The Assassination of the Swiss Watch Industry by the Coward Apple

[BLNR Nairobi]

The video below (which has the aforementioned title) is exactly why Rolex (Patek and AP) will not massively increase supply, and why the likes of Omega are moving away from discounts.

https://youtu.be/OArs12Qinl0

.

[PhilippeD]

"Apple sold more watches than Rolex, Cartier, etc. combined. I believe there is strong evidence that traditional watches will be dead in fifty or twenty years."

I stopped watching after that last sentence.

It's like saying "Volkswagen sold more cars than Ferrari, Porsche, and Bentley combined so I believe there is strong evidence the luxury car market is dead in fifty or twenty years."

[TimepieceRPP]

Originally Posted by PhilippeD

"Apple sold more watches than Rolex, Cartier, etc. combined. I believe there is strong evidence that traditional watches will be dead in fifty or twenty years."

I stopped watching after that last sentence.

It's like saying "Volkswagen sold more cars than Ferrari, Porsche, and Bentley combined so I believe there is strong evidence the luxury car market is dead in fifty or twenty years."

[FrenchBigCrown]

Thanks for sharing.

Scary prospect. :(

[enjoythemusic]

Apple Watch's popularity is good news imho as it gets people wearing a 'watch' instead of relying only on their cell phone pre-Apple Watch.

[samson66]

This topic comes up all the time. People fail to realize that before the smart watch came out, young people weren't wearing ANY watches on their wrists. What Apple has done is make it "normal" again to wear a wrist watch. A certain percentage of these young people who wear smart watches will mature and have higher incomes and will ultimately decide they want something more luxurious to wear. That brings them into the Swiss watch market. Many of these people in my opinion would never have even thought about getting a Rolex if they hadn't owned an Apple watch first. In the end we may be saying Apple SAVED the Swiss watch market rather than destroying it. Just look at what's happening right now with Rolex for early evidence of this. Upper end luxury watches are as popular as ever. It's the low end that's going to suffer. I don't think Rolex, Omega, PP and others have anything to worry about. Lower priced stuff is another story...

[PureCoconut]

lol that thread title

[1665fan]

Originally Posted by enjoythemusic

Apple Watch's popularity is good news imho as it gets people wearing a 'watch' instead of relying only on their cell phone pre-Apple Watch.

I agree….and people with taste will then move from the plastic turd to real timepiece….

[77T]

My comments are not a reflection on the OP’s post itself. It’s worth knowing who is trying to become horologically relevant with errored thinking.

A vlogger repeating the known state of play and extrapolating 2-5 decades hence is not really worth the energy from my Apple Watch to see him. But but I spent the .5µV…

The world today is not the world before the quartz, then the smartwatch eras.

Read this report as posted here months ago:
https://www2.deloitte.com/content/da...study-2020.pdf

Or the consider the many doomer’s that followed its publication. One such: https://timeandtidewatches.com/deloi...ry-study-2020/

I think the industry will ebb and flow in proportion to available disposable income (or even debt-rich FOMO), and the general financial and political equilibrium we’ve seen over the past decade.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Calatrava r]

To me it is two entirely different industries. Apple will not impact the luxury watch market but people who wore inexpensive watches have moved onto wearable devices or just use their phone for the time.

[TheVision]

It's just some random Youtuber with his own personal opinion and probably trying to get more subscribers (YT does pressure their content creators for more videos otherwise they don't get paid).

Just like other videos like "DO NOT buy a Rolex right now", etc ...click-bait videos to help feed their channel. And oh..don't forget to smash that like button and subscribe for more videos like this !!

