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Feel like I would get obliterated in r/Watches if I asked there, so asking here.
A bit about me: Early 30s. Reading up a little more on the watch / horology hobby lately and trying to see if I can get interested in it. Never really wore a watch before the Apple Watch came out in 2015 and since then I've had one on my wrist daily. Am currently on my 3rd watch, but only because I dropped the 2 before by accident, and have had this one since 2019.
I absolutely love the Apple Watch. Granted I am deep in the Apple ecosystem, but it's more so because of the versatility of the device. They also go for <$1k. On the other hand, all of the traditional watches that exist can run well into the $10k and $100k range or even $1M depending on the item - and I don't really get why. They can't really do anything beyond tell the time and date/day. The table below compares some dimensions of each watch type:
| Smartwatch | Traditional watch | |
|---|---|---|
| Time | Yes | Yes |
| Date | Day of week, Day, Month, Year | Day of week, Day, Month (maybe) |
| Re-energizing | Charge (passively) | Battery replacement, manual rewind, or charge while actively wearing |
| Physical activity metrics | Yes | No |
| Health tracking | Yes | No |
| Common watch functionalities | Very accurate stopwatch (chronometer) with countdown timer ability; water resistance with pressure readings during diving; see many other timezones automatically | Accurate chronometer but no countdown; water resistance during dives but no real-time pressure reading; GMTs can see another timezone but you manually set (world clocks do exist) |
| Additional complications | Any app you have that supports a complication: local weather, smart home devices, travel itineraries, reminders, credit card balance, etc | N/A |
| Style | Many watch faces, can pick the right one for you or what the situation requires | You have the watch you have. If you want another face, get another watch |
| Value | Fast depreciation, planned obsolescence | Slow depreciation, also possible to keep value or even go up in certain cases |
| Longevity | Several years at best | Lifetime with proper TLC |
| Maintenance | Battery replacement (<$100) if not replacing watch altogether ($few $100s) | Regular maintenance and servicing, price varies by model |
Aside from value and longevity, I don't see why you wouldn't want all those functions. Watch enthusiasts love to talk about the intricate mechanical engineering that goes into these watches, and also the precious metals that are needed, but I find those to be moot points when digital smartwatches do the same things better and more with less. Those watches were marvels at their time because they utilized the most of what technology had to offer at the time. Nowadays, what our technology offers is very different, but it seems like watch enthusiasts are stuck in the past and trying to ignore the fact that so much more is capable.
It's like comparing a typewriter to a computer and keyboard - you can create a typewriter of solid gold with lubricated gears so that each keystroke is smooth as butter, but at the end of the day I can have a machine that gets the job done (and many many other jobs) in a better way. Computers have rendered typewriters obsolete - why doesn't the same happen for traditional watches? Similar analogy for horse & buggy to automobiles. Thoughts on what's keeping the traditional watch market afloat? I am very curious
TLDR - smartwatches do a lot more than traditional watches without requiring heavy involvement. Just like typewriters to computers or horse & buggy to cars, why haven't traditional watches been replaced more by smartwatches?
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