Smartwatches, and all that Glitters

Story by Francis Jacquerye

Preamble

Since the launch of the Apple watch in 2015, it has become a commonly accepted fact that smartwatches are out to take luxury watches. After all, sales of luxury watches are dropping and sales of apple watches have overtaken them... so it must be true, right?

Besides possibly ignoring economics trends and consumer behaviour, this reasoning seems to oversimplify the value proposition of luxury goods. If customers cared more about utilities (technical specifications) than luxuries, there would not be a $1,171 billion global luxury industry [1].

In this first part of the series, the author would like to look at how Apple influenced the conversation about smartwatches, and wether there are overlaps with luxury watches. The author has worked for both the luxury industry and the consumer electronics industry (within Swatch Group AG from 2007 to 2013 and Goertek Inc. from 2015 to 2019),  and has been an Apple customer for the last 10 years, so his perspective cannot really be accused of being partial or biased.

The Successful Contrarian

There is no doubt that Apple is a polarising company. On one side they enjoy an almost-cult like following, and on the other they are the subject of criticism.

Something that everyone can agree upon however is that the company's history could be divided into a pre Dot-com bubble [2] era (with an outspokenly anti-IBM Steve Jobs being ousted) and a post Dot-com bubble era, with Steve Jobs back at the company's helm and the company becoming a leader of market segments.

Image: Steve Jobs outside IBM's NY headquarters in 1983, photo Andy Hertzfeld/Jean Pigozzi. Reproduced under Fair Use / Fair Dealings 

In the pre Dot-com bubble era, Apple was defining itself as being contrarian to the mainstream computing corporations. Their chosen narrative presented them as a David against Goliath.

Image: Apple's 1984 Super Bowl commercial, directed by Ridley Scott. Reproduced under Fair Use / Fair Dealings 

« This commercial was classically disruptive... This wasn’t a machine where you were going to be kowtowed in the workplace, this was a machine for the young, innovative, entrepreneurial mind. It really inspires the creative individual to break free and start something different. » [3]

In the post-Internet era, Apple has defined itself as the "underdog". Their success stories always follows the same template: Apple enters an existing product category, releases their own improved version, beats the biggest guy on the yard and ultimately dominates the market.

They started with the iPod, which remains the most successful portable media player of the post Dot-com bubble era. They followed suit with the iPhone, which managed to spell trouble for industry leaders such as Blackberry, Motorola, Nokia and Sony-Ericsson; and continued with the iPad, which dominates the market of tablets.

The Biggest Guy on the Yard

In 2014 the market of smartwatches represented a modest volume of less than 5 million devices. Since there was no Goliath of smartwatches to pick on, Apple looked at the market of wrist wear and decided that the closest thing to a big guy were Swiss luxury watches.

This offered two opportunities: by name dropping luxury brands, Apple could avoid comparison on utilities with its direct competitors, they could lean on overlapping aspirational values with luxury brands and they could anchor the image of their smartwatches as quasi luxury goods.

Avoiding Comparison

Although it is true that Apple did use comparison with direct competition in the early 2000s (the LOL funny "Get a Mac" campaign with Justin Long) [4], they did promote the overall experience instead of focusing on utilities. Once that the company got the upper hand on portable media players with the iPod, and on smartphones with the iPhone, they could afford to focus on the brand experience. This tactic has the benefit of leaving adversaries with no other option that competing on utilities or price.

Focusing on Aspirational Values

Interestingly, this strategy is closer to luxury brands than consumer brands. Patek Philippe for example, promises customers to travel across generations.

Image: Patek Philippe's "Generations" campaign: « You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely lok after it for the next generation. »

As for Rolex, founder Hans Wilsdorf practically invented athlete endorsement and cemented the brand's promise to customers of traveling across the globe.

Image: Mercedes Gleitze, British professional swimmer and first woman to cross the English channel in 1927. Reproduced under Fair Use / Fair Dealings.

Apple's promise to customers is to travel with their mind. The company's stated mission is « ...bringing the best user experience to its customers through its innovative hardware, software and services. » [5]. Everything in the brand experience, from advertising, retail design, approachable staff, packaging, industrial design, interface and ecosystem upholds those values.

Image: Working at an Apple store. Image credit Apple Inc.

