Ornatus-Mundi[Zenith]
7136
Happy April fool's day!!!! - but PARTLY true!
Apr 01, 2014,11:27 AM
as many have guessed - this was a hoax. But not entirely: some of the 'facts' I presented were fiction (Kari Voutilainen, Thomas Prescher), but other facts stay true:
- of course Vianney Halter produced quartz watches under his 'HTO' brand
- the workshop I mentioned on smart watches will take place
- Paul Gerber is indeed on to 'something', the images are true, and I will reveal the matter at the 'right' time!
In general, I wanted to make my audience aware of the difficult situation watchmaking might find itself in a foreseeable future: on the one hand the communal industry is catching up in terms of being creative and offering in-house solutions, and on the other hand wearables are soon to be an issue.
The signs are in the wall: without any urgent need, several industry executives gave interviews very recently (and magically coinciding) on smart watches. Nick Hayek for example claims that such pieces are no threat at all, since (i) they were first (with the spectacular failure of the Microsoft-partnered 'internet time' Swatches) and (ii) they think that the multimedia conglomerates like Google, Apple, Samsung etc. will not solve battery issues in due time. Jean-Claude Biver on the other hand mentions that the just listed players tired to lure key employees of LVMH to assist the companies in creating high end smart watches, but none of the targeted individuals succumbed to the allure of Silicon Valley.
I think the message is clear: the industry indeed sees a danger in the upcoming slush of devices (particularly after Apple taught the industry how to get it right ;-)), and they indeed recognise that their highly profitable luxury watch segment is indeed a target for smart watches.
This BaselWorld additionally did not sent the right signals to counter the fears: what the gib ones presented was mostly 'playing safe': small improvements, reference to historical models. No wonder they have to react!
Cheers and thank you so much for reading my opus!
Magnus