Apple Watch - do you consider it a "real" watch?
The Apple Watch has been one of the most talked-about gadgets in recent years. While it has gained a massive following among tech enthusiasts, watch enthusiasts have been somewhat skeptical about its place in the watch market. Some consider it to be just another tech gimmick, while others believe that it can be considered a real watch.
On one hand, the Apple Watch offers features that traditional watches simply can't match. It has health and fitness tracking capabilities, can make calls and send messages, and even stream music. Its digital interface also allows for customization, with a wide range of watch faces and interchangeable bands (here we have it on our Two-Stitch Diablo Orange). This makes it a versatile accessory that can be worn in different settings.
On the other hand, some argue that the Apple Watch lacks the timeless appeal and craftsmanship of traditional watches. It relies on technology that will inevitably become outdated, whereas a mechanical watch can last for generations. The Apple Watch also lacks the intricate mechanics and intricate design elements that many watch enthusiasts appreciate.
So, can the Apple Watch be considered a real watch? The answer to this question ultimately depends on one's definition of a watch. If we consider a watch to be a timekeeping device that can be worn on the wrist, then the Apple Watch certainly qualifies. However, if we view a watch as a piece of art and craftsmanship, then the Apple Watch falls short.
I would like to hear your thoughts in the comments!
We take pride in handcrafting our watch straps from the finest quality leather. Our strap manufacturing process is highly time-consuming, and each strap is meticulously handled with great care and att...
If I strap a microwave with a integrated clock on my wrist, would it count as "real" watch? 🙂
I would talk about a watch if "it's main purpose is to tell time". And in regards to smartwatches I see the connectivity as theier main functionalities.
Yes, I do consider it a 'real' watch. What is a real watch anyways? I love digital watches and I'm not a gatekeeper type of guy. Does it tell the time? Yes, then it's a real watch. In fact, it keeps far better time than any mechanical watch. And if we agree that horology is the science of keeping time, then the AppleWatch is doing great!
The truth is smartwatches are the tool watches of our generation. Watches that are made to perform certain functions, used hard, and then replaced. The health metrics are incredibly useful!
In fact, if anything is going to save watch wearing among the general public, then it's smartwatches. Most times, I don't see a watch on people's wrist. And if it's there, it 99% of the time the AppleWatch.
We need to get over this thing about only mechanical watches being worthy of our consideration.
This question has often been raises here and attracts loads of comments with well reasoned arguments both supporting and not supporting the real watch argument.
I fall in the latter. No it is not a real watch. It is an advanced piece of connected technology with built in obsolescence. For me it is not a real watch.
Seems like every quarter we have this discussion…. Lol @thekris
https://www.watchcrunch.com/thekris/posts/the-apple-watch-isn-t-a-watch-15275
Apple Watch is a must have when you order your avocado toast with an oat milk chai latte. For everyone else who are into mechanical/quartz watches it's all about the appreciation of art, engineering, attention to detail and the love of horology. My iPhone is distracting as is, I don't need another device to distract me all day and night.
I do not. I would classify it as a wrist computer.
If it counts time on a wall or free standing ie grandfather, microwave it's a clock.
If it counts time and it's on a wrist or on your body ie pocket watch it's a watch.
All the rest is all subjective such as art, mechanical or quartz pieces.
Enjoy your clock or watch and your own personal interpretation of your time pieces.
Cheers!
The real question is how do you fasten the NATO strap on a homage Apple watch when you are wearing it with a blue suit?
For me personally, telling the time is a secondary function of a smart watch. Any smart watch. They are designed first and foremost to monitor you. To track your movements, your health, your location and your purchasing habits. This data is then sold to companies for advertising purposes or much worse, to insurance companies etc. They are not watches, they are watchers.
Yes smart watches have a watch feature in it's software lol
Cheers!
As @Guvnor64 said, this question has been discussed quite a bit and answers on both sides abound.
For me, if it tells time and fits appropriately on one's wrist, it's a watch. From there, one can make further distinctions, such as mechanical, quartz or smart.
This comes up all the time. One thing I noticed with my Apple Watch is that virtually every "screen" on it shows the time (only input screens lack it), so Apple clearly understands that time is a priority function. I also like that it is introducing entire generations to 1) wearing a watch, 2) different watch dials (chrono, GMT, etc.), 3) various strap/bracelet options, and 4) "complications" on a watch dial.
Yes, my Apple Watch Series 1 (introduced in 2015?) has a limited lifespan, but it isn't as short as some make it out to be. Last month, the ancient battery finally swelled and popped the screen off. I ordered a $16 kit (battery with tools/adhesive) and it has a new lease on life, tracking my workouts and sleep for a few more years (I hope).
Much of the "smart" functionality is tied to a radio connection with an iPhone, but on its own (after an initial setup with an iPhone, like I did 8 years ago), it is still a (touchscreen) digital watch with a super-complex circuit board and a harder-to-find battery... and Wi-Fi time sync (similar in function to my Casio G-Shock GW-M5610U, that nobody alleges "isn't a watch").
It’s a watch. An evolution from various digital wonders of the eighties at the very least. Otherwise you have to start wondering where the line is drawn and watches stopped being watches — was it with chronographs, as that isn’t about time of day or the tracking of the earths rotation in a meaningful way? Was it ones that have alarms? Electronic ones? LCD displays? Calculators, pulsometres, databanks, television remote controls? Step counters? Compasses, Altimeters, small amusing cartoon characters, photographs of loved ones, flowers than open and close? You know — all the things that are now in one watch device rather than in various.
