The Swiss watch market is bracing for the smartwatch movement, with many fearing another downturn for traditional mechanical timepieces much the same as when low cost Quartz movements were first introduced.
Industry players don’t intend to sit around and see how Apple Watch sells against traditional watches, however, as many of the watch world’s biggest luxury watchmakers— Tag Heuer, Breitling, Swatch, Frederique Constant—are showing off their first smart watches at Baselworld 2015 this week, the premier tradeshow for the jewelry industry where most Swiss watchmakers choose to unveil their latest creations each year.
A few on the list below were announced in the weeks leading up to Baselworld which officially starts today, but this week will be the first time anyone actually gets their hands on these new Swiss smartwatches that hope to compete with the Apple Watch. We’ll be updating this list as more luxury smart watches get unveiled in Basel, Switzerland.
Breitling B55 Connected
-Electronic multifunction SuperQuartz chronograph movement
-iPhone app for watch adjustments
-Titanium case w/ black carbon-based coating
-Two LCD screens
-Chronometer-certified by the COSC
-Electronic tachometer, countdown/countup system, “long duration” timing
-Magnetic charger
-(no pricing announced, likely $5k -$10k)
Tag Heuer Carrera smartwatch
A non-smartwatch from Tag’s current Carrera collection
-Based on popular Carrera collection design
-Android Wear
-geolocation, distance walked, altitude
-Launching in Autumn
-Intel/Google partnership
Swatch Touch Zero One
-Curved touchscreen
-Companion apps
-Months-long battery life
-“cool new Beach Volley functions– Step Counter, Power Hits and Power Claps” (?)
Frederique Constant and Alpina
-(10+ models) starting at around $1000
-2 years+ battery
-Activity, sleep tracking
-Alerts
-iOS and Android apps
Mondaine Helvetica No1 Horological Smartwatch
-2 years+ battery
-Activity, sleep tracking
-Alerts
-iOS and Android apps
Stay tuned for more Swiss smartwatch announcements this week as more luxury brands reveal new hardware at Baselworld in Switzerland.
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This will only show how worse they are compared to apple watch.
I’m not even sure how these companies classify these as “smartwatches”. They don’t seem very useful to me at all.
Some of these watch’s are targeted towards a very specific market. Breitling have always been pilot specific.
Because there are billions of pilots out there :)
How the hell can you say that based on images? I’m sick of fanboy comments.
You do realize you are at 9to5Mac.com, a site catered to and containing nothing but information regarding Apple and its products? I’m not saying that davidt4n is credible, but attacking him/her for being a “fanboy” on a fanboy website is more than a little self-serving. That’d be like me, a Republican, voluntarily going to a rally for President Obama and being dismayed that everyone there supports him. I believe the Interwebs call this “trolling.” If you’re sick of “fanboy comments” at an Apple-centered site, read Gizmodo, Engadget, or any one of the other million tech blogs, where your ignorant comment would still be in poor taste–but at least not hypocritical.
“I’m sick of fanboy comments.”
The internet just might not be the place for you…
For luxury $1000+ watches, some of these sure are ugly. At least the Apple Watch looks better than these.
Mondaine actually looks 100 times better than Apple Watch. But again, its an expensive Fitbit.
I’ll grant it has a clean watch face, but 100 times better? Hell no.
This is the wristwatch equivalent of “all dressed up and nowhere to go”.
The look is not for me, but at least its thin from front to back. The one thing that I don’t like about Android and iOS smart watches is the bulbous shape.
USD1,000 for a watch is hardly “luxury” — which means, precisely, that you can’t afford these watches since that sum’s obviously your “luxury” watch Rubicon. Also, don’t respond saying you have better things to do with your money. Afford them or not. There is no try.
I love Apple but the Watch isn’t really all that nice as far as timepieces go. You can get one that looks quite similar at a flea market in Hong Kong. Now, to a certain segment of the population that doesn’t really spend on watches, it might seem like a big deal but watch enthusiasts aren’t moved by it.
Look at the names in the article: Tag, Constant, Breitling, Mondaine — these are guys on the low end of the luxury totem pole. They are actually threatened by the Watch because they cater to the “almost but not quite” market. You don’t see Patek on the list do you? How about Jaeger-LeCoultre? Nope. They’re not threatened the way their lower-end competitors are — just like they weren’t threatened in the 80’s — because they sell watches that make the Edition seem cheap by comparison — they sell beautiful horological masterpieces to people who wouldn’t even sneeze at an Apple Watch. There are watches that sell for more than a Ferrari does, you know.
Rolex? Rolex just cares about selling as much of its stuff as it can; doesn’t mean its stuff is all that great (though there are some nice Rolex pieces, I’ll admit).
I can’t wait for the day when Apple makes the “Jacket” and you folk start ragging on Armani and Tom Ford.
so… erm… no smart watches then? The Mondaine looks nice and… well… beach volley ball?!
We can file this news under “who cares” and/or “too late”. The “fine” watch industry can expect their revenues to decrease by a large margin… I’d guess by around 50% post WATCH.
The vast majority of people don’t wear watches. Of those who still do, a substantial number will wear high quality timepieces. What the Apple Watch will do is get those people who don’t normally wear watches to wear an Apple Watch. That’s good for Apple. Meanwhile, the “fine” watch industry will not be affected at all because the people who splash out $2-3k on a watch aren’t going to be buying an Apple watch to replace it any time soon.