Using Anchoring

In order to cement the apple watch in the public's imagination, Apple used three elements of anchoring:

Firstly, when Tim Cook unveiled the apple watch in 2015 he pitched it against a shortlist of watch brands ranked by sales value. Half of the brands on this list belong to the High End segment, so it had the benefit of instilling the idea that the apple watch could by all means compare to the likes of Rolex, Omega or Patek Philippe.

Image: Tim Cook 2015 keynote, credit Apple Inc. Reproduced under Fair Use / Fair Dealings.

Secondly, the first apple watch edition features an 18k gold version, and it helped to cement the idea that if Apple wanted to play head to head with giants of the luxury industry, they could. But they ultimately would not, because Apple was probably producing the 18k gold watch at a loss. However it still served its purpose as a publicity stunt.

The apple watch 18K gold red

Thirdly, Apple sought a collaboration with Hermès, so even if the comparison with luxury brands or the release of an 18k watch did not work, the apple watch could at least benefit by proxy, from being associated with at least one bona fide luxury brand.

The Hermès apple watch edition

If Apple felt a need to use anchoring to position the apple watch as a quasi luxury item, this begs the question: where does the apple watch overlap with luxury watches?

Differences and Overlaps

Speaking of luxury watch brands or luxury brands in general, there are four characteristics that make their products different from consumer goods: namely purchase decision, scale, sustainability and resale value.

Purchase Decision

According to Prof. Henry Assael of NYU, most consumer purchase decisions can be summarised as complex buying decisions, dissonance buying decisions, variety seeking decisions or habitual buying decisions.

The author explored in detail what the model represents and how it can be applied to luxury watches in Understanding Luxury Brand Equity through Consumer Purchase Decision, but looking at Apple's shortlist of watch brands, Rolex, Omega, Cartier and Patek Philippe would probably fall into complex buying decisions: the customer needs a high involvement in gathering information about the brand, and there are numerous differences between competitors.

Longines and Tissot would probably fall into dissonance buying decisions: the customer needs a high involvement in gathering information, but there are few differences with competitors such as Certina, Concord, Ebel, Eberhard, Eterna, Frédérique Constant, Louis Erard, Maurice Lacroix, Mido, Raymond Weil or TAG Heuer.

Fossil and Casio would probably fall into variety seeking decisions: the customer needs a low involvement in gathering information about the brand, but there are numerous differences amongst competitors. This would typically be where all fashion and lifestyle brands belong.

Seiko and Citizen would probably fall into habitual buying decisions. The customer needs a low involvement in gathering information and there are few differences amongst competitors.

What is noteworthy about Apple is that they manage to tap into complex buying decisions with their brand equity while also tapping into variety seeking decisions because of democratic prices on their entry lines. By leaning on the most compelling buying decision categories, they leave competitors like Samsung to work with dissonance buying decision and low cost competitors to work with habitual buying decisions, which precisely try to compete on utilities and price.

Scale

Voiceovers of Sir Jonathan Ives on Apple ads try to convey the quasi luxury status of Apple products, by using hyperbole words such as "precision", "exquisite" and "craftsmanship". Regardless, the fact remains that Apple products are mass-produced and intended for intensive distribution.

Image: iTunes Match’s launch with iTunes 10.5.1 beta 3, The Next Web. Reproduced under Fair Use / Fair Dealings.

In theory there is no limit to how many consumer goods or how many consumer electronics can be manufactured. This is why the industry has managed to saturate the market of personal computers, laptops and mobile phones: every consumer who can afford it buys one, so the demand is in decline.

In contrast, luxury goods are constrained by a scarcity of raw material and a scarcity of artisans capable of turning these into finished products. not every consumer who can afford it can buy one, so the demand is rising. It is without surprise then that most luxury goods can only be sold through selective, if not exclusive channels.

Philippe Dufour, a living legend and a Swiss national treasure, takes more than a month to produce watches to a degree of finishing that puts Patek Philippe to shame. The fastest that he can work is with electrically driven and hand controlled tools.

Philippe Dufour, image source FHH Journal. Reproduced under Fair Use / Fair Dealings.

