I wasn't responding to you personally, just the language you used, as it's something that appears here in an Apple forum over and over.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Watch vs Rolex
- Thread starter r0k
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
No effect whatsoever! There's a million Apple watches made a week!! A Rolex will ALWAYS be an investment while in MY opinion smart watches are a temporary fad. I tried one and it lasted a week and went back. I have a 6s that does everything I need. Just my 2 cents.
I share your experience with the Apple Watch.
Based on the brand strength and my personal enjoyment of Apple Products, I bought a SS AW upon it's release. As much as I wanted to like this watch even if only to put into rotation with my other watches, I just didn't find the Apple Watch worth the time and trouble. I turn off all but the few most important reminders on my iPhone, and I certainly don't need those to carry over to the Apple Watch, nor is their a point in having something I won't use.
It just occurred to me this is the very first Apple Product I've ever Returned and NOT replaced.
That in itself is a very telling fact.
I'll go so far as to say that to save face, Apple will subsidize the Apple Watch for years to come simply so they can avoid acknowledging that it's a dud. Not bad, just a dud. Their massive ego will not let them silently kill off this mediocre gadget. It will live on one way or the other.
Hey, I hear you. We all have different needs. As I've mentioned a few times, wrist notifications are very helpful for me, so the thousands that I have invested in various watches, like Rolex, starts coming into question, because I'm not wearing them.
I'm sure my great grandfather thought that the gold cane and gold pocket watch that he left me would always be useful and an investment, too. Now they're just nice heirlooms. He also left my uncle and me an vast analog camera collection, and, while it's fun to look at them and occasionally run some film through them, I generally just shoot my digital cameras.
As a Rolex and Patek owner myself, I find it incredible that people think the price of Rolex and Patek will always go up, just because it has done so for the past 20-40 years.
First of all, that isn't corrected for inflation and servicing costs, and doesn't take into account what the used watch sale price would be.
Second, prices continue to go up, until they don't. There's no reason to think that the prices of Rolex will always continue to go up outpacing the inflation rate because then you have infinity and nobody can buy a Rolex in the long run.
Last, these smart watches are a new trend and because you only have two wrists, if the smart watches take hold of the space in a significant way, either the fine watches will become even more niche than they are now, or they will need to coexist, one on each wrist, or other configuration. In such a scenario, it is hard to imagine that even high end $30000 to millions range will not be affected, unless smart watch form factor changes to allow wearing both.
If the current form factor wins out and achieves mass adoption a la smartphone (2 billion+ smartphones in the world currently), then sales of all traditional watches are definitely going to decline.
First of all, that isn't corrected for inflation and servicing costs, and doesn't take into account what the used watch sale price would be.
Second, prices continue to go up, until they don't. There's no reason to think that the prices of Rolex will always continue to go up outpacing the inflation rate because then you have infinity and nobody can buy a Rolex in the long run.
Last, these smart watches are a new trend and because you only have two wrists, if the smart watches take hold of the space in a significant way, either the fine watches will become even more niche than they are now, or they will need to coexist, one on each wrist, or other configuration. In such a scenario, it is hard to imagine that even high end $30000 to millions range will not be affected, unless smart watch form factor changes to allow wearing both.
If the current form factor wins out and achieves mass adoption a la smartphone (2 billion+ smartphones in the world currently), then sales of all traditional watches are definitely going to decline.
There will be a chunk of the market where a smart watch will replace a traditional watch, but there will always be those where it doesn't. Luxury watches are very different from the Casios and Citizen watches on the market because they are watches that are not necessarily worn every day.
A few Apple Watch owners here on repeat making the point over and over is fine but it's yet to be proven whether or not smart watches are competing for wrist space with a significant number of consumers.
Check out 'Watchanish' on Instagram for some cool timepieces. He also has an Apple Watch yet doesn't wear it everyday. My friend has an Apple Watch but doesn't wear it everyday either. People have different levels of interest with watches and after all they are a fashion accessory. They are designed to be flipped and alternated. The Apple Watch wants to be the only watch and that is proving a difficult but to crack.
A few Apple Watch owners here on repeat making the point over and over is fine but it's yet to be proven whether or not smart watches are competing for wrist space with a significant number of consumers.
