Apple Watch

[cj10jeeper]

I also want the watch for running and an iPhone 6 on your arm does make you look a d*ck.

Battery life as watch only is something like 72 hours which is fine. If I use it a lot I'll charge it often.

 

[original guvnor]

I read somewhere that rolex , and several other high end watches were until recently made by swatch. dont know the ins and outs of it , but its surely a sorry state if Rolex outsource production to minimize costs and then promote themselves as the holy grail of watches . :?

I don't think that's true of Rolex. Here is their official blurb but it would kill the brand if it were true. As far as I can tell they do everything in house. Not sure about Tudor (their other brand).

http://www.rolex.com/about-rolex/made-in-switzerland.html


That's why Rolex is such a sound investment. Mine have gone up in value in the years I've owned them.

 

[WLH]

I like Apple product. All Apple computers at home and just 2 weeks ago upgraded to the iPhone 6. I just don't see watches as something that would be useful for me. Also, I guess I should say I don't wear watches of any kind and never have.

 

[John002]

I bought a Pebble just out of curiosity thinking if I found it useful I'd get the apple one when it came out. They're handy for seeing whos calling when out of the house, in garage etc and your phones left indoors. You can read text messages, emails on the move quickly. The best feature was the alarm, text messages etc vibrate discretely on your wrist.

Downside was taking it off to charge it every three days. I eventually fell out of the habbit of doing this and picked up my trusty old Bullova and have never worn it since.

 

[no fit state]

But I would rather put that £649 into another Omega ...

Do not believe that for a minute, sars - it would be spent on shoes :wink:

I read somewhere that rolex , and several other high end watches were until recently made by swatch. dont know the ins and outs of it , but its surely a sorry state if Rolex outsource production to minimize costs and then promote themselves as the holy grail of watches . :?

Rolex are neither promoted or are the holy grail of watches. As for Swatch, yes they do own quite a bit of the Swiss watch industry, think of it in similar fashion to Fiat owning Ferrari. Rolex though, is not part of Swatch.

Putting your money into an Omega, would be a wiser choice.

 

[cj10jeeper]

Not being funny but I have no interest in any more high end trad watches - thanks.

It's disposable expenditure that doesn't matter to me. The thread was about if anyone else is getting one and it seems not, which is fine.

 

[Angie4m]

Not being funny but I have no interest in any more high end trad watches - thanks.

It's disposable expenditure that doesn't matter to me. The thread was about if anyone else is getting one and it seems not, which is fine.

It's quite interesting because if you were to ask who was buying an iPhone you'd get a good few takers but the Apple watch is a very different game. Apart from yourself I've only seen a few people say they will be buying one, Stark and Tom Scott spring to mind.

I had a conversation in a watch dealers yesterday, we all agreed that the Apple watch will sell, it might not be as many units as an iPhone, iPad, MacBook etc but as it's an apple product it has appeal but for many a watch is to tell the time and they use their other gadgets for comms and apps. What was said was possibly it'll bring more techies in to watch designs to help develope what watchmakers already have. The Mont Blanc smart strap is a step in that direction already and for a couple of hundred quid you can turn your current watch into a 'smart' watch checking on emails, calls, texts etc.

It will be interesting to see how well the 'sports' version wears as aluminium watches don't always stand knocks too well but we shall see.

 

[cj10jeeper]

I have no doubt it will ship well. One estimate I saw was 15m in year 1. It will almost certainly drive the sector and in 5 years be surpassed by a myriad of devices, bit for now meets some desires inhave (cannot say needs...)
I agree re aluminium chassis, but then again I've not bent my iPhone 6 yet

One thing is it looks like it generates limited interest here, aside those named above

 

[Angie4m]

I doubt you use your iPhone attached to your wrist whilst exercising and knocking it against rather hard surfaces. It's a interesting choice of material for a watch which is aimed at people with an 'active' lifestyle. I understand it from a weight point of view but a steel watch isn't that heavy but it is more robust. At the pricing point for the sports model then it probably won't matter too much as it will be throw away tech

 

[original guvnor]

It will be really interesting to see if these succeed or not. Apple haven't really had a failure for a while now so maybe we'll all have a smart watch in 10 years.

 

[Angie4m]

Doubtful that everyone will have a smart watch in 10 years time as people still like a conventional watch. For some people it's not about the tech but it's engineering and beauty. For some it's a statement, a recognition of how well they are doing in life. It's a bit like a car, a lot of people have them but we don't all have the same and we all have what we like.

 

[original guvnor]

Doubtful that everyone will have a smart watch in 10 years time as people still like a conventional watch. For some people it's not about the tech but it's engineering and beauty. For some it's a statement, a recognition of how well they are doing in life. It's a bit like a car, a lot of people have them but we don't all have the same and we all have what we like.

I think we'd have said the same thing about tablets 10 years ago too!

 

[Angie4m]

Doubtful that everyone will have a smart watch in 10 years time as people still like a conventional watch. For some people it's not about the tech but it's engineering and beauty. For some it's a statement, a recognition of how well they are doing in life. It's a bit like a car, a lot of people have them but we don't all have the same and we all have what we like.

I think we'd have said the same thing about tablets 10 years ago too!

True but I can't see people swapping a Patek for a smart watch. People have a choice currently of digital, quartz, solar (citizen Eco drive), kinetic, automatic and smart and everyone chooses the one that suits them.

People have a tablet either to replace or in addition to a PC or laptop. You generally only use one watch at a time and people like to keep them on at all times of the day and night, unfortunately a smart watch will require charging possibly several times during the day depending on how much you use it meaning you'll need to remove it from your wrist. Given the battery life of a smart phone I don't expect a smart watch to last the day.

Not every new bit of tech will catch on, the idea is great but next month in addition to the apple watch being launched it is expected that the Mont Blanc smart strap will be released which could be a very good compromise if you want smart watch tech whilst still using your own analogue watch.

I think for youngsters it'll be something that they really want but until it's truly independently smart and gets rid of the need for a smart phone too it'll put a lot of people off.