Sustainability

The sustainable dimension of luxury products takes various aspects: first, the source of raw material must not be depleted, so it is in the best interest of luxury brands to preserve an existing symbiosis or an ecosystem. I previously discussed the economic benefits of the luxury industry in an answer to « Does it hurt the economy when people spend on luxury goods? ».

Secondly, besides being produced with superior materials and according to a superior design, luxury goods can be repaired, which dramatically extends their lifespan.

In comparison, consumer electronics pose several human rights and environmental problems in how raw materials are harvested and processed. A race to release newer devices faster means that products do no longer have to be build to last long. Before the iPhone, the criterion for shock resistance was much more stringent. It would have been considered a design flaw it a screen broke the first time that a phone was dropped.

However, the iPhone had the effect of lowering the standard for a whole industry. Example like this have prompted the European Parliament to put laws into place to protect the interest of consumers and force manufacturers to build products that are more durable and easier to repair [6].

The iPhone and other smartwatches are almost always designed and built like consumer electronics, so they do not offer the same repairability as luxury watches.

Resale Value

Because their quantity on the market in finite, used luxury goods tend to appreciate in value over time because of the law of supply and demand. Typically, 40 years old luxury watches and more recent ones can easily be kept in perfect working conditions, because spare movement parts can easily be procured for movements, and most components such as crystal and gaskets are standard. There has been a push from dominant luxury brands to undercut independent repair shops and force a monopoly on repairs and servicing [7] so the customer's best interest could be in jeopardy.

To Apple's credit, the company is one of the few whose products are highly sought on the second hand market. Besides refurbished products that Apple officially sells in 21 countries [8] to a market of more than 2,300 million consumers, there is a thriving parallel repair and resale market around their products.

In 2015, Android Police calculated that Apple offered software updates for older devices up to 41 months in average, which was practically double that of Nexus android devices (21 months). From 2018 onwards, Apple has been giving customers the option to have their iPhone battery swapped, which according to CEO Tim Cook allowed customers to hold on to their iPhone a bit longer than before [9]. Asymco analyst Horace Dediu estimated that the average lifespan of an Apple device in 2018 was slightly more than 4 years [10].

Image source: Software Updates: A Visual Comparison Of Support Lifetimes For iOS vs. Nexus Devices - Martin Lobao, Android Police, September 2015

In Conclusion

The author tried to outline Apple's branding strategy to present their products as quasi luxury, which sometimes overlaps with luxury branding, particularly when it avoids direct comparisons with competitors and it focuses on aspirational values. When it comes to the apple watch, there are many differences in its production and distribution scale that makes a head to head comparison with luxury watches impossible. Apple does however manage to overlap with luxury watches by tapping into similar purchase decisions and by offering longer software support and superior resale value than its competitors.

In this series, the author will offer a different perspective of the observed drop in sales of luxury watches and will explain the "Kodak syndrome" and how it dominates the conversation. The reader will be offered an insight into radical changes that the Swiss industry undertook long before any hint of the 1980s crisis, and how they made it possible to manufacture smartwatches today. The author will try to show how comparing sales of smartwatches with watches works, except when it does not.

References

[1] Luxury goods worldwide market study, Fall–winter 2018, Bain & Company
[2] Dot-com bubble, Wikipedia
[3] How The Greatest Super Bowl Ad Ever — Apple's '1984' — Almost Didn't Make It To Air, Aaron Taube, Business Insider
[4] Apple’s Steve Jobs didn’t want those Mac-vs.-PC commercials to be LOL funny, Mike Murphy, Market Watch
[5] Investor Updates, Apple Inc.
[6] Making consumer products more durable and easier to repair, European Parliament
[7] Apple Refurbished Products: Should You Buy Them?, Juli Clover, MacRumors May 2019
[8] Rising Demand for a Declining Watchmaking Trade, Francis Jacquerye, Woodshores
[9] Apple CEO Tim Cook: Customers Are Holding on to Older iPhones 'a Bit Longer' Than in the Past, Juli Clover, MacRumors January 2019
[10] An analyst estimated how long Apple customers hold onto their devices — and the findings might surprise you, Edoardo Maggio, Business Insider March 2018

Anniversaries, Watches and Hermes

June 4th is a special day every year at Henki House.  And this year was particularly auspicious as Wendy and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary in Montreal, where we had our honeymoon back in 1994.

