These feelings towards the Apple Watch and smartwatches in general reminds me of a period in my life – a time not so long ago – when "blog" was a four letter word, literally and figuratively, to the entire country of Switzerland. The idea that the World Wide Web was a tool through which some could communicate about luxury products was simply unthinkable – and if anyone did, then for sure no one would ever make a purchasing decision based on what a blogger might say, because nobody with any real money would be online! It's this same attitude that caused the Swiss to lose during the Quartz Crisis. And to be clear, they did – 97% of watches on this planet today are quartz (hat-tip Joe Thompson!).

When I see comments on our site and elsewhere saying that Apple will never dethrone Rolex as a watchmaker, I know they are surely right, when thinking about a timeless, mechanical watch that will last generations. But Apple has, by their own account, already sold more watches than Rolex by revenue in the past 12 months, and that means they've likely sold more in "watches" than pretty much everyone else, too. Yeah, it's a little silly to compare Apple to Rolex, but at the same time, how can you ignore a company that according to the widely read Ventrobel report, shipped 11.5 million smartwatches ($4.5 billion) in 2015. And that was 2015, before the Series 2 and well before the brand new Series 3 Watch. Oh, and about that slide at the top of the section and the one that ruffled more than a few feathers when Apple presented it during their keynote – Apple is comparing themselves to Rolex, Omega, and Cartier not in unit sales, where it surely would outpace these luxury players just by virtue of a far less expensive price point, but by revenue. That means more people are spending more money on Apple Watches than Rolex, Omega, or Cartier watches. Think about that.

Again, the Apple Watch isn't trying to eat the mechanical watch industry's lunch at all, and it certainly isn't looking to replace the mechanical watch as the emotional talisman that its become over the past few decades. The Apple Watch, whatever the series, is an entirely different thing. It's electronic, with a lifecycle that we've all come to know and expect from Apple and all other electronics companies. We replace our phones every few years, and the Apple Watch is a peripheral device to the phone, so it makes sense that we would see them roll out semi-regularly. Now, that's not to say some don't view the Apple Watch as direct competition to some watches, but like I said all the way back in 2014, high-end watches are safe, for now.