No, because the achievement, the mastery behind it is not obliterated in the next few years, by the upcoming iterations of newer smartwatches.
Smartwatches, Phones, (most) Cars, TVs, ... all of these are mass produced, and as such completely obsolete in a few years, even if they are sold as "premium" products for a month's salary.
Unique, manufactured Design pieces are... timeless. It's a piece of art. And I say this without any inclination to ever join that market.
> No, because the achievement, the mastery behind it is not obliterated in the next few years, by the upcoming iterations of newer smartwatches.
Just like a Casio F-91W, or the $50 mechanical Swatch.
> It's a piece of art
Yes, that's the only argument really, it's a good looking wearable piece of art. It won't last longer than a waterproof gshock, it isn't more precise than a $5 quartz watch, &c.
> No, because the achievement, the mastery behind it is not obliterated in the next few years, by the upcoming iterations of newer smartwatches.
That's just another way of saying that there is no real innovation in end user benefits in mechanical watches. The marketing is all about how difficult they were to make.
Look at the functionality that the watch described in the article has to offer:
* It can show the date (with squiggly hands, for some unfathomable reason). It probably can even account for different lengths of months, and leap years (I was flabbergasted when I learned that there are watches being sold today for hundreds or thousands who require a manual adjustment at the end of every month that doesn't have 31 days).
* It can show the phase of the moon. Awesome if you're a werewolf running a hedge fund, I guess. It has a ton of other astrological indicators (Zodiac signs, etc.)
* It can chime every hour (presumably to remind the people around you that you exist and wear an overpriced watch).
* It works as a chronograph.
That's it, as far as I can tell. Nothing a $10 watch on Aliexpress could not do. It does not even seem to have an alarm, apparently. You get three actually useful functions (time — inaccurately, date, chrono) in a package that is 15mm thick.
No payment functionality, step counter, agenda, calculator.
But yes, you have a $100K or whatever watch that you can leave to your great-grandchildren so they can be assured that prior generations overpaid for gimmicky crap as well.
The end user benefits are none of the things you mentioned. Mechanical watches are jewelry. They look nice, and hopefully they remind you of something. For many people it's a connection to something cool. Omega sells a lot of moon watches, and it's not because anyone buying them is going to use the chronograph to time a fuel burn with life or death stakes. You're probably not wearing your Daytona at the race track or using your Longines watch for anything Amelia Earhart or Howard Hughes did. But it's fun to think about how you have a tool with a historical connection - whether that is to history everyone knows, or something more personal to you.
A $2 print of a picture from the internet serves the same purpose, and provides the same functionality, as a $1,000 piece of art, or a $1,000,000 piece of art. The value isn't in the raw functionality it provides.
I was flabbergasted when I learned that there are watches being sold today for hundreds or thousands who require a manual adjustment at the end of every month that doesn't have 31 days
Watchmakers deserve more appreciation for how hard it is to track months/years mechanically in a package small enough to fit on your wrist! It's a lot of expectation for watch in the hundreds of dollars.
Smartwatches, Phones, (most) Cars, TVs, ... all of these are mass produced, and as such completely obsolete in a few years, even if they are sold as "premium" products for a month's salary.
Unique, manufactured Design pieces are... timeless. It's a piece of art. And I say this without any inclination to ever join that market.