The end of the Swiss watch?

flanzer

I read this article this morning, but it happens to be something I've been thinking about more recently, as I recently reached an age milestone, and was thinking of 'investing' in time piece for the wrist

https://www.independent.ie/business/technology/share-watch-apples-tech-is-winding-up-fabled-swiss-watch-makers-38058494.html

Now 40 myself, growing up, my Dad always had a Swiss time piece. Not upper end, but a Favre-Leuba, Cartier (not the upper end ones!) and more recently a Dreyfuss, and got me interested in Swiss brands

I always thought I'd be like him, and get something decent. Through my childhood, teens, 20s and 30s, I've had Casio, Swatch, Swiss Army, Raymond Weil, all quartz, then onto Seiko Kinetic, Seiko Automatic, but for the last few months, I've been toying with the idea of getting an automatic Swiss, like Oris, Tag, Omega, Tudor

I put that idea on the back foot last week, and jumped into the world of smart watches, buying Garmin Vivoactive 3. It suits my lifestyle. I do a bit of cardio these days, a bit of running and a bit of golf

My daughter is on to me about getting one for her. She's 10. My wife has a Fitbit. I'm just back from Florida and noticed a majority of adults wearing them now.

Assuming what spurned my interested in Swiss watches, surely the kids of these adults will spurn an interest in smart watches, seeing their parents wearing them. I know there will always be a market for Swiss watches, but will the market diminish, putting pressure on the Swiss brands in the future?

Wibbs

Aye I could see them take a bit of a dive in a few years. I would say we're at peak watch at the moment. What started out as a niche interest went mainstream about ten years ago. Prices going up year on year for over a decade, costs of services going through the roof for the main brands, the attempt to keep independent watchmakers out of the loop so they can push the prices higher again. The vintage sphere being a near definition of a bubble and so on. The male jewellery bit will keep it buoyant enough, but there will I reckon be a kickback with the costs involved.

LastLagoon

There’s always gonna be an attraction to buying something that’s built to last. That won’t be happening in the Smartwatch world anytime soon

banie01

I use a Zetime as my smart watch, get about a month per charge out of it.
Fitness and activity tracker, along with call handling and message management.
Got it on Kickstarter, does the job I want from a smart watch and has actual hands.
Discrete enough to wear anywhere/time.

I still have a diver and Tudor and am seriously considering a new Omega Planet Ocean.

2shea

It's the only bit of jewellery we can wear as men, so I think it swiss watch market will always be around. May take a bit of hit with the smart watches.

But I think alot of the people that buy smart watches wouldn't consider swiss pieces in the first place or any kind of quartz/automatic watch so they aren't taking from the sales. If anything it could get more people into watches then they might consider a real watch

Chiparus

banie01 wrote: »

I use a Zetime as my smart watch, get about a month per charge out of it.
Fitness and activity tracker, along with call handling and message management.
Got it on Kickstarter, does the job I want from a smart watch and has actual hands.
Discrete enough to wear anywhere/time.

I still have a diver and Tudor and am seriously considering a new Omega Planet Ocean.

My Ze time gets more compliments than either of my high end Swiss watches.

antodeco

I've gone from multiple smart watches, now to a "normal watch". I found the novelty of the smart watch wore off very quickly. I always have my phone with me, so I just use that for "smart" features. A watch is for telling the time. There's something I find a little magical with a movement watch. A tiny bit if historical engineering on your wrist, just so you know what time it is!

Chiparus

antodeco wrote: »

I've gone from multiple smart watches, now to a "normal watch". I found the novelty of the smart watch wore off very quickly. I always have my phone with me, so I just use that for "smart" features. A watch is for telling the time. There's something I find a little magical with a movement watch. A tiny bit if historical engineering on your wrist, just so you know what time it is!

I agree,but Ze time combines both very well. It has hands and smart watch, - the smart watch features are only OK , and to be honest , the best feature is using it as a torch to find your way to the toilet at night.
But it is a very good looking watch.
https://www.mykronoz.com/uk/en/zetime.html

2shea

OmegaGene wrote: »

im not so sure about this statement tbh, ive a decent amount of swiss watches here, both quartz and auto and also have a smart watch, most people i know in the uk and quite a few in Ireland wear both now as part of the healthier lifestyle while also wanting to wear a luxury item.

