How the Swiss watch industry is battling the smartwatch

With typical smugness, Apple showed how its Watch sat above Rolex, Fossil, Omega and Cartier Five months on, sales data from IDC claimed the Apple Watch had outsold the entire Swiss watch industry in the fourth quarter of 2017 Like the Tag Heuer, this watch has all the usual Wear OS trimmings, but puts its own luxurious stamp on it by including some Montblanc-designed watch faces.

Where Apple and other smartwatch makers employ their own unique strap attachments, Montblanc understands that luxury watch buyers want more than a handful of factory-made options, so the Summit has regular 22mm lugs for fitting any regular watch strap With prices starting at £3,000, this is still very much a luxury Swiss watch rather than a luxury smartwatch, but it is fascinating to see how a centuries-old industry is now willing to adopt and experiment with change Realising the smartness of a hybrid watch doesn't have to be located inside the watch case, Frederique Constant fits this strap with an accelerometer, Bluetooth chip and battery.

To delight mechanical watch fans, the Type 2 e-Crown enables the wearer to decide how time is kept. . Source