I find having to charge an Apple Watch daily annoying, and I don’t think I like it much or could use it as my only watch (what if I was away from power for ages? Fell in a lake or the ocean? What if I was shipwrecked? I mean… it could happen… ) on a daily basis.
But then, I don’t like remembering to wind non-automatics, think anything less than 50m WR is having a laugh, and have long lost my inherited Pulsar LED bug watch — the battery on that was gone pretty bloody quick too, and way more fiddly than a USB charger.
So, we don’t have to like them, but at least when I pay for something with my Apple Watch I can still keep the watch having not traded it to a border guard or tossed it onto a pile of Poker Chips. At the end of the day not only is the Apple Watch a watch, but it even has it in the name.
Still don’t like it much.
Seems like every quarter we have this discussion…. Lol @thekris
https://www.watchcrunch.com/thekris/posts/the-apple-watch-isn-t-a-watch-15275
This.
If it tells time and it’s on your wrist, sure!
No. It's at best a hi-tech toy, an expensive gimmick, and a fad. I don't see the point of an Apple watch when I already have an iPhone, I have no use for one, and it needs charging about 20 times a day or something (so I've heard), so it's neither use nor ornament.
I 100% Agree with you ... They are not for me
Then again...I am a Casio G-Shock "Fanboy" ..I know these are not everyone's cup of tea either.
My take is a watch's main function is to tell time. The apple 'watch' main function is ... to receive notifications, quick access to mobile phone, heart beat monitor, and a host of other excellent functions which make it a mobile phone and fitness tracker on wrist.
It tells the time on your wrist, it's a watch
Can we have a separate area of Watchcrunch where we can put all the apple cultists?
So how many times do we need the same damn thread?
The Apple Watch is not my cup of tea... For the money, they cost to buy you can buy a much better watch for less money.
Give me a Casio G-Shock over an Apple Watch any day... IMO
Next time I synch my headphones to my Ultra, use my GPS or get some texts I'll remember you can do that on a Casio too. Wait.......
It's best described as a mini computer that can tell the time, among other things. I mean, would you call your iPhone a watch? Why not? It can tell the time, after all. You get my drift.
You could possibly call an iPhone a pocket watch. 🤣 -Just teasing- I actually agree with you. 😎
Next time I synch my headphones to my Ultra, use my GPS or get some texts I'll remember you can do that on a Casio too. Wait.......
Can we have a separate area of WatchCrunch where we can put all the Apple cultists?
But if you want to pay £400GBP for a watch that will be "Obsolete" in 2 Years ...Go ahead.
Fools and money soon parted springs to mind.
No, it's a wrist computer with built in obsolescence that uses 0.001% of its capability to display the time.
Design-wise it looks like a freebie out of a cornflake box or a giveaway with a happy meal, and no matter which of the hundreds of straps you pair it with it will never look good with a suit / evening dress / any other jewellery; it's a plastic wrist blob.
Can we have a separate area of WatchCrunch where we can put all the Apple cultists?
But if you want to pay £400GBP for a watch that will be "Obsolete" in 2 Years ...Go ahead.
Fools and money soon parted springs to mind.
My spouse buys me mine. She insists. Its like a cell phone or a computer. The technology is still moving very very fast. Mechanical watches are pretty stagnant in all but the most expensive circles. Even then, its a dead technology for hobbyists. Comparing an Apple watch One with a current device is like comparing a Fuseee watch to a Seiko automatic. You are one of those people who does not buy a new computer till the old one is too old to run any software. BTW, I own 43 watches (Tuning fork Accutrons and Mechanicals) and ONE Apple watch. As a watch, the Ultra is the best at doing what a watch does, but it will never make me smile like my Accutron Spaceview. For what a Daytona would cost me I can have a new titanium and Sapphire ultra every two years for the rest of my life and long after, its more durable, more useful and keeps perfect time.
No, it's a wrist computer with built in obsolescence that uses 0.001% of its capability to display the time.
Design-wise it looks like a freebie out of a cornflake box or a giveaway with a happy meal, and no matter which of the hundreds of straps you pair it with it will never look good with a suit / evening dress / any other jewellery; it's a plastic wrist blob.
Apple watches are aluminum and sapphire, (The SE excluded but still not plastic) the good ones are titanium and sapphire. Every time somebody starts in on "plastic" Apple watches I know they know nothing. There was a plastic lens on the back of the very first Apple watch. It was discontinued quickly, there has NEVER been a plastic Apple watch, not even the cheapjack SE.
Apple watches are aluminum and sapphire, (The SE excluded but still not plastic) the good ones are titanium and sapphire. Every time somebody starts in on "plastic" Apple watches I know they know nothing. There was a plastic lens on the back of the very first Apple watch. It was discontinued quickly, there has NEVER been a plastic Apple watch, not even the cheapjack SE.
No, I'm very aware of them, I think they outnumber watches by 4:1 in our office. Regardless of what they're cased in, they still look like plastic pebbles.
No, I'm very aware of them, I think they outnumber watches by 4:1 in our office. Regardless of what they're cased in, they still look like plastic pebbles.
This looks like a plastic pebble?
No, that's definitely a wrist computer.
Just thinking about watches and smart watches in the gym and have come up with the fundamental test for deciding whether it's a watch or not.
If you would consider posting it to #WRUW or not.