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  1. KCScott Jan 3, 2015

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  2. ICONO Jan 4, 2015

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    This is a very interesting ‘ Design' innovation

    The incorporation of an ‘e strap’ coupled with an analogue timepiece may possibly be the way forward.

    As a professional photographer, I witnessed the incredible speed, at which Digital imagery displaced traditional, ( 100+ years of film ) Analogue photography in the early 2000’s.

    As a studio, we bought into Digital in ’97 – The cost was the best part of £400k then – ( That included the construction of reinforced strong rooms to keep the cameras in at night, part of the Insurer's lunatic stipulations.)

    I would speculate that people currently underestimate the speed at which the ‘e watch’ will replace traditional watches, as their digital sophistication, functionality, & popular acceptance geometrically increases.

    One can now buy, an extremely ‘high end’ Hasselblad film camera system ( and lenses) , for a tiny fraction, of the original cost fifteen years ago.

    I wonder if the same ‘perceived value‘ effect will degrade the ‘market price’ of contemporary, mechanical watches ?

    I also suspect, we will see the first Omega ‘e watch’ ( perhaps in partnership with Apple / Microsoft ) within the next 5 years. - It is too obvious a 'Marketing & Branding' opportunity to miss.
     
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  3. Superdoc Jan 4, 2015

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    Interesting, and the camera and Phone rates of adoption, even among those reluctant to 'get on board' has been phenomenal...

    I love seeing Octogenarians texting their grandkids/or eachother...

    So I am trying to not underestimate the potential popularity of the Smart Watch...

    But I just can't imagine it replacing the traditional timepiece...

    Digital cameras replaced traditional - but people needed cameras...

    People really don't 'need' watches... there are multiple ways to tell time - most often that smart phone itself....

    If we truly wanted a time-telling device that were more accurate, lighter, brighter..we have it - the quartz, or the digital....
    we are impressed by the glow of a superluminova - but how about the glow on a Timex glowlight watch (or whatever the hell they call it)...


    Watches will remain an emotional object....how emotionally attached are you to that phone which you happily, and readily trade in whenever a 0.0001 version is introduced...

    the problem with the tech is that it is ever changing - how long would an OMEGA/APPLE smartphone be relevant? - 2-3 yrs until now it's considered archaic, old, obsolete tech... e are sold on the idea that we buy these watches to last Generations....that's part of how we justify the expense.... will my great-grandson really want to wear my Apple/Omega?

    is there any 'vintage' market for old Palm pilots?

    I think that the emotional nature of these objects is what the rest of the industry may be underestimating, and it was a near terminal under-estimation back in the days of the Quartz crisis...I can't see it happening again...

    Imagine if apple instead produced a "smart Ring"... small digital camera worn on the ring, that could project a holographic image of a flawless 4 carat diamond... what if I asked my wife to trade hers in for that?...

    would you guys visit me in the hospital?


    I think Montblanc is making a cautious move... the case can endure, while the bracelet will be disposable...
     
  4. dsio Ash @ ΩF Staff Member Jan 4, 2015

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    I think what's going to happen is smart watches will get people "into" watches and act as a stepping stone for a lot of people who have never or would never wear a watch. Trouble with this smart strap is going to be the same problem faced by many quartz watches, you can't easily produce very small production runs of specific ASICs decades later, Stephen Urquhart recently remarked that for any mechanical if Bienne don't have parts they'll make them, and that the only watches Omega can't actually restore at present are some 70s/80s quartz models.
     
  5. ICONO Jan 4, 2015

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    I suspect we are Gentlemen of a 'certain age' - 40's / 50's ?

    We have grown up with certain 'icons' in our lives - Be they perhaps, automotive, horological, photographic, firearms etc etc

    For example - when I was about 5, I remember seeing my first E Type Jaguar in the Sixties & was entranced by it - I subsequently bought, ( & still own ) a '67 Series 1.5, when I was older & sufficiently affluent to do so.

    Whilst there are many younger Members of this august Forum, with a terrific interest, & experience, in 'Vintage' timepieces

    I suspect the next Generation, ( or two !), below us, are less interested in nostalgia & intrinsic engineering, ( at the moment ),.....and perhaps more with immediate convenience.

