Apple Watch cannot displace the wristwatch status symbol

Despite digital watches, mechanical wristwatches are making a comeback.

This had sounded quite like the demise of the good old wristwatch. Apple once again drummed up a lot of support for a new product from their own company and declared the history of the wristwatch to be over. The Apple Watch* should turn the market upside down and dominate the wearer’s life in the future.

But just as former Chancellery Minister Pofalla took a running jump on his hasty mouth when he declared the NSA affair over, Apple now has to bake much smaller rolls with its Watch. Connoisseurs of the scene claim that the sales figures have dropped significantly after the initial hype, which, as always, was fueled by the media on all channels, typical for Apple, has died down. One indication that this assumption may be correct is the fact that Apple is conspicuously reticent about announcing new sales figures for the Apple Watch.

Comeback of the wristwatch

Many had foreseen it. A wristwatch is still a status symbol for many, mostly male, wearers. A digital watch made of plastic that becomes technically obsolete after a few years at the latest cannot take its place. Even fixed ideas, such as the Apple Watch made of gold for several thousand euros, do not help. A digital plastic watch will inevitably end up in the electronic scrap in the foreseeable future.

A mechanical wristwatch* is a valuable investment that should look as good as possible and retain its value over the years, if not even increase in value. An advertising slogan from a watch manufacturer sums it up quite well. Such a watch is not just for oneself, but for many generations to come, if the watch is inherited over and over again.

Functions important

Important in a wristwatch are of course the functions. But instead of many different digital dials or the measurement of heart rate, wearers of a mechanical watch attach more importance to such features as a manual winding, a date display, a stop function or a lunar calendar. Sporty pilot chronographs* are very popular.
The case and its shape and size is also crucial. Quite important, of course, the material from which the watch and the bracelet is made. Plastic wristbands are unthinkable in this environment. The cases are mostly made of stainless steel, but there are also models made of gold, carbon, bronze or ceramics. The more noble, the better.

Status symbol

Wearers of a high-quality wristwatch are getting younger and younger, as research shows. And although some 20 percent of today’s young people no longer wear a wristwatch at all, the vast remainder attach importance to a watch that indicates the status of the wearer. Men, in particular, invest in a watch that is quite expensive. After all, in their eyes, a watch is the only jewelry that men can wear safely. Watches with prices from 1.000 Euro to 3.000 euros are therefore not uncommon, worn by young men between 30 and 40 years old.
The older the men become, the more expensive are also the watch models that are worn. That behaves quite similarly as with the cars. Porsches are also driven much more frequently by men over the age of 50.

The mechanical wristwatch is a status symbol and an investment at the same time. A digital watch, no matter how expensive and made by Apple, will never be able to hold a candle to this watch.