[Geckobros]

Originally Posted by samson66

This topic comes up all the time. People fail to realize that before the smart watch came out, young people weren't wearing ANY watches on their wrists. What Apple has done is make it "normal" again to wear a wrist watch. A certain percentage of these young people who wear smart watches will mature and have higher incomes and will ultimately decide they want something more luxurious to wear. That brings them into the Swiss watch market. Many of these people in my opinion would never have even thought about getting a Rolex if they hadn't owned an Apple watch first. In the end we may be saying Apple SAVED the Swiss watch market rather than destroying it. Just look at what's happening right now with Rolex for early evidence of this. Upper end luxury watches are as popular as ever. It's the low end that's going to suffer. I don't think Rolex, Omega, PP and others have anything to worry about. Lower priced stuff is another story...

[padi56]

I never believe use or believe things on so called social media or the likes of Youtube,I know with many of todays age rely on these platforms to do there thinking for them, as many today have lost the power of there own brains. And lets remember when the Japanese quartz watches arrived in the late 1960s 1970s this almost destroyed the Swiss watches industry. And if it was not for the grouping together many brands into the likes of ETA many would have gone bust forever. Yet we still have a robust swiss watch industry that the likes of apple very very doubtful will destroy, all these smart watches are just gadgets nothing more, as soon as one come out its already out of date much like mobile phones. Which when disaster strikes on our planet earth often fails with no communication, but then a Ham radio operator with quite simple equipment can set up a communication system where modern communication all fail.

All information supplied from my own 79 year old brain power, without the aid of social media, Youtube loupes, nicknames, timegraphers, alignment points, protective film, AD relationship building, investment £$€ stuff, special cleaning cloths, phone apps, and the rest of todays Rolex watch toys.

[IamJacky]

Originally Posted by samson66

This topic comes up all the time. People fail to realize that before the smart watch came out, young people weren't wearing ANY watches on their wrists. What Apple has done is make it "normal" again to wear a wrist watch. A certain percentage of these young people who wear smart watches will mature and have higher incomes and will ultimately decide they want something more luxurious to wear. That brings them into the Swiss watch market. Many of these people in my opinion would never have even thought about getting a Rolex if they hadn't owned an Apple watch first. In the end we may be saying Apple SAVED the Swiss watch market rather than destroying it. Just look at what's happening right now with Rolex for early evidence of this. Upper end luxury watches are as popular as ever. It's the low end that's going to suffer. I don't think Rolex, Omega, PP and others have anything to worry about. Lower priced stuff is another story...

[JSolution]

Originally Posted by samson66

This topic comes up all the time. People fail to realize that before the smart watch came out, young people weren't wearing ANY watches on their wrists. What Apple has done is make it "normal" again to wear a wrist watch. A certain percentage of these young people who wear smart watches will mature and have higher incomes and will ultimately decide they want something more luxurious to wear. That brings them into the Swiss watch market. Many of these people in my opinion would never have even thought about getting a Rolex if they hadn't owned an Apple watch first. In the end we may be saying Apple SAVED the Swiss watch market rather than destroying it. Just look at what's happening right now with Rolex for early evidence of this. Upper end luxury watches are as popular as ever. It's the low end that's going to suffer. I don't think Rolex, Omega, PP and others have anything to worry about. Lower priced stuff is another story...

Well put, and I agree.

[inadeje]

Originally Posted by samson66

This topic comes up all the time. People fail to realize that before the smart watch came out, young people weren't wearing ANY watches on their wrists. What Apple has done is make it "normal" again to wear a wrist watch. A certain percentage of these young people who wear smart watches will mature and have higher incomes and will ultimately decide they want something more luxurious to wear. That brings them into the Swiss watch market. Many of these people in my opinion would never have even thought about getting a Rolex if they hadn't owned an Apple watch first. In the end we may be saying Apple SAVED the Swiss watch market rather than destroying it. Just look at what's happening right now with Rolex for early evidence of this. Upper end luxury watches are as popular as ever. It's the low end that's going to suffer. I don't think Rolex, Omega, PP and others have anything to worry about. Lower priced stuff is another story...

I agree with this entirely. Well written and extremely coherent analysis.