On the morning of the 4th, I set out from our hotel to fetch bagels (when in Montreal, do as the locals), and upon opening the door to our hotel room found this sitting in the entry way -

Now point of full-disclosure, I had toyed with the idea of an Apple Watch as a "work out" watch.  I certainly thought it was sort of cool.  But I had been burned by connected and smart watches before.  Functions never worked as advertised.  The watches frequently "pooped out" after a short amount of time.  I have given up on doing smart/connected watch reviews because of the three that I have done in the past:

1.  Watch crapped out in the middle of the 2 week review period
2.  Watch "soiled the sheets" approximately 3 weeks following the review period - i.e. it made it 1 month and 3 days.
3.  Watch worked great out of the box.  Ran fine for about 2 months, then software got buggy and never quite recovered despite multiple updates and re-sets.

So that's me, a little cynical.  

Now although we are only 2 weeks into this relationship, I take a lot of comfort in Apple's track record for reliability is pretty strong, and as an "Apple Guy" since 1987 I am definitely a fan of the interface, look and feel of Apple products.


And as I said, for a long time I have always been a mechanical fan, and even developed an appreciation for "clever quartz" pieces like Michael Happe's passion project, the Gavox Aurora -

As well as a new-found love for G-Shock following my visit to their factory last September -

But then I started wearing this -

The Apple Watch, in and of itself is quite a nice little timekeeper.  I refuse to call it a "wearable" because I feel if you're going down that road, you have to apply it to pretty much everything (just one man's opinion).  After a few weeks of blissful wear, I have discovered some of the pleasant benefits of wearing an Apple Watch.  The "walk measure" meter I use daily.  While driving if I am using my phone as GPS through the CarPlay?  The watch will "buzz" on my wrist with an arrow indicating what direction I need to turn.  I have not set-up the ECG function yet, but as a man of a certain age?  It's on the to-do list.  Other updates are pushed through, and again I actually appreciate it.  Before, anytime my phone pinged I was distracted and felt I needed to pull my phone out of my pocket, and check it.  Now?  A quick look at my watch tells me if it is important or not.  Also, like my two GPS enabled G-Shocks, I can be certain that the time is correct.

I love the ability to change faces.  I know, sort of silly, but I dig it!

While a standard Apple Watch gives you quite a few face options, the Hermès Apple Watch gives you, well, the 

Hermès faces!  So far I am sticking to the black, white and orange options as they really go with the tri-color straps.  

Another Hermès touch is (and I know this is VERY un-Henki), the packaging!

A larger Orange 

Hermès box holds two smaller boxes within.  One of them holds the watch head and an Orange rubber strap. The second box holds the AMAZINGLY wonderful 

Hermès leather strap -

Now I have seen 

Hermès straps on Hermès watches at BaselWorld, but in truth had never worn one.  I realize that hyperbole is an annoying trait displayed by those in the 4th and 5th Estates specializing in the luxury industry, but this is one wonderful strap.  

So much so, that I am already saving my pennies for 2 options -

Courtesy of Apple

Courtesy of Apple

One suggestion I would put out there for 

Hermès and Apple?  Make an Hermès strap case/pouch that could hold 3 or 4 different straps.  I know that you can park the straps "wherever", but let's be honest, when you're talking about an Hermès product, you are willing to go a little bit further to have something special.  So Hermès, if you go for it, no charge for the idea ; )

And when it comes to the Apple Watch itself?  Well I know that it is early days, and yes the Apple Watch has a few drawbacks, most notable for many of us is the need to re-charge it on a fairly regular basis.  And for many people out there, the feeling is that it is a LOT of money for something that might be outdated in a year or two.  Well, yes and no.  Ultimately, nothing is 100% permanent.  I have several friends and colleagues who are still wearing and enjoying their early versions of Apple Watches.  In addition?  Apple does offer a trade-in (providing your watch is "trade-in-able". 

Lastly, I will say that I was, and continue to be, profoundly touched by this gift.  If I had any doubt that Wendy "gets" me, well let's just say that she does.  

Enjoy your watches!

Holiday Repeat: The Watch-o-Matic!

The Watch-o-Matic!

It slices, it dices, it's the last watch you'll ever buy!

