Posted on 08/14/2015 7:16:12 PM PDT by Swordmaker
No, I am not a renowned tech journalist, nor a 50,000+ followers Twitter guru or an extreme sports fitness expert. I am just a regular sales guy, happily married and blessed with two daughters of 7 weeks and 3 years old. And just so you can put this article into perspective: besides being a father of two young children, I am a business man so I constantly receive some form of communications during the day which I usually answer from either my desk or my car (handsfree of course). I am not into sports (does golf or brisk walking count?) so my fitness goals are not very ambitious. At home I use the entire Apple ecosystem, and … I happen to be a Swiss watch collector.
Starting with the latter: I am the proud owner of a duo of beautiful Swiss handmade mechanical watches. I have the renowned workhorse Rolex 16600 Sea Dweller (40 mm 2008 model, made of high grade 904L stainless steel), that can take you anywhere to 4000 feet below sealevel. And on the other side of the ‘Swiss Made’ spectrum: a beautiful and complex dress watch: my Christiaan van der Klaauw 40mm Ariadne watch with several astronomical complications including a day- and month date, a Moon Phase and a mechanical chronograph function: beautifully handcrafted by the first watchmaker ever to incorporate a full Planetarium into a 40mm size watch. (On a side note: this is strictly speaking not a Swiss Made watch because it is not fully assembled in Switzerland. It does, however, contain a Swiss Made ETA Valjoux 7751 movement so I count this as a Swiss watch.) Both of them are high end automatic watches, meaning that they will provide their own power by simply wearing the watch. They will run for 40 hours after lying still, so not wearing it will require a watchwinder or hand winding.
The ‘wrist time’ is devided between them: Rolex gets the lion’s share of about 6 days a week, used for anything from giving my 3-year old girl a bath (“daddy, can I clean your watch?”) to heavy gardening and home improvement. It collects dust yes, so rinse frequently. Christiaan van der Klaauw: about 2 times a month for Very Special Occasions (it is bi-coloured with a 18 carat gold lunette and stainless steel casing). Including the ones where you strictly are not allowed to wear a watch because of the etiquette (black tie requires a tuxedo which leads into a timeless evening … so no wristwatch allowed).
If one owns two of the most beautiful and iconic watches ever created by man, why would one take interest in an Apple Watch? Living in The Netherlands, I had the privilige of pondering this question between April 24th (launch in de US) and July 17th (launch in The Netherlands). After several weeks of meticulously reading all MDN reviews of the Apple Watch I was absolutely convinced I was no early adopter and I would wait for Apple Watch 2. That would definately bring me more functionalities, renewed design, higher speed (native apps) and an hopefully technological advancements with more versatile sensors.
Until I ran into the perfect opportunity of purchasing the watch below retail price (hey, I am still Dutch after all ;-)). I picked up the Sports version in Space Grey series 7000 aluminum, because I love the colour of this material and I figured the financial impact would be less then if I would purchase one of the stainless steel versions (the Space Black with Link bracelet would be my favorite choice). So there was no risk whatsoever for me to try it on and give it a shot. And boy, was I in for a treat …
Yesterday, on Day 21 After Purchase, I considered for the first time in 21 days to change my watch. I put on my Rolex, had breakfast with my girls, and before getting into my car, ran upstairs to change watches in favour of the Apple Watch. … Say what?! … I was genually flabbergasted… how on earth could I let down my companion-for-years-Rolex in favour of a watch that I had used for just three weeks? What did Tim Cook and his team cook up that was so enticing and all-consuming, even measured by industry standards and market leaders? Well, here’s the secret…
The Apple Watch is not a timepiece jewel like my other high end Swiss watches are. It is unfair for both to even consider comparing them or to compete against each other. Just like an old wind-up alarm clock and a Macbook both tell time, they are nowhere even close to being the same device. The only thing the Apple Watch and my Swiss Duo have in common, and that may prove to be kind of a thing: they compete for the same wrist time! As it turns out, I have more need for a Personal Life Assistant (PLA) on my wrist than just a watch, even such beautiful and reliable ones as my Swiss watches. And Apple cleverly designed the Watch in a way that your wrist just happens to be the best place for their ‘most personal device yet’. And why? What is the ‘killer app’? Well for me, there is none specific. Just like it has been written a lot on MDN, the Watch is a well thought-of combination of features you will need in your personal life.