Just to take it one step further. As the poster states, the “habit” of wearing any form of wrist timepiece was disappearing. If that habit had died, the swiss watch market would have been in serious trouble in a decade or two. The rekindled presence of “something” showing the time on one’s wrist has made apple the unlikely savior. As is also clear, with the advent of a personal electronic device called a cellphone accompanying us everywhere, the wrist timepiece is largely redundant in most scenarios. However, this new generation who have taken to wrist wearing again will invariably wish to move up market, donning a timepiece for show. This is where the swiss watchmakers prevail in the future. The very nature of wrist technology renders them obsolete in Xs years. So one would never buy a gold and diamond encrusted smart watch, since it’ll be obsolete by default in no time. So, by default, the tech watch giants like Apple cannot compete in the luxury segment in any meaningful way.

[Rori]

Originally Posted by samson66

This topic comes up all the time. People fail to realize that before the smart watch came out, young people weren't wearing ANY watches on their wrists. What Apple has done is make it "normal" again to wear a wrist watch. A certain percentage of these young people who wear smart watches will mature and have higher incomes and will ultimately decide they want something more luxurious to wear. That brings them into the Swiss watch market. Many of these people in my opinion would never have even thought about getting a Rolex if they hadn't owned an Apple watch first. In the end we may be saying Apple SAVED the Swiss watch market rather than destroying it. Just look at what's happening right now with Rolex for early evidence of this. Upper end luxury watches are as popular as ever. It's the low end that's going to suffer. I don't think Rolex, Omega, PP and others have anything to worry about. Lower priced stuff is another story...

[2loaded]

We were just at the Disney CA parks and I enjoy watch spotting in a high concentration of people. I specifically mentioned the amount of people wearing an apple watch was over 90%.

[swish77]

Originally Posted by 1665fan

I agree….and people with taste will then move from the plastic turd to real timepiece….

HaHa! Been saying this to my Apple-watch-wearing wife for years now.

I can't stand Apple watches, but perhaps strangely, I do love those old Pulsar digital watches that also look a bit like blank TV screens.

[kg19989]

In my opinion, an Apple Watch is just a connection device and health tracker. My Swiss watches are jewelry. Two different markets. As much as I would love the utility of an Apple Watch, I will never give up my stainless steel or white gold for one. Cheers!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TheVision]

Originally Posted by 2loaded

We were just at the Disney CA parks and I enjoy watch spotting in a high concentration of people. I specifically mentioned the amount of people wearing an apple watch was over 90%.

I was in Vegas last 4 days and while noticed tons of iWatches, I also saw a LOT of Rolex sub, DJ, couple of daytonas, omega smp and Tag Aquaracers and Breitling Navitimer.

Noticed the sub/OP on a lot of young blokes with white sneakers and Gucci polo shirts. Probably ballers from rich families ;).

We ate at "Water Grill" and our server had the black sub. I said "nice watch buddy!" and he smiled.

It's a totally different market between the iWatch crowd VS the Rolex/Breitling/Omega crowd.

PS: Disclosure: Only "smart" watch I use is my Garmin Instinct and its strictly for hiking (gps), outdoor running and my gym sessions.

[Mendota]

Originally Posted by samson66

This topic comes up all the time. People fail to realize that before the smart watch came out, young people weren't wearing ANY watches on their wrists. What Apple has done is make it "normal" again to wear a wrist watch. A certain percentage of these young people who wear smart watches will mature and have higher incomes and will ultimately decide they want something more luxurious to wear. That brings them into the Swiss watch market. Many of these people in my opinion would never have even thought about getting a Rolex if they hadn't owned an Apple watch first. In the end we may be saying Apple SAVED the Swiss watch market rather than destroying it. Just look at what's happening right now with Rolex for early evidence of this. Upper end luxury watches are as popular as ever. It's the low end that's going to suffer. I don't think Rolex, Omega, PP and others have anything to worry about. Lower priced stuff is another story...

I agree with you. I think there is a place for all of these different watches and smart watches have a place with activities and utility. One should have many arrows in their quiver and as you wrote, this brings young people back into the familiarity of just wearing a watch.