The difference between Ron Popeil and some watch executives might be only a passport ; )

For those of you unfamiliar, Ron Popeil is the man behind Ronco -

Courtesy of the world-wide info-web

Now I want to start this out by saying that I actually have the highest respect for Mr. Popeil as both an inventor of stuff we really didn't want or need, and more importantly, convincing us that we couldn't possibly live without it.  The man could sell.

Steve Jobs had his Reality Distortion Field, per Wikipedia:

this was said to be Steve Jobs's ability to convince himself and others to believe almost anything with a mix of charm, charisma, bravado, hyperbole, marketing, appeasement and persistence. RDF was said to distort an audience's sense of proportion and scales of difficulties and made them believe that the task at hand was possible. Jobs could also use the RDF to appropriate other's ideas as his own, sometimes proposing an idea to its originator after dismissing it the week before.^[3]

Does this sound like some people we know?

What sort of got me caught up in this theme yesterday and today was reflecting on the "miracle" of Tag Heuer's Connected watch and the Reality Distortion Field that was spun around it.  After first poo-pooing the Apple Watch, Mr. Popeil's possible "brother from another mother" announced that, in fact, smart or connected watches were, in fact, GOOD!  Not only that, his brand would be offering one!  

As I've said before, the idea of a connected watch is not in and of itself not so crazy.  But it is a question of how many features can you actually use (really use) in a smart watch?  

For better or worse, there are only so many features you can put into a wrist bound Tamagotchi -

Shamelessly borrowed from the world-wide info-net

How many features, realistically, are worth having in a connected watch?

The Apple watch has proven itself to be a bit of a unique outlier.  Yes, it offers a ton of different features that may, or may not work well in a wrist-bound environment.  But this is not what really drives the sales of the Apple watch.  What drives the sales of the Apple watch is Apple itself.  It is a strong aphrodisiac.  It is why many people, including me, will spend MORE for an iPhone, Mac or iPad than those in the Windows tribe.  I have tried an Apple watch, and it was not quite the revelatory experience for me that it clearly has been for others.  And I LOVE Apple stuff.  But for me it was just too much.

As an experiment I tried a Withings watch and found it to be too far in the other direction - it was supposed to give time, a wake up alarm and a step counter.  The alarm did not work as advertised, the step counter did not count correctly.  It was a disappointment. 

And then we have the watch world's two notable entries - Tag Heuer's connected watch, and the offering from Frederique Constant / Alpina / Mondaine.  While the Tag Heuer offering provides all of the promise of the Apple watch, it is significantly more expensive.  And apart from the big displays at BaselWorld, I have never seen a Tag Heuer connected watch "in the wild", despite the exclamations of large sales numbers.  And the same could be said for the FC/Alpina/Mondaine offerings in terms of actual visibility.  

More than anything, regardless of what technology firm they partner with, the watch brands are now competing in a different arena.  And it is one with a lot more price sensitivity, and a requirement to evolve and innovate at a much faster pace than they are used to.  So it becomes, and will continue to be, a never ending game of catch-up.

The brands that keep the functionality actually functional have the best opportunity to grab market share.  BUT, and it is a big but, they have to put the price of the watch at a level that the market will bear.  What the Fit Bit boom underscored is that there are functional aspects that people want and will pay for.  But when we delve into just how many features they want on their wrist and just how much they will pay for it?  Well that becomes a different matter.

This is another case of less having the potential for being more.  Find four or five functions, stick with them, and make them perform perfectly.  But in addition, produce and sell it at a price point that the market will bear.  This is the other thing that Apple figured out that everyone else is still struggling with.

So we shall wait, and we shall see.

Black Friday Repeat

This originally came out nearly a year ago.  And I probably would have let it sit in the closet like an ugly Christmas sweater had I not gotten a promotional email from a "light grey" market site that offered me the rare and wonderful opportunity to purchase "BRAND X's" rare and wonderful price, at the rare and wonderful discount of 65% off!  It also bears mentioning that this "group source e-tailer" also has a section titled:

Sex & Lingerie!

Good to know that after I save a boatload of cash on a grey market watch, I can then purchase some "adult toys", lube, and God knows what else that has fallen off the back of the "cyber truck".