But you were already into watches and it sounds like your mates in the UK are too so they are just adding sometging a bit different to the collection to help with their fitness goals etc.

I'm talking people that have never wore a watch before and wouldn't bit will now due to the obsession with phones. I'm not explaining it very but do you get where I'm coming from?

scwazrh

If Grand seiko and Credor ever start spending similar money on marketing that the swiss High end brands do , that will spell the end of a large portion swiss watch companies.

Cyrus

scwazrh wrote: »

If Grand seiko and Credor ever start spending similar money on marketing that the swiss High end brands do , that will spell the end of a large portion swiss watch companies.

the issue with grand seiko that will always remain is that seiko span all segments of the market, which damages the upper branding.

i have an apple watch and its very useful normally only wear it exercising or hacking about, but if i wasnt 'into' watches i could see how it would suit most people.

Eoin

I wonder is that why Credor is not branded as Seiko (a bit like Toyota/Lexus).

I reckon there are a lot of people who actually prefer how the (Grand) Seiko branding makes it a very under-the-radar luxury watch, and those who know that it's often the best quality piece at a given price point - but that's probably not enough to appeal to non-watch nerds to be a swiss watch killer.

Wibbs

Yeah, the Swiss watch marketing machine is extremely polished and has been for nigh on a century. The quartz crisis hit them hard, even if initially they heavily invested in and promoted the tech, but they came back swinging and built an entirely new market of the "authenticity" of Swiss mechanical watches and put them firmly in the luxury for men bracket. And raised the prices four and fivefold for the same watches.

AmberGold

The cheapest Apple Watch as a daily wear and a Rolex does me. If you buy the right brand / model new you will see no or low depreciation, same applies to other brands when bought secondhand.

oxocube

Wibbs wrote: »

Yeah, the Swiss watch marketing machine is extremely polished and has been for nigh on a century. The quartz crisis hit them hard, even if initially they heavily invested in and promoted the tech, but they came back swinging and built an entirely new market of the "authenticity" of Swiss mechanical watches and put them firmly in the luxury for men bracket. And raised the prices four and fivefold for the same watches.

The Swiss watch marketing is very, very good. I seem to want the Swiss Brands but I've just purchased two more Seiko's. If they marketed to me in at the right price point I'd buy more, but 2,3,4,5K a pop is too much.

The advertising is great though. I'll give them that!

Nearly everyone has a smart watch now if their into counting steps or anything like that.
There's zero desirability about them.

dmigsy

I dont think they'll die out. Maybe less everyday day wear and more for special occasions. Different watches for different uses I guess. I wear a Garmin Fenix as my everyday watch. It has GPS for running, cycling, swimming, skiing etc and I use it most days for that. Battery lasts about a month. It does smartwatch notifications etc. It's very handy.

But when I'm wearing a suit or special occasions I wear my speedmaster. Nothing like it. It is special.

Always Tired

Not a chance. The status part of it alone will keep the likes of Rolex, PP, AP going. Smartwatches are merely accessories for your phone, and as such, only good for a short amount of time.

People vastly overestimate how much the younger generation is into tech. There's already a backlash as social media has been turned into just an advertising platform. Surveys have shown, for example, that people still prefer paper books to e-books, but will use the latter simply because of convenience and portability, lower cost and less storage needed.

You can draw a parallel between vinyl music and mechanical watches. People who know what quality is and value craft will seek out the quality crafted objects.

You'll never pass a smart watch down to further generations. You'll never be able to sell one later for close to or more than what you bought it for.

Just because kids use Ipads so much that doesn't mean they won't want a proper timepiece. If anything, screens being literally everywhere you look now, in addition to already being in your pocket, makes wearing one on the body far less appealing.

People will still want watches for the same reason they (we) do now. Having a smart watch is like having a tamagotchi, while having a proper watch is like having a real pet.