{"id":12059,"date":"2016-03-08T01:09:46","date_gmt":"2016-03-08T06:09:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thatdope.com\/style\/apple-smartwatch-will-be-waited-by-swiss-watchmakers\/"},"modified":"2016-03-08T01:09:46","modified_gmt":"2016-03-08T06:09:46","slug":"apple-smartwatch-will-be-waited-by-swiss-watchmakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thatdope.com\/style\/apple-smartwatch-will-be-waited-by-swiss-watchmakers\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple smartwatch will be waited by Swiss watchmakers"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n Swiss watchmakers are warily eyeing Apple\u2019s reported progress towards creating a \u201csmartwatch\u201d, but say they are not too worried about the tech goliath\u2019s likely incursion into their traditional turf.<\/p>\n The California-based company has so far been tight-lipped about its suspected plans to wrap some of its popular iPhone and iPad <\/a>capabilities into a wearable device that can be viewed at the flip of a wrist.<\/p>\n Industry observers have warned that the entry by Apple and other technology giants into the traditionally narrow watch-making field could revolutionise the market.<\/p>\n \u201cI think this will lead to a changing of the guard,\u201d said Jerome Bloch, who heads the men\u2019s fashion unit at Parisian style agency Nelly Rodi.<\/p>\n Smartwatches are expected to entice the so-called Generation Y, born into an increasingly tech-savvy world between 1980 and 2000.<\/p>\n And luxury goods lovers of all ages, who tend to be big tech consumers, will also likely be seduced, Rodi told AFP, insisting: \u201cThis will happen very fast.\u201d<\/p>\n Apple has already proven its ability to steamroll new markets, having first redefined music buying before upending the mobile telephony market.<\/p>\n But in the confines of the Swiss Alps, Apple\u2019s suspected ambitions have so far caused no panic.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be pretentious to think that this kind of watch would fail to compete with Swiss watches,\u201d said Jean-Claude Biver, the head of the luxury Swiss brand Hublot that belongs to French LVMH<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cBut they will in any case clearly not be competing with the high-end Swiss watches, which account for most of the exports,\u201d he told AFP.<\/p>\n According to Vontobel analyst Rene Weber, a full 87 percent of Swiss watch exports carry price tags of more than 1,000 Swiss francs ($1,050).<\/p>\n