Being able to read my WhatsApps, emails and imessages without having to adress my iPhone 6/Plus is probably the best one. Heck, that sure saves time and battery life! And Siri is just so well developed that responding to messages has never been easier.
Second best for me is the Activity App. I never thought that such simple reminders to stand up every hour, or being rewarded for achieving my daily calorie goals were so engaging. Even if the calorie count would not be quite accurate, it matters not: it is still fun and rewarding to move more!
Every other great function the Watch offers is at a combined third place. Photos from my youngest to show directly from my wrist? Great! Feeling awkward when reenacting a scene from Knight Rider when I take a phone call from my wrist at the mall? Who cares! The surprisingly fun features just kept coming these last few weeks and I still love them. And last but not least: telling time. Yes the Watch Faces are distincively Apple and I just love how Apple combines a nice Face with practical information, top of the list being able to see my next appointment in a glance.
So now what? How about The Duo? At least there must be SOME practical advantage they have over the Apple Watch? To quote our beloved Steve Jobs when adressing a stylus in the first iPhone presentation in 2007: “ … No!”.
Water resistance? Surely the Rolex will outperform the Watch? … Yes of course it does, when you go swimming or scuba diving. But for every day use I just keep on my Watch for everything I do. So by now my 3-year old has washed it almost daily (yes, fully submerged for at least 5 minutes) and I wear it every day in the shower… Dry off carefully and you are ready to go!
The battery life then? Surely an automatic watch will outlast the Apple Watch? Sure it does, but at times I do not need it. For me it does not matter that my watch keeps running when I am asleep, as long as it is ready to go when I get up. So I put on my Watch at 06:00 hrs, I put it on its charger at 23:00 hrs after medium to heavy use during the day, and it still has an average of 35% battery life left!
It is lonely at the top. By now I managed to flick a switch in my head: my beloved Swiss Watches will remain the most beautiful jewelry and the best handcrafted mechanical watches in the world, and I will regard and wear them as such with pride. But my Apple Watch with its excellent mix of build quality, design, reliability and functionality has managed to take up at least 80% of my wrist time in less then a month, and it will likely continue to do so for many more months to come. A remarkable achievement.
Thing is I won’t be reading email on this one, and it would look Soooo good on my wrist.
Sorry, I’ve got a bit of a weird fetish for watches for a dude.
The one I’ve always wanted was the gold Rolex. That’s only what, $50-60 thousand?
Yeah, Santa’s bringing me one of those real soon! :)
$6000 watch?
Good grief.
Got mine at Walmart for $12.50. Keeps accurate time. Has both the date and the day of the week.
$6000 watch. Ridiculous.
Why did you buy it in the first place? To brag about your fancy Swiss watches? I have a Timex. Can I brag about that?
If it’s still ticking, why, yes.
Well, good. I had a fake Rolex once. It cost me $10, and when I looked at the name with a magnifying glass, it said “ROLEK”. It ran for a few weeks, and I had fun showing it off.
Them Roleks, they can't take nothin', eh?
Not even a test of time limited to little more than a few weeks.
The only thing they have over Timex could be they can be "shown off" (for a laugh)?
On second thought, if a guy did it just right, he could "show off" his Timex, for a laugh, and maybe still be able tell the time accurately enough while he was at it.
Sign me up when they make one, that when I push a button, all the rest of the traffic suddenly moves itself over to either side of the road to let me through, if we are talking Dick Tracy here.
It would be easier than the other plan I've been working on; to make a road a mile or so in diameter, like a giant wheel that would roll over anything and everything.
I'd stay at the bottom inside curve of the road-wheel, tooling along in my Plymouth or Oldsmobile, while the road-wheel turned beneath my own, smallish in comparison motor vehicle.
