Just read Apple are making a super duper high tech do everything mega watch. I'm fearing for Omega though how can they cope with the mighty monolith that is Apple? No Omega model can compare to the features of what Apple can produce. I bet it's cheaper too!
I can't wait to strap an ipad to my wrist in the coming months, just imagine how cool I'm going to be I hope it can do email.

Who in their right mind would wear such a monstrosity? Let me catch any one you forum members on here wearing one and it's the barrel for you.

 

I don't think Apple and Omega are going after the same customer...

 

be prepared to wind(charge)every six hours if you use it for e-mailing.

 

Different aim and different target audience I believe.

If smartwatches are the "thing" then Samsung and Sony , or Pebble, would've changed the landscape already in the last 2 -3 yrs. So far, I only see very occasional "smart" watch out in the wild.

 

Choose me a strap guys I'm an early adopter.

 

Crocodile or ostrich should go well with that particular watch.

 

I've tried it on a NATO and it looks cheap, I want a classier look.

 

In other news Boeing is releasing the 787. BMW could be in trouble.

I joke but it isn't far off

 

Slow day at work?

 

Event Horizon, I opted for the black NATO strap from Panatime for my Apple iWatch, I think it works well.


Personally, at a case size of 134mm, I don't see you skinny wristers being able to pull it off, but as they say, its all about attitude and confidence. Still, I think Omega is safe, for now.

 

That's because the current technology just isn't there to make them small enough to be desirable to the average customer. The current "smart watches" you see from Samsung et al. are big, square gaudy monstrosities that even Inspector Gadget would have found ugly. They are a lot like the "portable" computers of the late 1980s that were 15 pounds and had a battery life of about 40 minutes. But give the technology a little more time...



Believe me, the luxury watch makers are really worried about the possibilities of smart watches. And for very good reason. You can only wear one watch, and if Apple or some other company comes up with a highly desirable smart watch that has killer features that fundamentally transform what a watch can do, the Swiss watchmakers are absolutely toast. We haven't seen that product yet, but Apple is likely to make a run at it in the next year.

Think about it this way -- no one leaves their house anymore without bringing their smartphones. That's because smartphones evolved way beyond simply being able to place calls. If smart watches offered killer features that allowed them to achieve that level of essentiality to people's lives--such that people no longer see a watch as simply a tool for telling time--people will start leaving their mechanical watches at home and, ultimately, the mechanical watch industry will vanish. Be honest; if you could had to pick between your SpeedMaster or your smartphone when you left your house, what would you honestly choose?

 

I seriously doubt that the Swiss watchmakers are scared of the incoming surge of smart watches in fact it will improve their sales. All this is going to do is increase the interest in watches. A previous non watch wearer won't be able to keep his eyes off other wrists to spot their watch.
If we have to be serious about this lets face facts, most of us on this forum owns a high end watch. My definition of that is any watch over about £150. Most watches up to that price generally do the same as a high end watch in terms of timekeeping, waterproof etc. so most of us have a nice watch because we have an interest in them. C'mon fellas our watches are through personal choice not through necessity. So on that point why would any of us choose a smart watch?
They are going to be crap anyway, very small screen and doesn't do everything our phones can. They aren't a cool watch and not a great mini computer.
I don't think Omega, Rolex or Pateks sales will dip with Apples version of a watch.

 

I agree that it's two very different markets. That being said, I've sat there and listened to men who normally do wear a normal watch, say they'd opt for a smart watch if it looked decent and did a lot more than the current models do. I don't mean the hideous Samsung, Pebble, or Moto 360 crap. Nearly everyone I've talked to about this says they're waiting on Apple to revolutionize the industry, yet again. If Apple produces a watch, it won't be like any of the creatures out there today, that hurt the eye when you look at them.

I can't tell you how many people I heard for years say that they'd never carry around a tablet. Now, I see way more iPads on a flight than laptops...especially in First / Business, with people doing work on them.

If the traditional Swiss watchmakers aren't scared, they should be. They aren't in a position where they can afford to lose 0.5% in Same-Store Sales (comps). In order to keep their cash flow steady (and moving upwards, which is the goal) they can't afford to see any sort of a cut. If we enjoy walking into Omega, Jaeger-LeCoultre, or even a Tourneau, we should also be concerned for them.