They are completely different markets and your deluded if you try and bracket them the same. They aren’t.
I don’t understand this believe that “the vast majority of people don’t wear watches”. Really? Everyone I know wears a watch. Where do you live? The statistics do not support this belief. The wrist watch industry ships 1.2 Billion new watches annually. Billion, with a B! Look it up. Its globally one of the most sold material non-food consumer items.
I’ve just found the article you mentioned and I’m surprised because 1.2 Billion is a huge number. However, given that according to the report about a billion of those watches are made in China with an average price of $3 a piece, I’d wager most of those sales are to replace broken watches and not for new users.
And if I wanted to really split hairs, I could say that there are over 7 billion people on the planet. 1.2billion is very much in the minority ;)
Btw, no young person wears a watch. In highschool people only really wear them to be different… Basically, watch wearers are a dying breed. I would really only consider a watch if I was trying to show off my wealth, since we all know that all a non-smart watch does is tell the time and sometimes the date. I can get all that and more with my phone. That said I wont buy an apple watch gen 1 (offers too little to be worth $349). Might buy gen 2 though.
Why would any of these watches bother tracking sleep? Are there people who wear metal/leather, $1,000+ watches to bed? How is a watch “smart” when it simply has two LCD’s and can track steps? I’m very confused by this whole thing.
It is a failed attempt to become a more relevant product. RIP regular watches
Is this the best they’ve got. Oh well, I guess that’s the end of them then.
They need to either do nothing / carry on making a load of watches with extraneous styling all over them, faux diving dials etc. Or, get in bed with Android Wear and make stylish $1000 Wear watches.
I hate those faux diving dials. Who the fuk dives anyway?
Nothing can beat the beauty of a mechanical watch with an elegant face. I think it’s a totally different product compared to the Apple watch which is more like a smart phone for your wrist.
I agree. I love my Tag Heuer Carrera Automatic. The Apple Watch is beautiful in its own right but, as with any product, it will not suit everyone’s tastes or needs.
Exactly, they serve different purposes. I love my Oris and its gorgeous and will last 100 years with proper maintenance, but Ill wear the Apple Watch Sport as a “daily driver” for the quick glance notifications and health activity tracking stuff. The Oris goes on when I want to pimp it, out to dinner, a BBQ, a party, a date night, etc.
With the Apple Watch having a high defined display, could it not replicate an elegant face of a mechanical watch?
You guessed it right, @iphonery, just wait for the hi-def Patek Philippe and Tag Heuer watch faces for the watch app in the App Store!
Agreed, but those elegant watches are only worn to show your wealth. They have no useful functionality. I think it is about time they are just considered jewelry and not as something useful. Watches had ther use when no one carried around a magic brick with them everywhere. I can see women still finding them useful so they don’t have to take their phone out of their purse, but if you put your phone in your pocket I don’t see the relevance of a watch anymore besides flaunting wealth
It’s true that they are ridiculously expensive & too expensive to service so not as practical as a smart device.
At least some of them have sleep monitoring which Apple hasn’t given us which was the main reason I was going for the Apple Watch in the first place.
To track your sleep, you can buy $50-$80 device that is actually ergonomic. LIke Shine by Misfit.
hiya yes i know as I got a tithings pulse atm I just wanted one thing to do it all and it was promised in the beginning hence my excitement but hey i will wait for ver 2 no problem.
Don’t you just love Apple auto correct Withings Pulse not tithings lol
Apple did make Swiss watch makers worry at the end.. Since Apple watch hasn’t been release yet, picture to picture Apple watch look so much useful . I don’t understand why man like whering jewels on their wrist . I prefer a gadget or nothing .
Fusion….Garmin 920XT + Apple Watch Sport… my dream !
Pour some Gazpacho on it to fuse them together permanently. I did that with my iPhone 5 and battery case and they’ve never been separated since.
That TAG is awesome, and the Helvetica lovely. I hate to say it, but the Apple Watch is not pleasing to look at. The sports version is cool, and suited for that market, but I would far prefer to wear a circular smart watch with a classic look. Huawei are so far the only non traditional watch maker to get it.
I think the plus here, is that these watches are waterproof, have very long battery life, and are catering to the individual that doesn’t want to do what everyone else is doing. I have all the Apple devices, but will keep my traditional mechanical watch. The Apple watch just doesn’t appeal to me, and I wouldn’t wear it.
I’m wearing a Tag Heuer Carrera CAl16 right now on my wrist and I’m an Apple fanboy. I’m planning to buy me an Apple Watch. Am I convinced of getting the Tag Heuer smartwatch? – No absolutely not!
Tags idea of what a Carrera smartwatch might be is ridiculous! There is nothing really smart on it and the design is absolutely no match to any of both worlds. It seems to me as an helpless try to come up with something that they can tell their customers – like me – we have a smartwatch too, buy ours. Simple question: what for? For one app form Tag to show me their idea of data collected on their watch that doesn’t even bring anything smart? This is just showing how far they are from being able to create a smartwatch. This industrie is just doing the same mistakes music and film industry did before. Being ignorant because their business model worked for so long, it must be right. Well it’s not anymore. And what they expect now to happen is, a smartwatch declared Carrera will bring the good old times(!) back – it won’t. Ask the people that wanted to keep selling CDs how it went out for them.
Apple got themselves the good people for the industry they are going after to help them with what the don’t understand enough.