Despite assurances to the contrary, I am still not convinced that the shot callers have really gotten their heads around what is going on right now, and so I am going to air this one out again -

The Myth of Black Friday

So I got the question from more than a few friends and colleagues in Switzerland and Germany -
"What are you doing working, why aren't you out shopping?  Isn't it what you call Black Friday?"

So before going any further I want to be clear that in some retail segments, the carrot of "low, low prices" is a strong motivator.  And as the chaos done to a Nike store will attest, too much food and alcohol, combined a four day weekend and perhaps too much time forcibly spent with family members otherwise only seen at weddings and funerals can drive even the sanest, most rational person to lose their shit.

But what has started to creep into the luxury industry is a growing sense of uncertainty, and this has begun to manifest itself into more random short-term solutions that may (or may not) have the desired impact.  And when we are talking about watches, at least those of a certain price point, we are not talking about the types of things that typically wind up under the average American Christmas tree.  A discounted cashmere sweater?  Sure!  A G-Shock?  Absolutely!  And I have no doubt that there may well be people out there who awake December 25th to find that Santa has left a timekeeper with a retail value of over $5,000 in their stocking.  But I think it's safe to say that in virtually every economy, that is an atypical household.

For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of Black Friday, allow me to inform you that this is a phenomenon that began in the US.  The idea being that the majority of Americans had a day off from work on the day after Thanksgiving (Thursday) and therefore it might be the perfect way to kick off the holiday shopping season.  So that's the Friday part, but the Black aspect was in reference to the ledger books.  As anyone who has suffered through accounting will share, black is good, red is bad.  Black means that you are not losing money.  And the operating theory being that good year or bad, the amount of sales going on would push you firmly into the black for the remainder of the year and that everything after that would be profit.  And from this, we then moved to Cyber Monday.  And in fact, hell, let's just make it Black December because truth be told, nobody can tell the difference any more.

Now in the high end watch business (and let's lower the bar a little and say that is anything over $1,000), there might have been the 10% or 15% deal.  Or retailers would park all of the "pre-owned" or discontinued models in a "Holiday Special" show case.  But it was understood that this display case was the watch equivalent of the Island of Misfit Toys.  If you wanted something desirable you were maybe going to get a small discount, but nothing of the magnitude of what we are seeing this year.  And this discounting mania has moved beyond just the retailer to brands offering 25% off on their own websites.  They are essentially working to move product under the guise of a holiday promotion.  This, in turn, succeeds at then driving the grey market, Mass Drop and Touch of Modern prices to dip even lower than they already are.  I received nearly hourly email promotions on the most recent price discount on Touch of Modern and Mass Drop over the holiday weekend.

Now whether or not these deep-discount sales promotions will succeed in saving the brand's bacon remains to be seen.  But what this really all comes back to is what I've been saying for YEARS - over production.  If your product is scarce, it will be desired.  You can then demand a premium price.  When your product is everywhere, it becomes less exclusive.  Moreover, it manages to lower the desirability of other brands at the same level or price point.  The only exceptions that readily come to mind are Patek Philippe and Rolex.

Put another way, just as a high tide will raise all the boats in the harbor, a low tide will bring them all down.  Supply and Demand is a pretty simple concept, and when you continue to ignore it for years?  Well let's just say it will take years to undo the damage.  And maybe those brand CEOs who refused to forgo the high life for the sake of their brands and their employees should be getting coal in their stockings, and maybe a visit from Krampus ; )

Happy Holidays from Krampus

Happy Holidays, and enjoy your watches!

What if We Sliced the Bread Before We Sold it?

The smart/connected watch revolution that everyone was talking about?  The one that was supposed to threaten Rolex?  The one that sent Tag-Heuer to a deep, dark world of "alternative facts"?  Watch fan or no, the very honest answer is that the revolution went the way of other failed uprisings.  And although the agitators were not marched off to the stockades, the soft sales results underscored the reality that although the world was ready for a connected / smart watch it was not totally satisfied with what was on offer.

The Apple and Samsung watches are basically tamagotchis for the wrist.  A cute toy that needs your love and attention (and a frequent recharging) to remain alive.

The Frederique Constant, Alpina and Mondaine are very expensive (and as Mass Drop and Touch of Modern proved to us) very over-priced connected watches with functions not beyond what you would find in a Fit Bit.