Check out 'Watchanish' on Instagram for some cool timepieces. He also has an Apple Watch yet doesn't wear it everyday. My friend has an Apple Watch but doesn't wear it everyday either. People have different levels of interest with watches and after all they are a fashion accessory. They are designed to be flipped and alternated. The Apple Watch wants to be the only watch and that is proving a difficult but to crack.
Firstly, Apple Watch is not for everyone, it is being sold as a convenience addition to iPhone users, especially those that are fashion conscious. Seeing as you have set your iPhone to effectively avoid notifications, I am surprised that you even bought an Apple Watch, as that is it's redeeming/killer feature at this moment in time.
As far as I can gather, some iPhone owners just go out and spend money on an Apple Watch because it is from Apple. While that is good for Apple and shows brand loyalty, what it does show is lack of thought towards real world use.
I don't get anywhere near the level of notifications of others I know and I have seen a huge advantage of owning an Apple Watch. For me, this is on different levels. Personally, aesthetically, it is a beautiful accessory, and the added benefit of owning and wearing one is that it provides some level of functionality that I normally didn't get, which includes, health data and quick, clean notifications.
I am in no doubt that Apple knows of the Watch limitations technically and that is up-selling the fashion element to appeal to those that are willing to spend decent money of nothing more than an addition to their outfit.
It is very unfair pitting an Apple Watch against a Rolex as they are very different products. Rolex watches, yes are fashion accessories, but are as standard significantly more expensive, but they will retain their value better and for a hell of a lot longer. Apple Watches are like Rolex's, an accessory to fashion, but do actually provide, real world additional benefits that Rolex's cannot.
A couple other ideas of mine (maybe I think more clearly early in the morning) --
My AW has value if I wear it often. My other watches — well, some of them — have some value even if I don't wear them.
If I make enough money to easily afford five- and six-figure watches, I would also hope that I have an office of assistants to "filter notifications" for me, which would eliminate any need to wear a smartwatch.
Also -- what if this thread were labeled "Apple Watch vs Casio" or "…vs Seiko"? Would the discussion have dragged on for this long?
My AW has value if I wear it often. My other watches — well, some of them — have some value even if I don't wear them.
If I make enough money to easily afford five- and six-figure watches, I would also hope that I have an office of assistants to "filter notifications" for me, which would eliminate any need to wear a smartwatch.
Also -- what if this thread were labeled "Apple Watch vs Casio" or "…vs Seiko"? Would the discussion have dragged on for this long?
Last edited by a moderator:
So let's say someone buys a new Apple Watch every year. If they wear their Apple Watch every day, and they don't wear a watch on each wrist, then their Rolex is sitting in their drawer. Never mind if the Apple Watch is disposable. It's still winning the battle for wrist space.
The AW is certainly disposable. But so are our phone (2-3 years generally), and yet we don't harp on about its limited lifespan. Why? Because phones have never been expected to last long, and also because it provides a lot of value (whatever it may mean for the buyer).
So if the AW provides value, what's wrong with replacing it every few years?
I've always had a love for watches and collected many over the years. I bought the Apple Watch over a month ago and since than nothing else has gone on my wrist except my Apple Watch. How can I possibly wear a watch now that only tells time?
Funny thing is I own the link bracelet and I get more compliments on that watch than any of my high end watches I've worn in the past. Most people are surprised to learn that it's even an Apple Watch.
I can't wait to see what the future holds.
Funny thing is I own the link bracelet and I get more compliments on that watch than any of my high end watches I've worn in the past. Most people are surprised to learn that it's even an Apple Watch.
I can't wait to see what the future holds.
Nothing wrong with replacing it. I am sure MANY will when the AW2 arrives. I was going to sell my 42SS when I went back to wearing the Rolex but when I saw want the resale value was i decided to toss in the drawer and maybe wear it another day. Each has their own place and time. Right now I am loving my 6S+ and even like hearing the notifications again and that nice big screen!
I guess that is why my Rolex is a winner right now while the 42SS sits in the drawer.
There is no right or wrong here, people need to do as they wish and enjoy what they do.
Last edited by a moderator:
You have equated your use of a product with it being a dud, and I doubt your use matches that of everyone. Mobile phones are very personal, and smart watches are even more so.
