Watchmaking of Smart Watches or Connected Watches?

crisslyn

No, Horlogerie-Suisse has not gone on the dark side of watchmaking but we cannot not talk about it even if in the end it remains computer science and therefore with a limited lifespan.


It's still an exciting subject because we are seeing the advent of a new category of watches that will reach a large audience. It is clear that currently we are in the infancy of these new connected objects and that success is not yet there.
According to a Canalis study there were still 4.6 million smartwatches sold worldwide and of this share around 720,000 are under android wear, the others are under proprietary software, a smooth start for Android and Apple hasn't arrived yet.

Expectations are now directed to Apple and its Apple Watch. Will it make the connected watch market take off? Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of the Cupertino company, has no doubts. During a brief interview for the BBC he said it loud and clear, "The Apple Watch will sell by the millions."


Switzerland is also impatiently awaiting the future SmartWatch from Swatch, the future competitor of the Apple Watch will include mobile payment, communication and applications functions that will run on Windows and Android. The price should remain within Swatch standards.

Nick Hayek, CEO of the Swatch Group further specifies that the Swatch SmartWatch "will not need to be recharged". What can we expect when the current models hardly hold two days in use? A battery ? If it is the case, a very big work on the consumption will have been carried out by the Biennoise company and perhaps it will be the winner of this war of the one who will propose a beautiful watch with a successful design, an important autonomy and that '' it is equipped with important sensors for health and well-being applications (pulse, gps… ..)

lg watch urbanThe fun side should appeal to young people (and not so young) by the possibility of customizing the virtual dial by downloading new ones but beware, traditional brands are on the lookout for the protection of their intellectual property.

And of course, the nerve of war, the price. An overpriced watch  will scare young people away, and let's not forget that these watches will have a limited lifespan by their electronic components or even more simply by their software, we already know music with our smartphone.

Luxury brands will have to ask themselves the very important question of entering or not entering this risky market in terms of brand image. Is it worth risking its mechanical watchmaking legitimacy acquired for certain over several hundred years to follow this new market?

The watches created in steel and brass were, are and will always be there, and repairable, which is not the case with these new wrist objects.

My future winner, which does not yet exist, a 3atm waterproof steel box, under android wear (yes I prefer Android ;-)), pulse sensor, GPS / altimeter / giroscope, crown function and 7 days autonomy minimum.

The SmartWatch may be the springboard that young people needed to move on to more traditional watchmaking, or if not, they have two wrists.