Men_s Health Australia - April 2016__

APRIL 2016^139

BEBIONIC HAND COURTESY OF STEEPERGROUP.COM

cautious, as could the lack of PR hype

in the interim. Seeing the products up

close, there exists a slight but

perceptible lack of polish in some

cases, one that contrasts poorly with the

brands’ traditional wares. Bremont

chairman and luxury biz entrepreneur

John Ayton concedes that these

offerings were, on the whole, “a bit

underwhelming”. “But that’s not to say

the nex t ones won’ t b e b et ter,” he adds.

“The iPad was ridiculed when it came

out, and I can’t say I find the Apple

Watch particularly pleasing, but tastes

can change. However, I’d be surprised if

luxury brands try to compete on the

same product life cycle as tech ones.

We’re never going to be at the forefront

of technology, but we still have to

recognise it.”

Those manufacturers that have

already launched smartwatch hybrids

• such as Breitling – insist they’re in it for
  the long haul: “We know the smartwatch
  can’t compete with the phone for user-
  friendliness,” says the brand’s VP, Jean-
  Paul Girardin. “But the next connected
  Breitling will do more. We’re improving
  the interface and power requirements
  as well as adding func tions. I t ’ll b e a
  more complete package.”
  Then there’s the issue of cost. It
  makes sense for smartly priced fashion
  brands such as Guess and Gucci to
  follow the trend, with Connect (which
  allows voice control of your phone,
  among other things) and Smartband
  (designed with will.i.am to make your
  phone obsolete) respectively. But does
  the luxury end need concern itself with
  such things?

Wrist and reward

According to Jens Henning Koch,

executive vice president of marketing at

Montblanc, “luxury is a combination of

heritage, craftsmanship and exclusivity.

It’s a challenge for tech companies to

imitate that.” Montblanc’s e-Strap is

a tentative toe in the smartwatch waters,

one that recognises the risk of making

a timepiece that dates too quickly. “We

want Montblanc watches to be lifetime

companions; our smart products will

come out every 18 months to two

years,” says Koch. “We’re not planning

to pu t te ch into watches. B u t we have to

provide products for the contemporary

achiever – we have to have a s trong

connection to today’s world.”

A nother argument is that i t ’s all ab ou t

competing on the wrist, not in shop

w indows. I t ’s p ossible that i f c onsumer s

take to wearing a smartwatch, they won’t

ever look back. Rapidly iterating tech

giants can ensure the product grows

with the customer, bringing out upgrades

often enough to maintain interest.

The common rejoinder from the

Swiss is to see smartwatches as a

gateway drug for “proper” watches. That

fits with the proposition of a luxury

timepiece as a purchase that lasts a

lifetime – something you buy when

you’ve left behind the fashions and fads

of your youth. Bremont’s Ayton certainly

believes it: “Anything that puts

something on the wrist of young people,

especially men, is a good thing.” He

even holds that the intrusiveness of the

Apple Watch’s alerts will cause some

customers to push back.

The stats show that smartwatch

ownership is highest in the 25-34 age

group. With the exception of the Pebble,

decent smartwatches aren’t cheap, so

they’re being bought by people who, by

the Swiss logic, should be switching to

proper watches. And it seems a little too

c onfident to rel y on some innate desire

for a timepiece on the wrist. You may

well be a watch fan – but how many of

your friends rely solely on their phones

for timekeeping? Of course, there are

those who will argue that the debate is

healthy for all involved – at least we’re

thinking about what’s on our wrists.

Facing the future

TAG Heuer CEO Jean-Claude Biver is

betting big on a smartwatch – the

Carrera Wearable 01 – bringing new

customers to his brand. But he also

predicts a fundamental diversification in

this brave new world. “On one side we’ll

have the ‘eternal’: watches that will be

working and repairable in 1000 years,”

he says. “And on the other hand the

‘obsolete’, which are all the technology

watches born from an industrial process

and condemned to become out of date.

Those trends won’t compete against

each other but are complementary.”

Biver has a track record of calling it

right. But it’s worth remembering that, as

things stand, the smartwatch market is

hav ing to wor k ver y hard to jus ti f y i ts

existence. Apple sold only 3.6 million

watches in Q2 of 2015, although it does

already represent 20 per cent of the

market. And once the early adopters

have all bought one, the smartwatch

faces a harder struggle to make an

impact on middle-ground consumers.

A desire not to get burned again means

Switzerland’s firms are having to board

the bandwagon with little idea of where

it’s headed.

Whether the Swiss innovators will

make an impact also remains to be

seen. If Biver’s assessment is correct,

they w ill have to lear n to pu t pro duc ts

out at the pace of Apple et al. But with

some big names still playing down their

smart ambitions, one thing is for sure:

the cyberwar is about to get serious.

SMARTWATCHES

FOR DUMMIES

A user-manual-free guide to the

new slew of next-gen timepieces

MONTBLANC E-STRAP

A USB-stick-size steel

nugget attaches to the

strap, where it tracks

activity, displays

notifications and controls

your music.

BREITLING B55

CONNECTED

Relying on a phone app, its

functions – flight timing,

tachometer and take-off

countdown – are aimed

squarely at pilots.

ALPINA HOROLOGICAL

SMARTWATCH

Behind the classic looks is

a smart module that can

track your activity levels

and sleep quality while

boasting two years of

battery life.

IWC CONNECT

Still under wraps, a module

sewn into the strap

“enables control over

devices connected to the

Internet of Things”.

APPLE WATCH

Third-party programs can

now access the heart-rate

monitor, run on the watch

without your phone and

contribute to the day’s

activity total.

SAMSUNG GEAR S2

CLASSIC

As well as swiping the

screen, you can also rotate

the bezel to quickly

navigate through the

widgets and installed

apps.

NY SMARTWATCH3

mpatible with Android

ices, the built-in GPS

ws you to accurately

asure your physical

vity without lugging

und a phone.

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