Apple Watch's Style Not Threatening Luxury Watchmakers

Apple's first-ever smartwatch isn't enough of a threat off of the bat to make luxury watchmakers sweat, The Wall Street Journal reports.

"It looks a little cold, and lacks, for my taste, a bit of personality," said Jean-Claude Biver, a Swiss watchmaker icon. "It looks perfect, but perfection sometimes has a lack of sexiness."

"This won't create another crisis for the Swiss watch industry," he added.

The Apple smartwatch, which starts at $349, will come in two sizes and three collections, allowing users to customize the device to their unique needs for function and style. The range of options, however, doesn't equate to one legitimate competitor, according to Jon Cox, head of European consumer equities at Kepler Cheuvreux.

"I think there's been a lot of focus on the whole threat of smartwatches, I think it's overdone. Owning a Swiss watch has always been much more than telling the time... I don't think this is (the) existential threat some people assume it is for the Swiss watch industry," said Cox.

An earlier Reuters report claimed that the impending threat of the Apple smartwatch may have contributed to poor first half numbers for Swatch.

Analyst Mario Ortelli at brokerage Bernstein said in a study at the time that he estimated about 23 percent of Swatch Group's sales and about 11 percent of its earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) could be put at risk by the Apple Watch. Revenue and EBIT could drop about 3 percent over the medium term, he said:

"The threat is wider than just from Apple and JP Morgan analysts said in a recent study that smartwatches in general could threaten about 30 percent of Swatch's sales, which amounted to 8.82 billion Swiss francs ($9.8 billion) last year."

What do you make of the Apple Watch? Do you view it as a stylish alternative to a luxury watch? Let us know what you think with a relevant comment.