    One can already see now, how many people, in the street, or at work, do not wear watches at all.......They use their cell phones

    Today I can use a 'contactless' payment system with my cell phone, to pay for small items.

    Tomorrow - I may well be able to do the same ( and a lot, lot more ! ) with my 'e watch' connected to my 'Google glasses'

    As a past Professional Advertising Photographer, and now a University Tutor in 'Creativity & Design' - I am simply interested to see how swiftly, and to what extent, the exponential growth of a new digital medium, will impact on the old.

    Whilst I also own a Linn turntable........I am prompted to think of gramophones, & CD's !
     
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  6. Superdoc Jan 4, 2015

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    On the age issue... You suspect wrongly...

    But I also think you're underestimating the power and emotional value of luxury...
    During the economic crisis, luxury goods demand and sales increased exponentially...
    Luxury has the emotional draw that transcends reason...
     
  7. STANDY schizophrenic pizza orderer and watch collector Jan 4, 2015

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    Driving into Dubai airport, the amount of larger than ever billboards with every high end watch company and the 16 full page,s of watch adds in some GQ magazines

    Have to agree with Superdoc

    Once the Chinese emerging rich get in on the watch game i think some of the companies will do more than well
     
  8. LouS Mrs Nataf's Other Son Staff Member Jan 4, 2015

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    Mechanical watches already took the innovation and functionality hit with quartz. The mechanical watch market is no longer about those things, and hasn't been for decades. It is Quartz technology that smart watches will displace.
     
  9. ICONO Jan 4, 2015

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    I am not, for one moment, suggesting 'luxury brands' will not survive

    There will always be a relatively limited market of affluent, aspirational buyers, who will clamour for & snap up every fresh incarnation of a 'Design Classic' - Look at the number of 'variations on a theme' that has been built up, around the Speedmaster.

    I have spent the greater part of professional career, working with some of these Brands to create 'visual hooks' to successfully catch 'consumerist fish', so I do understand the pysche

    I am merely suggesting, they may have to adapt to do so, to acquire a broader, ( & possibly younger ), market sector.

    It may be that quartz watches are the natural targets to supersede,....... that does not mean there will not be an Omega 'e watch'

    I do think the next 5 years will be very interesting.
     
  10. Hijak Jan 4, 2015

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    Well said Superdoc! And I also have to agree with Lou. I think that one of the reasons I enjoy vintage watches is the fact that they won't become outdated by an 000.01 version. These old watches were made, not to throw away when the next version is available but stand the test of time, I find this comforting. We live in such a disposable world today. Personally there is nothing that will replace a well made mechanical watch on my wrist and I'm quite sure I'm not alone in this.
     
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  11. dsio Ash @ ΩF Staff Member Jan 4, 2015

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    Incidentally this Montblanc E-Strap is meant to be controlled and managed by iOS, which raises the question how many years will Montblanc be supplying firmware and app updates to keep it working. I'd imagine within 3-4 it'll have to go in the bin.
     
  12. Nobel Prize Spell Master! Jan 4, 2015

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    Well, remember the digital watch era, including calculator watches, game consoles etc, and they passed. Health bands and watches also, although popular, have not taken the place of analog. Outside of the military and other trades that really need digital there is a limited market.

    The apple design us amazing, and the detail of the removable straps and dial options as well, but I don't think it will take the place of classic watches.

    My boss used tk wear two watches, one an analog luxury brand of choice, and in the other wrist a Samsung smart watch that amused him.
     
  13. ICONO Jan 4, 2015

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    Three - Four years is twice the lifespan of a normal leather strap, if worn regularly by me - And the cost of an original Omega leather strap ?

    Once the Manufacturers, have recouped their original research, & development costs, & the production is outsourced - The prices will plummet like a lead balloon

    Remember when DVD players were £500 / £600 / £700 .... 20 years ago - You can now buy a perfectly serviceable Sony for £40

    I am entirely guessing here....so this is speculative........but I can see a generic 'e strap' capable of syncing to your own personal digital accounts @ £50 'ish foreseeably following

    I will also enjoy experimenting by wearing one, and employing the contemporary technology, on a vintage Speedmaster, built 50 years earlier
     
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  14. Nobel Prize Spell Master! Jan 4, 2015

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    +1.specially if the strap doesn't look any different from a normal strap. That actual would be a real interesting concept for marketing e bands.
     
