Apple Watch Release Date Announced

 Photo Credit: telegraph.co.uk

 

With the release date officially announced at Apple’s Keynote ‘Spring Forward’ last week, the industry is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Apple Watch and its impact on the watch market.

Whilst each year brings a new model of the iPhone or Macbook, the world hasn’t see a brand new Apple product launch since 2010 brought us the iPad. With queues wrapping around Regent’s Street to Bond Street in September 2014 for the iPhone 6 which had a record breaking 4 million pre-orders within the first 24 hours, we can only hope the Apple Watch lives up to the same hype.

Smart watches are nothing new with big names such as Samsung and Sony dabbling in the market for the past few years but with Apple joining the game, it has everyone asking the question: what does this mean for the current watch industry?

Apple may have one of the largest fan bases in the world but how does that compare to the 250 year history of Vacheron Constantin or the internationally recognised crown motif of Rolex, let alone the name itself?

There is no denying Apple are one of the top companies at the forefront of technology but it’s a different type of science and art to the watch industry; as is the longevity of the product. Patek Philippe’s slogan ‘You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely take care of it for the next generation’ resonates across the Swiss watch industry. The timepieces that are created are designed for long-term use – a stark contrast to the yearly updates of Apple’s products. Since 2007 with the launch of the first generation iPhone, 10 models have been released and yet only 4 are still in production with rumors are already abuzz about the next model a mere 5 month after the iPhone 6 launch.

Only time will tell what the impact of not only the Apple watch but other smartwatches will have on the Swiss watch industry but so far there is little to worry about.

The Apple Watch Sport is the cheapest of the three collections with price points starting from £299 whereas the Apple Watch Edition, set in 18k gold can set you back up to £8,000. Pre-orders start on 10^th April and the Apple Watch is released globally on 24^th April.