I've had the Apple Watch for a week, and will be keeping it for the long haul. I bought it upon stepping up to a much larger phone (6s Plus) that I didn't want to have to be taking out as much because its harder to be discrete than with a much smaller device. I had two real things I hoped to get from it... noticing messages (I rarely can feel the vibrate from any phone in my pocket) and tracking my runs. I also am a regular watch user, but have a much less expensive Bulova. Sorry, not Rolex here. I've found that it serves these two purposes very well.
The bonus is that it has forced me to actually take control of notifications. I had tended to either turn off or ignore notifications on my iPhone. I hardly ever even used the notifications panel on my iPhones. In the week since getting the watch I have now gone through and really thought about what I want to know about, and whether I want it queued up on my iPhone, or passed through to the watch. Messages for sure go to the watch, and I'm finding that I can reply to many right there. That alone has made it worth the price. I was constantly missing messages from my wife and her getting upset with me about it. It can still happen, but way much less likely.
I'm finding many of the other apps to have some use too. I'm pulling out my phone much less, and when I do its more purposeful. This is saving me time. And my coolest moment was when I was doing yard work over the weekend I was listening to music and my playlist hit the end. My hands were all dirty and I didn't want to have to touch anything. I raised up my hand, and said, "Hey Siri, play .....". And my music started playing again. I also almost NEVER used Siri on my phone.
Bottom line is I don't think the Apple Watch is a dud. To the contrary, I think as a first generation product its quite good and the fact that I got to that place in only a few days of use means that its not that hard to figure out.
If we set aside your argument about how wonderful it is and how it can do things others cannot, we get to the bottom line, unit sales.
We cannot believe what Apple claims since they are self serving and don't give specific numbers anyway.
That leaves us to speculate based on how many people we see out and about actually wearing Apple's watch.
It can be observed where it should get the most attention.... and that's in Apple Store Display Cases.... a place where after six long visits this year, I haven't seen a single person at the big vacant able with watches under glass. I'm shocked that not once have I ever saw anyone there looking or trying on a watch.
Living in a very wealthy area it's not price objection that is preventing them from being sold. They're a fad, started by Android Smart Watches. A very narrow niche product that will be kept on life support if needed by Apple.
The point about notifications is something that puts me off the watch to be honest. I wouldn't want them buzzing on my wrist and appreciate they can be turned off, customised etc. That defeats the object of the watch though. For this reason I would say I am not an ideal buyer for the Apple Watch and just telling the time while looking awesome is all I look for in a watch anyway. If the gap is bridged and people like yourself feel more connected, then great.
Watches for me are an extension of ones personality. I don't want a watch that I will see dozens of times a day on somebody else's wrist. Not that I see that many Apple watches yet.
Time will tell. I am not trying to say they will be as successful as iPhones. By definition, they can't be since you have to have an iPhone to use one. So we are talking a subset. If they were able to hit 25% of iPhone owners, that is a sizable business. Sounds like you thing they may be in the low single digit percentage if that.
I also don't think you can necessarily judge market size by a trip to the Apple store and how many people you see standing around the display. I've been in the Apple store plenty of times and not seen a single customer playing with any of the iPhone displays.
The self-serving bit is true of any company, so unless the company has a history of fraudulent reporting, those numbers can be taken as fact. When Apple starts releasing numbers on units sold, we can use that number.
I've seen the opposite at my local Apple Store. But kind of fruitless to debate using these as evidence since neither of our observations are indicative of global sales and trends.
I'd give it some time. It's only been out for 6 months. It took the iPhone 4 years to reach 20% penetration in the US. The iPhone sold in the low millions in the first year as well.
Current estimates are that AW sales are somewhere around 2.6M units sold worldwide, so you're not likely to see many of them in the wild, certainly not as much as smartphones in general where penetration is around 75% in the US currently.
Last edited:
I've guessed (and it's totally a guess) that maybe one out of every hundred iPhone owners would get an AW. Maybe even up to 5% (one for every twenty), given enough time.
But, I've also guessed that this includes owners of iPhones dating back to the iPhone 5, the oldest model compatible with the AW. There are several hundred million compatible iPhones out there now.
(Fwiw, we're at more than a 5% AW adoption rate where I work; at least four of us in a group of 80, and iPhone use is probably 70%)
I am thinking that smart watches are just starting out and that there will be many different watches hitting the market in the next few years. Some will be cheaper, way cheaper, some will cost more. Apple will have to compete and the AW2 will be better received and offer more for the same amount of money.
