement, it is a no-go for me anyhow.

The mechanical examples I see are much, much better for me as well, since I admire the craftsmanship that goes into them and I have no need nor desire whatsoever for a so-called smartwatch.

 

[WLS]

They are actually having some fun with the Apple watch and Apple's marketing. Check out this video:

Screenshot:

View attachment 609158

Well it's only fair then for us to have some fun with them. I Expect to see a watch screen app imitating their imitation.

 

[melendezest]

You have no taste. Apple Watch has a great, unisex design that fits perfectly today's clothes shapes.

Um, NO. Perhaps some are in touch with their feminine side a bit more than I.

It was obvious to me the iWatch was girly from the get-go.

Men need manly watches. The Apple watch is FAR from that.

 

[b-dogg]

Well, at least their designer fixed the crown placement and got rid of the pointless button.

 

[DUCKofD3ATH]

Ahead of the Apple Watch's launch, many high-end Swiss watch makers were critical of its design and Apple's efforts to position it as a high-fashion item. TAG Heuer CEO Jean-Claude Biver went as far as to call it "too feminine," saying the Apple Watch looked like "it was designed by a student in their first trimester."

As time has passed, opinions on the Apple Watch have changed. It has prompted some high-end luxury watch makers to consider delving into the smart watch market themselves, and it also seems to be the inspiration behind high-end watchmaker H. Moser & Cie.'s latest product.

Shared today by watch site Hodinkee, H. Moser & Cie.'s Swiss Alp Watch has a design that's immediately familiar, featuring a rectangular watch face with curved, rounded edges, a crown at the side, and Apple Watch-style lugs for holding a band in place.

Constructed from solid 18-karat white gold, the Swiss Alp Watch measures in at 38.2mm by 44mm, with a depth of 10.3mm. That's comparable to the 42mm Apple Watch, which is 35.9mm by 42mm with a depth of 10.5mm. It comes with a beige kudu leather strap with a white gold pin buckle.

The resemblance between the Swiss Alp Watch and the Apple Watch is purely physical. There is no processor, no OLED display, and no sensors in the Swiss Alp Watch, which is entirely mechanical. When flipped over, there's no heart rate sensor -- instead, the inner mechanics of the watch (a finished tonneau movement with a Straumann hairspring, according to Hodinkee) are visible through a clear sapphire crystal panel.

H. Moser & Cie. does not mention the Apple Watch on its website or in its marketing materials, but when speaking to Hodinkee, H. Moser & Cie. CEO Edouard Meylan said the Swiss Alp Watch is symbolic, serving as a proof traditional mechanical watchmaking has a future in a world where the digital smart watch is becoming commonplace. Swiss watchmaking, he says, has weathered other challenges and it will continue on.Given that H. Moser & Cie. is pricing the white gold Swiss Alp Watch at $24,900 with only 50 pieces available, it's unlikely Apple will take offense over the copycat design.

The full story of the H. Moser & Cie. Swiss Alp Watch, which includes background color on the Swiss watch industry and hands-on details, can be read over at Hodkinee.

Article Link: Swiss Manufacturer Creates High-End Mechanical Apple Watch Clone

Weird. I thought everybody knew that real watches had round faces.

 

[cwt1nospam]

I'm confused. Is the Apple watch a failure and a significant threat to Swiss watch makers??? /s

 

[Glideslope]

LMAO.

 

[Gasu E.]

Um, NO. Perhaps some are in touch with their feminine side a bit more than I.

It was obvious to me the iWatch was girly from the get-go.

Men need manly watches. The Apple watch is FAR from that.

I think I hear 1960 calling: "come back, melendezest".

 

[sidewinder3000]

"It represents our resilience, our ferocious desire to fight for our values and traditions. It embodies everything we believe in."

EDITED FOR HONESTY:
"It represents our [fear], our ferocious desire to fight for [relevancy by copying the] values and traditions [of our usurpers]. It embodies everything [Apple] believes in."
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@ 26:30 he's wearing a watch that looks idenical to Apples watch design but it's in the 1980's. Lets tone down the blatant calls of "ripoff"

Hardly. There have been many rectangular watch designs through the years. There are, in fact, only a few basic shapes a watch CAN be: circle/oval, square/retangle, triangle, polygon, trapezoid, parallelogram, etc. The specific look & feel of this knockoff are what's so egregious.
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Um, NO. Perhaps some are in touch with their feminine side a bit more than I.

