In this age of Smartphones and 4G, one might think that those chic and dandy Swiss watches are like a fading halo, but, as per the watch market is concerned, Swiss watches remained an all-time favourite among numerous personalities from the glamour and sports world.
A rivalry or a true competitor?
With the launch of Tissot’s T-Touch and Tag Heuer’s Connected watches are getting smart day-by-day, it is also quite evident that watch enthusiasts are drawing a comparison in between smart watches and those traditional automatic premium watches. The question is, whether these so called “smart” watches are truly a threat to those mechanical and self-winding watches or not. There are two types of opinions arising in this regard.
First Opinion:
This group of connoisseurs believe that, seriously, it is a threat to the market of the Swiss watches and the craze of smart watches has already started which will gradually slow down the demand for those premium Swiss watches. The logics they are sighting behind their opinion are something like this –
Newly invented smart type of watches are multi-functional, which will help the users in tracking multiple things simultaneously.
These watches are basically mobile phones adapted to one’s wrist.
Smart watches from brands like Tissot and Tag Heuer are also ‘Swiss Made’ so that connoisseur and enthusiasts who are crazy about Swiss watches will definitely prefer these pieces.
These devices are priced much lower than those premium automatic watches, which makes it a practical choice for tech-savvy young business class.
Second Opinion:
This another group of enthusiast and people thinks that smart watches are totally a separate genre of watches and it is not going to hamper the market of premium mechanical and automatic watches by any means. Their logic behind such view is –
A premium Swiss watch always has their own appeal from a collectors’ point of view. In addition, this appeal is not for the brand or for a particular model, rather for a classic mechanism meant to deliver extreme precision in time keeping.
As the self-winding movement is typically based on the movement of the wearer’s wrist, no electrical power is required to run the watch. Hence, there is no hassle for battery-replacement or charging.
An advanced automatic movement like Omega’s ‘Master Chronometer’ is highly precise; such precision is proved and tested through a number of procedures. So, such technological and engineering marvel cannot be replaced by an integrated circuit (IC) based “smart” watch.
noise colorfit brio smartwatch An automatic watch is not only a technological wonder, but also it is a work of art, so to the enthusiasts these watches are priceless and a collectors’ item.
At the conclusion, it can be said, that smart watches are no doubt a technological wonder packed with features. On the other hand, high-end automatic Swiss watches from premium brands are like those aged and matured bottles of finest scotch whiskies – their value can be given by true connoisseurs only.