And then Kronaby came along -

Courtesy of Kronaby

I was fortunate enough to attend the Kronaby launch this evening in Malmo, Sweden.  And suffice it to say, the connected watch revolution has now officially started in earnest.  Because Kronaby has come up with a connected watch that is actually smart.

Offered in four different versions, Kronaby has come up with a connected watch that actually allows and enables you to somewhat disconnect yourself from your phone and all of life's distractions while ensuring that you stay connected to the things that are important to you.

And there are some pretty striking options.  And I PROMISE that I'll go into all sorts of detail over the coming days, but for now I thought it might be worth going into the features that are under the hood -

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Auto Time Zone – Always on time

No matter how many time zones the watch crosses, it automatically displays the local time accurately.

  

Silent Alarm – A gentle wake-up call

By switching on the silent alarm, the watch’s soundless vibrations will only wake the user, letting those around carry on snoozing.

Filtered Notifications – Never miss what matters

There is a fine line between staying connected and being distracted. That is why Kronaby lets users choose to be notified only by the people they care most about.

Battery life – Never Charge

With a standard battery that lasts up to two-years (depending on use), users will never again have to put their life on hold while searching for an outlet to recharge.

Get Moving – Take a stand

Get up and get moving – there is increasing evidence that we need to spend less time sitting to maintain a healthy physique. Kronaby can send a gentle reminder when the user has been inactive for too long.

CROWN FEATURES

Additional Time Zone – In sync with the world

Kronaby keeps users continuously connected with the outside world by letting them select an additional time zone to be displayed on the watch face.

Date – Stay up-to-date

Knowing the current date is a fundamental piece of information that is readily available through the push of a button.

Daily Hundred – Every step counts

Statistics show that activity is key for a healthier life. Kronaby users can set a step goal and track progress daily.

Timer – Keeping count

Proper time management is hard to achieve without the right tools. A timer allows users to box chores and find their focus.

PUSHER FEATURES

Camera Remote – Picture perfect

The built-in camera remote lets users switch places, from always being the person behind the camera to sharing the moment with friends in front of it.

Remember This Spot – You were here

Part of living is trying new things and experiencing unfamiliar places. To make sure to find the way back, users can press the Geo Tag button.

Find Phone – Never lost again

Busy days make us all forget and misplace things. The clever pusher trigger on the watch reveals the phone’s whereabouts.

Walk Me Home – Feel safe 24/7

Being free to move around safely should be everyone’s prerogative. The push of a button sends a signal to a loved one, letting them respond and follow the user every step. It’s like having someone walk you home, but from a distance.

Reject Call – Decline with a tap

In our connected world, prioritizing incoming phone calls is an inevitable modern-day nuisance. Kronaby just made it less of a hassle through the Decline Call button on the wrist.

Music Control – Immediate tunes

Kronaby give users instant access to their favorite music, whenever and wherever they want by Press Play.

And here's the thing - YOU DECIDE which features YOU WANT!  Moreover, if/when new features are available, you don't need to bring your watch in for an upgrade!  Just as you update the apps on your phone, you update the features on your Kronaby!

I am seldom one go gush and lavish praise, and this might well be an exception.  Up until now, smart watches have been pretty dumb. Up until now.

The revolution has truly begun.  Long live the revolution!

The Watch-o-Matic!

It slices, it dices, it's the last watch you'll ever buy!

The difference between Ron Popeil and some watch executives might be only a passport ; )

For those of you unfamiliar, Ron Popeil is the man behind Ronco -

Courtesy of the world-wide info-web

Now I want to start this out by saying that I actually have the highest respect for Mr. Popeil as both an inventor of stuff we really didn't want or need, and more importantly, convincing us that we couldn't possibly live without it.  The man could sell.

Steve Jobs had his Reality Distortion Field, per Wikipedia:

this was said to be Steve Jobs's ability to convince himself and others to believe almost anything with a mix of charm, charisma, bravado, hyperbole, marketing, appeasement and persistence. RDF was said to distort an audience's sense of proportion and scales of difficulties and made them believe that the task at hand was possible. Jobs could also use the RDF to appropriate other's ideas as his own, sometimes proposing an idea to its originator after dismissing it the week before.^[3]

Does this sound like some people we know?