[Mendota]

Originally Posted by TheVision

PS: Disclosure: Only "smart" watch I use is my Garmin Instinct and its strictly for hiking (gps), outdoor running and my gym sessions.

My wife's cousin runs marathons and 5Ks, coached high school cross country, and is running every day for something she is training for. She said she wore her Apple watch on one wrist and her Garmin on the other, and then after a long run she compared the data on both side by side. The Garmin was so much better for everything. The GPS data was more accurate, her distance, heartrate, literally everything on the Garmin was better and more accurate and it was specifically designed for her purpose. She said she can't run with the Apple watch.

[S.Explorer]

Originally Posted by kg19989

In my opinion, an Apple Watch is just a connection device and health tracker. My Swiss watches are jewelry. Two different markets. As much as I would love the utility of an Apple Watch, I will never give up my stainless steel or white gold for one. Cheers!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's basically how I see it too. Plus Rolex = build quality.

[Tikandtokalot]

Different strokes for different folks
I still think in today’s disposable society there will be some that will always appreciate mechanical engineering and quality.

[Speedbird-1]

The watch industry killed of the sundial market.

[Driver8]

Originally Posted by samson66

This topic comes up all the time. People fail to realize that before the smart watch came out, young people weren't wearing ANY watches on their wrists. What Apple has done is make it "normal" again to wear a wrist watch. A certain percentage of these young people who wear smart watches will mature and have higher incomes and will ultimately decide they want something more luxurious to wear. That brings them into the Swiss watch market. Many of these people in my opinion would never have even thought about getting a Rolex if they hadn't owned an Apple watch first. In the end we may be saying Apple SAVED the Swiss watch market rather than destroying it. Just look at what's happening right now with Rolex for early evidence of this. Upper end luxury watches are as popular as ever. It's the low end that's going to suffer. I don't think Rolex, Omega, PP and others have anything to worry about. Lower priced stuff is another story...

Well said.

Let's be honest here, Apple (and other smart watches) aren't robbing customers from the likes of Rolex. No-one on Earth has ever gone out with the express intention of buying a Rolex, only to be side-tracked when passing the Apple store and ending up with an Apple watch instead. Apologies for using a car analogy, but that'd be like going out to buy a BMW M4, but passing a golf shop and realising that, actually, a golf buggy was all you needed after all.

[HiBoost]

Originally Posted by samson66

This topic comes up all the time. People fail to realize that before the smart watch came out, young people weren't wearing ANY watches on their wrists. What Apple has done is make it "normal" again to wear a wrist watch. A certain percentage of these young people who wear smart watches will mature and have higher incomes and will ultimately decide they want something more luxurious to wear. That brings them into the Swiss watch market. Many of these people in my opinion would never have even thought about getting a Rolex if they hadn't owned an Apple watch first. In the end we may be saying Apple SAVED the Swiss watch market rather than destroying it. Just look at what's happening right now with Rolex for early evidence of this. Upper end luxury watches are as popular as ever. It's the low end that's going to suffer. I don't think Rolex, Omega, PP and others have anything to worry about. Lower priced stuff is another story...

I'm not going to say it any better than Mike did here. I would just add that the philosophical difference between a piece of consumer electronics which is guaranteed to be worthless in 5 years and a piece of finely made machinery which can be passed between generations is night and day. The Swiss/German/Japanese watch industry's only job is to demonstrate that this comparison is analogous to a "spork versus Damascus Santoku". It's just ridiculous at face value.

[Yas.2k]

This was talked about initially when the Apple Watch was released..... here we are years later where demand in outstripping supply. To the OP, you can still get 10% off on omegas one most shops. If they are tightening up is because stores need to maximise profits after the last 18 months. At least in the UK anyway.

[JRell]

I just don’t like the look of them. I do get it for people that don’t have quick access to their phone in certain jobs. Probably good for runners, people that want to monitor their health condition. I get it, really do, just not a huge fan of the look of them and I do have my cell phone for pretty much everything I need.