Again, as an investor, it's good to try and see a perspective other than your own. Would I ever replace my Reverso or Speedmaster with a digital anything? No...But, then again, I'm not your "average person." I'm a guy who spends a lot of time on websites like here, WUS, and WatchRecon. Not exactly your broad market definition of a consumer.

What do I think AAPL might do? Who knows. Speculation on AAPL's future moves is more insane than trying to understand price fluctuations of the gold market, or what tiger Putin might buy next. Most of the "news" headlines you see are just designed to grab a few more clicks or feed a few more banner ads.

Apple is really good at entering a market at just the right time. There were phones with touch screens, web browsers, and even fingerprint scanners, long before Apple brought one to market. Not a single one of them were good though, and that's what Apple changed. They didn't enter too late or too early. The market was ripe for a serious injection, and they executed it flawlessly...and changed the entire mobile phone world.

Same thing was done with tablets, music players, and other markets they've disrupted.

Bottom line: The WIS in me doesn't care about a smart watch. If I ever have something like that, it'll be a wearable in addition to a Patek on my wrist. Perhaps a fitness tracker like I have now. The financial planner in me says: Companies like Richemont ($CFR) and LVMH ($MC) are keeping a very close eye on all this, so they don't turn into the next Kodak.

 

An Iwatch is likely to be bundled in a phone contract/package. An Omega is hard earned cash.
Iwatch £300. omega £3000.... should I have a seamaster or this years tech?
Anyone with a high end Omega I will glady swap them for an Iwatch when they come out.

 

Yesterday at Sam's Club is the perfect example of what I expect. Some guys were looking at the watches and scoffing at the "ridiculous" $500 price tag on a couple watches. "Who pays $500 for a ****ing watch?" All three had smart phones. Two Samsung Galaxies and an iPhone 5S. All will have been subsidized by their phone plans. Nearly everyone in the U.S. buys their phone heavily discounted through their phone plan. I paid zero for my iPhone 4.

Apple is obviously researching what the market wants and it would seem most will be unwilling to shell out what is needed to produce a truly nice I watch. These watches will likely be pure crap in regards to the quality of the bands, case and crystal. That Pebble watch is shockingly insignificant once you can actually touch it.

But these iWatches will attract the youthful set, who couldn't care less about an old fashioned watch. I think Seiko, Citizen, Gshock etc. have more to fear than Omega, Tag, Rolex. If anything at all.

I don't think I will be interested in any kind of iWatch unless it has a comfortable sporty band and some kind of sports functions. Not to mention a sapphire crystal and decent battery life.

A pipe dream.

 

It would be nice not having to carry a smart phone in my pocket. And I've got two wrists.

 

That's pretty funny. You mean, like this really cool dual-Rolex guy:



But probably the best smart watch concept out there is the one put out by Triwa a while back... It's complete vaporware right now, but it at least shows an example of trying to look like something a normal person wouldn't be embarrassed to strap to their wrist.




Smartwatches, if properly executed by a company like Apple, will be a "disruptive" technology that will decimate the mechanical watch industry. We're talking about the Quartz Crisis all over again, but this time, with no resurrection for mechanical watches. Mechanicals survived the quartz crisis of the 1970s because they went for status and high end, and gave up the mainstream market to the Seiko and Citizens of the world. Mechanical watches survived because, in the end, both quartz and mechanical watches did little more than tell time. A smart watch that tells time and doubles as a personal communicator and does lots of other things that a mechanical watch couldn't dream of doing, on the other hand, will make it very hard for the Swiss watch industry. Even the wealthy will have a hard time justifying wearing a technological anachronism such as a mechanical watch, and give up all of the advantages of smartwatches. (You don't see too many people walking around anymore with luxury Vertu cellphones, do you? Many of those guys dumped them years ago and use iPhones.)

The WIS crowd will remain purists and enthusiasts, for a while, but that market won't economically sustain the Swiss watch industry for even 10 minutes (and many of us buy our pieces pre-owned).

A previous commenter noted that smart watches might actually improve the sales of high-end mechanical watches because it will increase interest in watches. I don't see how that makes any sense. That's like saying that the automobile increased sales in horse-drawn carriages because it increased interest in transportation.