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With the new Tech Watch Apple moves on a terrain dominated by old luxury brands. About the chances of the clock as style and status symbol here judges the traditional watch industry.
w the times, but similar. It was the evening of May 5, 1970, as US-talker Johnny Carson the Americans during the "Tonight Show" the first "wrist computer" presented the world premiere: The 27 red LEDs on the prototype of the "Pulsar" Hamilton was the time though Show only pressing a button, since for more The battery was not enough - and there was not even a date.
But two years later, the first digital watch world was still in series. Priced at $ 2100, there were at that time what today each clock from the chewing gum machine can, but in 18-carat gold case! The part looked like stolen from Stanley Kubrick Set, $ 150 was more expensive than a high-end Rolex. Tiffany in New York launched a nearly twice as expensive special edition and Roger Moore aka James Bond wore a Pulsar course in "Live and Let Die".
But who remembers this clock today? Nobody. The prices fell faster than the people could buy these things, the quartz revolution ate their first child.
Watches are actually collectibles
Around the same time, several thousand kilometers to the east, developed by the world almost unnoticed living in Switzerland French designer Gerald Genta for some of the most famous watch manufacturers outrageous modern designs. The Company: Patek Philippe, IWC and Audemars Piguet. The he designed steel watches models such as the Nautilus, the engineer and the Royal Oak were considered to be provocation.
teel was frowned upon for good mechanical watches. The latter Royal Oak from 1972 also was the first steel watch, which was more expensive because of their expensive housing and bracelet as a gold. And today? Are all these coveted collectibles, many times their purchase price value. The successor to be built today. These watches have survived the quartz crisis. Although similar models have then helped many other watch companies and not companies rows went bankrupt.
So the question is: Will now all luxury customers around the world rush to the "most personal product," according to the Apple CEO Tim Cook has ever produced? Or the competing product from Samsung, which was presented in early September at the IFA technology fair in Berlin and for the fashion label Diesel is offering a special leather belt? Will technology and luxury now merge in a new way?
Renzo Rosso is pleased with his Samsung Clock
Diesel CEO Renzo Rosso is convinced and sees a fundamental change: when suddenly the timing of seasonal fashion companies with which merges art-corporations, exciting new products come out. "We are already working on the next steps for the future," he announced at the launch of his leather bracelet during New York Fashion Week for the new, slightly curved Samsung Galaxy S. Gear
But are these products stand the test of time? Perhaps it would be to just not question trend researcher, but someone who is familiar with the 500-year history of the wrist watch - such as the new director of the Geneva watch museum of Patek Philippe , Dr. Peter Fries, who guards one of the oldest watch collections in the world.
He does not understand the fuss: "I would rather say it is a logical consequence that the computer moves to the arm until you had are those huge machines in front of him, who at the same time replaced the radiator, then they were in UPPERCASE, then. hand size., if permitted by the battery, there is only the possibility, they hang around your neck or on belt around the arm. thus makes the computer the same development through as once the clock, the first mechanical computer in the world. "
Fries is confident that Californians will shake up the market, "is precisely because of these computer things may have nothing to do with a mechanical clock are." And adds: "No one today wears a mechanical clock because of their function."
This can be the Apple Design by Marc Newson
But is a modern design? Just before the presentation was announced that the Australian designer Marc Newson, a close friend of Apple's creative head Jonathan Ive is working for Apple. That will watch connoisseurs have not wondered: Newson had already designed a futuristic Swiss Watches Ikepod for the brand, which have large similarities with this seamless designs of the current models. Whether this is a good omen? The company went bankrupt in 2003 because prices around € 10,000 for a gold clock were too expensive for an almost unknown brand.
Not even design legend Newson could not change. Speaking of Design Legend: If you look at the time display of the Apple Watch and familiar, immediately comes on two other design classics. Table alarm clock and watches from Braun, whose design has Apple's chief designer Jonathan Ive inspired the first calculator on the iPhone, must also have been modeled as the steering wheel in the form of a lift-crown. This has already shown us the company Ventura. Irony of history: These watches designed by the Swiss designer Hannes Wettstein. However, these designs could prevail only as a niche product.
It will not be easy for Apple , as previously entire markets can roll from behind the iPod, iPhone and iPad. Although it may all look easy in retrospect, Apple moves into ever more difficult terrain: The iPod had it since comparatively easily, 2001, there were just terrible alternatives that could play digital music formats, and with iTunes Steve Jobs created the critical infrastructure for music content. 2007 Apple was not more than the first iPhone came on the market alone.