What sort of got me caught up in this theme yesterday and today was reflecting on the "miracle" of Tag Heuer's Connected watch and the Reality Distortion Field that was spun around it.  After first poo-pooing the Apple Watch, Mr. Popeil's possible "brother from another mother" announced that, in fact, smart or connected watches were, in fact, GOOD!  Not only that, his brand would be offering one!  

As I've said before, the idea of a connected watch is not in and of itself not so crazy.  But it is a question of how many features can you actually use (really use) in a smart watch?  

For better or worse, there are only so many features you can put into a wrist bound Tamagotchi -

Shamelessly borrowed from the world-wide info-net

How many features, realistically, are worth having in a connected watch?

The Apple watch has proven itself to be a bit of a unique outlier.  Yes, it offers a ton of different features that may, or may not work well in a wrist-bound environment.  But this is not what really drives the sales of the Apple watch.  What drives the sales of the Apple watch is Apple itself.  It is a strong aphrodisiac.  It is why many people, including me, will spend MORE for an iPhone, Mac or iPad than those in the Windows tribe.  I have tried an Apple watch, and it was not quite the revelatory experience for me that it clearly has been for others.  And I LOVE Apple stuff.  But for me it was just too much.

As an experiment I tried a Withings watch and found it to be too far in the other direction - it was supposed to give time, a wake up alarm and a step counter.  The alarm did not work as advertised, the step counter did not count correctly.  It was a disappointment. 

And then we have the watch world's two notable entries - Tag Heuer's connected watch, and the offering from Frederique Constant / Alpina / Mondaine.  While the Tag Heuer offering provides all of the promise of the Apple watch, it is significantly more expensive.  And apart from the big displays at BaselWorld, I have never seen a Tag Heuer connected watch "in the wild", despite the exclamations of large sales numbers.  And the same could be said for the FC/Alpina/Mondaine offerings in terms of actual visibility.  

More than anything, regardless of what technology firm they partner with, the watch brands are now competing in a different arena.  And it is one with a lot more price sensitivity, and a requirement to evolve and innovate at a much faster pace than they are used to.  So it becomes, and will continue to be, a never ending game of catch-up.

The brands that keep the functionality actually functional have the best opportunity to grab market share.  BUT, and it is a big but, they have to put the price of the watch at a level that the market will bear.  What the Fit Bit boom underscored is that there are functional aspects that people want and will pay for.  But when we delve into just how many features they want on their wrist and just how much they will pay for it?  Well that becomes a different matter.

This is another case of less having the potential for being more.  Find four or five functions, stick with them, and make them perform perfectly.  But in addition, produce and sell it at a price point that the market will bear.  This is the other thing that Apple figured out that everyone else is still struggling with.

So we shall wait, and we shall see.

The Importance of Knowing when a Gag has Outlived its Humor

My father used to have a saying - if you don't want someone to get your goat, don't leave it in the front yard.

Courtesy of H. Moser & Cie.

This is the latest salvo from H. Moser & Cie.

You might recall that they started with a clever campaign extolling the virtues of the mechanical watch vs. the smart a few months back.  It was a cute jab at Apple and the Apple watch.  While the first Youtube video campaign was clever, if I'm honest, with this latest offering I think the "strategy think tank" at Moser has run off the rails a bit.

With a case intentionally designed to match the Apple watch and an "apple green" underbelly for the strap, this is about as subtle, clever and cunning as a baseball bat to the forehead.  Moreover, I have to be honest that it is at this point a little sad.

To craft, create and now market a watch with (seemingly) the sole goal of trying to stick your thumb in the eye of a company that can buy yours about 100 times over is not Quixotic.  It is not David and Goliath.  It is wasteful, a bit vainglorious.

Here's the thing - the strategy that H. Moser & Cie. had been following was a good one.  Beautiful, hand made watches that are not about a label or a logo like Patek, Rolex or Vacheron.  And by all accounts they were gaining respect and (positive) notoriety.

When you invest so much time and money talking about someone else, you end up doing a lot of unpaid PR work on their behalf.  In fairness, for all I know this watch is going to sell like hotcakes.  But my gut is telling me that it is a somewhat expensive practical joke played on Apple that Apple probably finds flattering ; )

The iWat... no Apple Watch!

Not my original content, but too good not to share!