I don't think it's so much about Apple competing directly with luxury watchmakers that will hurt them; it's the fact that there's only room on your wrist for one watch
All wristwatch companies are scared because they know that people will not wear two watches. So, if people get addicted to getting their notifications from their smart watch, the wristwatch will get pushed out.
Your watch isn't going to replace your phone. There's just no way no how. Not anytime in the foreseeable future. Luxury watch makers aren't scared, and they don't need to be.
This could be a valid concern...IF smartwatches take off. But, that's a long time from now. Very few people in the foreseeable future are going to take of a Rolex, shelve it, and wear an Apple watch instead full time. Watch enthusiasts already have multiple watches they own that have to compete for wrist time, and those owners (myself included) rotate them based on event/occasion/activity. And who's to say that the smartwatch doesn't remain in the realm of workout-related gear, anyway?
The big Swiss companies have weathered attacks before that "experts" thought would surely do them in...namely the Quartz revolution in the '70s-'80s. Cheap, accurate watches that people were saying made mechanical watches obsolete. What happened?
I understand what you're saying. But what I'm not sure you're getting is that there has always (in my lifetime at least) been a competition for wrist space. We don't pick and buy $10,000 watches cause they are the "best at what they do"...hell, there are $30 Quartz watches that tell time, date, day of the week far more accurately. So we aren't buying them solely for their "utility" .
And as it stands right now, and for years to come, a smart watch isn't a necessity.
I'm afraid the Watch will ruin my watch hobby for this reason.
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I love my huge old mechanical watches..........but can see a very practical use cases for the Watch that could cause me to wear it more than I would really like to. Forcing my nicer time pieces to collect more dust.
It's true that previous "watch tech" hasn't replaced the good old mechanical watches to this point. For example, the reason the more accurate cheap Quartz watches never replaced more expensive but less accurate mechanical watches is because in daily function the accuracy was "close enough" and people preferred a nicer watch.
Remember that watches themselves were "high technology"! A way to tell time while on the move. Taking a clock no making it portable.
This was back in a time when knowing what time it was was about all you needed to know in daily life. When to show up for work or a meeting, etc.
Today is a different world. One where communications and health tracking are vastly more important. Tasks currently being done by smart phones.
This has left the wrist "open" for jewelry and basic time telling. I consider it far more respectful to glance at a watch during a meeting than to turn on and check your phone.
The threat the Watch brings to the watch market isn't one of competing jewelry, it's that it might actually have real world usefulness that would prevent the wearing of another time piece. Usefulness that no other watch tech has introduced before.
Part of the reason jewelry quality watches have been so popular is because there is has been nothing else worth taking up the space on the wrist.
For me, here is where I see the use case and the threat the Watch presents to my watch hobby.
I either ride a motorcycle, mountian bike or drive an old sports car (no place to set a smartphone so its in a pocket). All of these modes of transportation make it hard/dangerous to whip out a smart phone and check it at a traffic light, etc. Often times on the bike or motorcycle the phone isn't in a location where you would feel a notification come in.
With the Watch, you could feel the notification and take an easy glance to see if it's important without trying to dig out a phone.
Then while sitting in meetings, I hate having a smart phone sitting on the desk. I consider it disrespectful. However, an watch might be a great way to get/check the information needed quickly without having to pull out a phone. Even if it's just a quick glance between the meetings. Or setting up tactile reminders of meeting intervals to keep you on track. A slight vibe to the wrist could mark the halfway point or "5 more minutes" so you know to wrap up.
This could be especially handy during presentations.
Maybe you arrange a deal with a business partner/friend that he/she will "alert you" during a banquet dinner that the food or guest speaker is ready. So you do your toast/speech until you feel the notification on your wrist and then introduce what is coming next.
The possibilities are endless here.
When it comes to recreation. A Watch would be far easier to check/feel notifications while skiing/snowboarding. Pushing back a cup is far easier than digging out a phone, especially on a chair lift!
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I think the Watch might actually extend my phone upgrade cycle. My phones take a beating from constantly being checked in all sorts of non phone friendly conditions. Having the phone on you at at the ready constantly wears them out. Having the Watch could allow me to put my phone in a sleeve to protect it more, bury it in a safe spot in a backpack, leave it on a nearby desk, workbench, counter, etc.
As I get older and want to track my princess more, it's more important to me to see what my real activity is than to wear jewelry.
So in many ways I could see the watch paying for itself and being too useful to free up the room for my real watches.
I think the Watch is ugly......but until companies like TAG and other watchmakers bring the functionality in a better looking package.....I'm afraid the Watch might win for the space on my wrist.
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