  15. imexian Jan 4, 2015

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    All very true, and I find I agree with most comments, BUT, the bottom line is I like wearing something old, vintage and different to the norm, it's s strange thing I guess but having a watch from a generation before yourself, and knowing its lineage seems to be more appealable than a faceless e/ Iphone type watch etc...?
    You can only get this by growing in age and sentiment ?
    Maybe my age??....
    Ian
     
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  16. imexian Jan 4, 2015

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    And I guess I didnt realise all this until I got over 40!! Now I get how you get what you pay for!! And sometimes it's not always in monetary terms.... The feel and history makes a difference as well....
    Ian
     
  17. Superdoc Jan 4, 2015

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    Yes... Everything you say has merit...
    But it violates the laws of Veblen economics ...
    If there ever were to be an 'Omega-e-watch '... It could never follow the same path as traditional tech products...
    Sure Playstation consoles were a loss-leader until the profits were made from the games...and then when profit realized...prices could drop...
    The Problem with Veblen items is that the value is tightly connected to the price...

    When those prices drop the way blu-Ray players did then they drastically cheapen the product... Do you want a Montblanc with a $5 strap?


    When an omega can be had without much effort, it ceases to be something for which it is worth working...

    I often wonder what would have happened with the Quartz 'crisis' if they would have kept prices the same...instead , they decided to 'pass the savings on' and created an impression that they were a bargain brand....

    I honestly hope that we NEVER see an Omega-e-watch...
    After all of the work Omega has done to be able to run with the Big boys in the last decade... Why ruin that?
    When we see a Patek-e-watch, and an Audemars and Apple, then Omega will have my blessing to proceed...
     
    Edited Jan 4, 2015
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  18. oddboy Zero to Grail+2998 In Six Months Jan 4, 2015

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    There's a few other key things to consider..

    An 'e' device will have to be charged. Frequently. A mech watch can run for as long as you wind it or pretty much forever in an auto (assuming service).

    This strap based e device would require that you move it whenever you wanted to change watches. Not all that flexible, and Forget about wearing that nice SS bracelet or leather deployant ever again!

    Don't get me wrong, I'm not a luddite, and I know smart watches will have an effect, and that they will sell in the millions. I had a pebble steel for a while and just found it.. unpleasant.

    I think there's a difference between glancing at the time (or staring at your beautiful mechanical luxury time piece for a few seconds) and getting some information from a little computer/smart phone. I forget where, but I read an article about why smart watches are so popular.. essentially, because the utility of a tool can be measured by the speed with which it serves it's purpose. A watch is a very utilitarian tool by that measure - smart or mechanical. Reading the details of an upcoming meeting or getting directions or reading some really engaging forum on the web, that is better done on a device built for that function than a watch.

    I think ewatches will fade. I think google glass and ear buds will be more effective (have you seen Her or Trancendence?) for the type of information that a smart device needs to convey. That leaves my wrist open for a very useful, highly effective and utilitarian time keeper - especially one I like to stare at now and again and marvel.
     
  19. imexian Jan 6, 2015

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    I concur with all the comments, i really do not know how the watch scenario will pan out in the next, say 50 years. I do know that most yoofs! kids dont wear watches, they look at there Samsungs, Htc's, Iphone's etc etc. Most of us on this forum are not that type (older!) i now know after many years of buying shi*e (I'm slow learner!) that its not always the way to go. If i show my Omega 321 or anything like that to my brats, or their mates they look glazed, like you are some geriatric....
    Maybe like us they will realise that not everything wonderful in life is digital?? When they get older?
    When they say how much did that watch cost, i get a "you could have bought X amount of play stations with that" !!
    Who really knows if the e strap watch will be around in 5, 10 20 years time, i would suggest not as something else, new faster, techno will come along, i do know that the anachronistic, wind up old watches i bought will still be beating though, after i'm not beating...LOL
    Regards,
    Ian
     
  20. oddboy Zero to Grail+2998 In Six Months Jan 19, 2015

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