It was obvious to me the iWatch was girly from the get-go.

Men need manly watches. The Apple watch is FAR from that.

Any man who "needs" a manly watch is, by definition, not a real man.

I'm certain if you asked Steve McQueen what watch a man needs, his reply would be something like "whatever watch he $&@#ing feels like".

 

[Rigby]

Well it's only fair then for us to have some fun with them. I Expect to see a watch screen app imitating their imitation.

Well, the Apple watch will certainly not imitate this watch's revolutionary power supply. Full charge in 5 seconds. And it doesn't even need a plug.

 

[Ries]

Me and millions of other people don't think it's ugly.

Millions of people also thinks crocs don't look bad, that doesn't make it so. If I had the money to spend on stuff like that, I would take that watch over Apples any day. The image they project in that comercial appeals to me a billion times more than wearing a gadget constantly bugging me.

 

[melendezest]

I think I hear 1960 calling: "come back, melendezest".

I'm fine right here, right now.

Somebody has to tell the Emperor the truth: he's naked.

 

[AlifTheUnseen]

Who-hooo! Really bad news article by MacRumors. Do you really think that:
- Apple was the first to have a huge rectangular base design for a watch - with a wheel in the middle of the right side?
- H. Moser & Cie.'s new product is a copy of the Apple Watch?

Really?

The Apple Watch doesn't seem to be a successful product - don't you agree that if it is successful, there would be news about its success - instead, no numbers, no press releases, no sales numbers, no info whatsoever, as far as I can tell. Apple desperately needs to demonstrate that they are able to 'be innovative' even without Steve, but, alas!, the watch wouldn't be that product. And neither is Music / Beats, nor the iPad Pro, I think.

 

[igorsky]

Yeah, because there were no square analogue watches before the Apple Watch.

This will be the new attack on the Apple Watch once copying it becomes commonplace. So predictable.

 

[TheIntruder]

I want that band.

There are multitudes of brown distressed leather bands on the market. And that doesn't even include customs.

For most watches, or an Apple watch with lug adapters, the sky is the limit.

 

[coolfactor]

@ 26:30 he's wearing a watch that looks identical to Apples watch design but it's in the 1980's. Lets tone down the blatant calls of "ripoff"

Are you suggesting that Apple has claimed to be the first to have a watch that looks like an Apple Watch? Apple has never claimed any such thing. They've developed a digital watch with a Digital Crown. That Digital Crown and the touch interface is what Apple has pioneered.... the user interface to the device. No other watch functions in the same way as an Apple Watch with Force Touch, etc.

Apple will not be suing this Swiss Watchmaker because the physical design is similar. But if a company replicates the user interface, you can bet that Apple will go after them...

 

[thekev]

Yeah, because there were no square analogue watches before the Apple Watch.

I didn't really indicate that. I found the circular faces embedded in the square one to look really awkward.

 

[Saucesome2000]

Its $25,000 and it doesn't even come with a USB port or a battery. Someone please blame Apple for this greed.

/s

Apple is the George W. Bush of technology.

 

[manu chao]

For a digital ....guess so

But how is creating a five-figure mechanical watch copying Apple's pricing.

 

[maxsix]

To compare this to an Apple watch is grabbing at straws... rather desperately.

 

[blut haus]

@ 26:30 he's wearing a watch that looks idenical to Apples watch design but it's in the 1980's. Lets tone down the blatant calls of "ripoff"

You posted a nearly 2 hour video to point out something that shows in a few frames at a specific point in the video just to say Apple ripped it off? I'd expect nothing less from MR

 

[apolloa]

Some of these comments are just classic. It's pretty clear this watch is not aimed at the market most Mac Rumors members are in.

Personally I think the Apple Watch looks cooler.

 

[Apple-Guy]

Basically it's a normal watch with the Apple Watch design..
That totally justifies its price, i mean come oooon, so obvious.