Swiss makers coming up with smartwatches

TO OBSERVERS of the secretive Swiss watch industry, its quiet, seemingly passive response to Apple’s plan to attack their centuries-old business could be mistaken for submission before an overwhelming adversary.

But luxury and fashion groups Richemont, LVMH, Swatch Group and Guess have been busy in the past year tinkering with smartwatches of their own, while aiming to preserve their products’ more timeless appeal.

When Apple Watch was first announced last September, some experts dismissed such devices as appealing to a different class of customer – those who prize technology over prestige.

Now analysts and industry executives are starting to think that maybe the Apple Watch juggernaut will stoke sales of luxury timepieces among younger consumers used to telling the time with their phones, rather than on their wrists.

“Apple has the potential to make the watch cool again,” said CCS Insight mobile analyst Ben Wood, a confessed wearable gadget freak. “I think the Swiss watch industry is going to be delighted.”

Swatch – which has dabbled with smartwatch experiments for more than a decade and already makes components for fitness band wearable devices, has told Swiss newspapers it was gearing up to offer smartwatches of its own in the next few months.

“Apple is not the only company which is about to toss a smartwatch on the market,” Nick Hayek, the chief executive of Swatch, the world’s largest watchmaking group, told SonntagsBlick in January. “This is not a threat but a huge opportunity for us and the industry.”

On Monday, Apple revealed that its line-up of watches would go on sale in April. The entry-level Apple Watch Sport will start at $349 (R4 260), the standard version at $549 and the high-end “Edition” watch at $10 000.

The upcoming Swatch smartwatch would include a chip that allowed users to make contactless payments with a swipe of the wrist. It would use long-lasting batteries and work with both Apple and Google-based phones, according to news reports.

While the Apple Watch has drawn rave reviews for many of its features, its limited battery life of no more than 18 hours before re-charging is considered a big drawback. The threat of the smartwatch may also be limited due to its short shelf life as a hi-tech, frequently upgraded product.

Montblanc, owned by Richemont, announced in January the launch of the Time-Walker Urban Speed e-strap watch.

LVMH has partnered with an as-yet-undisclosed US tech company to produce a watch outside Switzerland.

Guess has also announced plans to launch a smartwatch line called Guess Connect later this year.