Apple always wants to be first
A short time earlier LG had already presented a first mobile phone with touch screen in cooperation with Prada for example. But here, the Americans were far ahead in terms of usability: With the idea of "apps" this time the necessary infrastructure even created all by itself.
Although the transfer to the iPad in 2010 appeared as a logical consequence, but here helps Apple to this day especially the closed operating system from the high competition. If we compare this to enter the market of Apple Watch in spring next year, you should keep in mind that Apple now competes not only against the big electronics giants from the Far East such as LG, Sony and Samsung, but also against more than 50 part 250 years old watches companies from Switzerland.
The see the thing quite obviously left. Jérôme Lambert, for example, is equal predestined in two ways to express themselves. He led not only to a year ago, the 181 years old watch brand Jaeger LeCoultre , but is currently trying very successful in German luxury goods group Mont Blanc, offering watches only for 17 years and became famous with fountain pens, to anchor high watchmaking.
He sees the Apple products rather than backers in the luxury class: "I'm im sure that such products the attention to detail in the subsequent generation trains so far, that they eventually as adults just fine mechanical watches will appreciate."
The Apple Watch as a model for a future watch fans?
This looks like Jean Claude Biver, head of watches division of three large manufactories to do so. He stands in front of the LVMH Group, Hublot, Tag Heuer and Zenith and know how hard it is to build a watch brand. He acquired it with Blancpain mid-eighties one of the oldest watch brands in the world, before he successfully sold to the Swatch Group.
He warns: "One should never underestimate a newcomer." Nevertheless, he goes hard with the Apple clock to task: "You make a few basic mistakes The clock has no sex appeal It is far too feminine and too similar to the others.. Smart Watches on the market Honestly. The looks as if they created a design student in the first semester. "
Will he, as announced in the press buy, anyway? "Yes, but not this model. Apple has to work. It looks almost as if they were born prematurely on the market one year. If the battery lasts ten days and it works even if I do not have my phone with me, then am I here. "
Biver they therefore not considered as an attack on the luxury watch segment, "This is a commodity that will be obsolete in a few years, luxury has always something timeless, is rare and gives Prestige A clock that is sold 40 million times and in ten.. years can not be repaired, can not be timeless. "
What actually expect Apple fans
And guess what the future customers or better those who already have a luxury clock? A first in-depth view of who the customers for the new Apple-clock could be, is a survey of "watch-Monitor", the most extensive consumer research to wristwatches in Germany: So give five percent of respondents are "safe" a Smart Watch from Apple to buy and 11 percent "very likely".
Of these potential customers almost every second person expects to need no other watch more in the future. Especially exciting: The clock comes especially with the people who are willing to spend significantly more than 1000 euros for a watch with interest. When clocks over 10,000 euros, 16 percent belong to the core target group. Of course, who can afford to watch for the value of a small car, looking at a 350-Euro-clock as nice gadget.
If you consider that German only spend around 60 euros for jewelry and watches per year, on average, the relative quickly. Is exciting that technology fell early adopters just obviously see today no contradiction in the fact once to wear fine mechanics and another time a new "wrist computer".
Apple could soon be the most profitable watch producers
Manuel Emch, CEO of the small manufacturer Romain Jerome, which produces quite oblique watches from salvaged parts of the Titanic or dials out of Icelandic volcanic rocks, waves his hand: "For the brands, as we only make a few thousand watches a year, it is always give purchasers. " Yet that is fundamentally something will change, he explained using a small computing practice: "Do not forget, if just 10 percent of all current 200 million iPhone 5 owners will buy such a clock, Apple makes as much revenue as the entire straightaway Swatch Group with its 18 brands, namely seven billion euros. "
Let it be 20 percent and Apple is suddenly with a dash of top-selling watch manufacturers in the world and as strong as Citizen, Seiko and Casio together. By comparison, the entire Swiss watch industry makes an annual turnover of around 18 billion euros. One thing is certain, it will change something.
U.S. TV host Johnny Carson commented on the way the initially described primal ancestor of the Smart Watch from 1970 in view of the exorbitant selling price snappy with the following words: "This clock shows you exactly when to go broke!" This set also contains some watches manager of today probably a bad aftertaste.