"Look out below" (the road-wheel) would be the shout-out to all those poor and pitiful little peoples who are down there on the ground which I'd be aiming to roll over, though.
No stop signs, no speeding tickets for me...
You own swiss watch for its craftsmanship dependability and exclusivity.
Tard...
Some people can afford them. Some people can afford watches that retail for $150,000. So what? Others buy $12.50 junk from Walmart. . . and they look like $12.50 pieces of junk for Walmart. I can afford to buy watches that I like. . . and i've reached a time in life that I can splurge if I like. I wear a 15 1/2 carat diamond ring. . . what skin is it off your nose? My girlfriend has even more jewelry than that . . .and even more expensive watches, but she's wearing the Apple Watch, too.
You are making the mistake that others have made which the author of this piece is pointing out. . . that the Apple Watch is NOT just a watch, not just a piece of jewelry that elegantly keeps time like his $6000 Swiss watches did. It offers him so much more that it more than makes up for the benefit of wearing a luxury piece of jewelry. In fact, Ben, he did not even buy the more elegant version of the Apple Watch he was wanting, the Space Black Stainless Steel with black metal link bracelet, but only the Apple Watch Sport with the rubber like strap. . . yet he reaches for that Sport Apple Watch, even going back and exchanging his $6000 Rolex for it when he started out with the Rolex because the Apple Watch offers more functionality he USES beyond telling time.
The Rolex's function is the same as your $12.50 Walmart junker. . . but the Apple Watch is not a time piece, it's a wrist mounted computer that happens to have an app that tells time.
My girlfriend and I made a very substantial post to the Freeper in question. . . You did not. You insulted her. . . and then you denigrated her by questioning who "Ellie" her dog was. . . as though you had not paid any attention at all to her. . . and then told her you hated dogs. I know she laughed. . . but that's the nervous laughter at a lout. Others were aghast at your boorish behavior as well. . .
Thanks.
Are you operating under the misunderstanding that I wrote this article? I did not write it. This was some guy in the Netherlands with two little daughters in elementary school. I do have two daughters, but my youngest is 37. What gave you THAT idea?
There seem to be plenty of people on this thread who love to brag about their under $10 watches, so go right ahead and brag about your Timex. . . but the Apple Watch is not just a clock on one's wrist, and people who argue that don't understand what they are arguing about. They are not even in the same league. As the author of the article pointed out:
"Just like an old wind-up alarm clock and a Macbook both tell time, they are nowhere even close to being the same device. The only thing the Apple Watch and my Swiss Duo have in common, and that may prove to be kind of a thing: they compete for the same wrist time! As it turns out, I have more need for a Personal Life Assistant (PLA) on my wrist than just a watch, even such beautiful and reliable ones as my Swiss watches. "
Maybe I was thinking of Fearless Fosdick...
I saw one at a garage sale once. . . it was as heavy as a Rolex. . . but looking closely at the name and it said : KOLEX. . . with VERY heavy serifs on the top of the K! LOL!
If he doesn't have a one inch hole through his head, he ain't Fearless Fosdick. . .
You know, after reading your silly mails and this response in uninhibited malice by character assassination- I truly hope you get everything you are seeking, in every way.
It’s merely a flesh wound.
Maybe I was too.
;’)
The only character assassin on this thread and the other thread is you, RedHeeler. . . and you even resorted to sending me FreepMail to continue it. You are quite a piece of work to suggest I lacked a soul in your first ever post to me that I can recall on this thread or on FreeRepublic that I can recall.
Why did you feel it necessary to attack me? Are you that bereft of civility that you get your kicks out of insulting people? You are a rude and condescending SOB. . . and you were rude and condescending and unfeeling in the other thread as well where a fellow Freeper was drowning, seeking help, and you callously tossed her an anchor. . . when everyone else was trying to help and give her support.
Frankly, for that act, in my opinion, you are not much of a human being. Perhaps, someday, when you are down in the dumps and YOU want some help, someone will do the same to you as you did to her. . . asshat.
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