Too true. People that own "smartwatches" in general are regarded as Early Adopters. As you say, we are just starting out and there will be a plethora of different watches hitting the market over the new few years. Smartwatches will always be a niche product until the cost in general comes way down and the functionality in general goes way up.
Personally I just don't know what functionality smartwatches will offer in say 2-3 years time that will be leaps ahead of what we have...do we even need loads more functionality? Even is you could geta beautiful smartwatch at $100 that had a built in SIM, GPS and extra health tracking features, would people buy this? People use their mobile phones for more than it's basic function of making calls, and in general smartwatches cannot replace half of the functions that a handheld device with a large screen can do.
So it's the cost point that will make the difference, in my opinion, although I'm not sure what that cost needs to be, seeing as you can pick up a brand new 1st generation Moto 360 for just over £100 at the moment, and do I expect sales to skyrocket?.....no I don't.
One thing Apple has done with the Apple Watch is making the general public more aware of smartwatches and wearable tech, and merging it with good looks.
I think that sensors will be the key and lots of money will go into new GPS sensors that use very little power. Blood pressure and other sensors I can't even think about will be advanced with this technology.
I wish I could still say nothing else has gone on my wrist but an Apple watch but recently I experienced problems with my Apple Watch while running. It turns out that long sleeves when you're sweaty are interpreted as swipes and when I'd glance down at my wrist to see my pace in a 10+ mile run, I'd either see stock reports (on a Sunday!) or a screenful of icons or something else equally as useless (during a run). I also tried the workout app and while it allows you to lock the screen, it only provides distance, time and mile splits. There is no way to export the data in "standard" formats and no GPS data is included. In fact the only way I've found to export from workout is to launch activity on my iphone, scroll down past a lot of achievements to "workouts" then take a screen capture of my splits and go type them into excel or google sheets. Are you kidding? Of course other apps have access to this data through Health but as of today there are no apps specifically designed to fish out my run time, distance and splits and email it to me as a csv or other standard file.
For this reason, during runs my Apple Watch wrist space is either given to my Garmin Forerunner 220 or I wear the Garmin on my other wrist which looks downright silly. I'm sure this problem is temporary and "eventually" third party running apps which support standard file formats will be able to lock the screen (require a force touch press to make changes) and avoid disrupting a workout. I'm sure that "eventually" Apple will allow export of data from workout to "standard" file formats. My marathon isn't "eventually", it's this coming Sunday. Hence despite my love for Apple Watch, it must "share" my wrist with a single purpose watch: my Garmin.
Way back when I started this thread, I said AW had the potential to compete well with a high-end single purpose watch like Rolex and I never thought I'd be coming back to say my AW got bumped by a lowly Garmin. For a high end product like AW to do a worse job of activity monitoring than a lowly Garmin that sells for half the price of the lowest cost AW shows that AW is still somewhat a work in progress in some areas.
In the attached images, Garmin gives route, cadence, elevation all in exportable file formats and viewable through an ordinary web browser like Safari or Chrome. Workout by contrast emails you a giant circle icon saying you ran so many miles in the subject. Yes a giant icon. Furthermore if you want your splits and other data such as heart rate, you must capture a screenshot using power and home button. Third party apps are capable of matching Garmin in features but alas they do not lock the screen leading to distraction during exercise fighting to get AW back into the correct app and mode.
AW is not yet a viable workout watch.
Last edited:
That the AW is not as good at being a workout watch than the Garmin has little to do with the relative prices of the two devices, or whether one is high-end or low-end. The Garmin is a dedicated device that has only one purpose, to monitor runs. It's not so surprising that it does that one job well.
I think where the Apple Watch excels is for people like me, who was never interested enough in fitness to buy a dedicated fitness tracker. But having bought the Apple Watch for other purposes (in my case notifications), I find I like its activity tracking, and it has helped me get more active.
Does that mean a Rolex would get bumped by a lowly Garmin as well? I get what you mean and in short, Garmin's are there for one purpose only....and thats activity monitoring. I personally do not think that the Apple Watch will ever replace a Garmin for those seriously interesting in fitness. What it will do is provide an all round device that should give people a good experience of fitness tracking amongst other things like notifications.
Have you tried any of the other apps like Nike or Strava etc, not sure if they give better tracking information.