Is Apple Watch the smartwatch the industry has been waiting for?

OPINION_Last night Apple unveiled it first smartwatch to the world, along with a new iPhone 6, 6 plus and a new mobile payment system, Apple Pay. Tim Cook, chief executive officer at the Californian tech-company believes the new product will “redefine what people expect from a watch.”

With its new smartwatch Apple has entered the wearable technology realm, but will the tech company be able to succeed in blending the boundaries between design, function and fashion together and convince consumers that they need a new gadget in their daily lives?

“We thought of not only the function, but what it looks like,” explained Cook, as he showed off the the Apple Watch during the company's keynote presentation on Tuesday night. In order to successfully break into the wearable market and surpass its competitors like Samsung, LG and Motorola, who have already launched smart watches, Apple needed to create a product that was not only aesthetically pleasing to its wearer, but also enhanced and added new technologically functions to its wearers life. Unlike an iPhone or an iPad, the smartwatch needed to be a small personal accessory, which is intended to be worn on the body. Therefore it needed to be versatile enough to suit different tastes and individual styles, as well as satisfy its users technological preferences. So how does Apple's smartwatch brings these aspects together?

Apple firstly responded to the challenge by developing two different sizes for its smartwatch, 38 mm and 42 mm and then dividing its styles into three different lines.“We’ve curated Apple Watch into three collections that consider personal style and taste.” Each collection offers a distinct body for the smartwatch, as well as selected wristbands in different materials, design choices that appeal to the style conscious consumer. The first collection is the Apple Watch Sport, available in anodized aluminum cases in silver or space gray with colorful, yet durable rubber bands. Then there is is Apple Watch collection, which features stainless-steel cases and a range of wristbands, such as the classic leather, link bracelet and milanese loop. And finally there is Apple Watch Edition, the most exclusive of all, which is available in a 18-karat gold cases in yellow or rose, in six different band styles.

Apple turns to the fashion industry for support on its Apple Watch

Fashion editors and reporters have been quick to comment on the Apple Watch's first appearance, as the coveted tech company seems to be courting industry ahead of its move into the wearable technology arena and invited a number of industry experts to its event for the first time. “It confirms that they want to appeal to the fashion world, and not just technology consumers,” commented Lauren Indvik, editor in chief for Fashionista. “It’s an introduction with a good bit of fashion flair, one higher-end version features rose gold detailing, that marks Apple’s official arrival on the fashion scene,” added Rachel Strugatz from WWD. Veteran fashion reporter Vanessa Friedman compared its appearance to other smartwatches revealed during New York Fashion Week: “The two other wearable devices introduced this week at New York Fashion Week – the Samsung Galaxy S and the Intel/Opening Ceremony MICA – look like big bangles in comparison [to Apple Watch]: they have much larger rectangular curved screens embedded in hard plastic, or snakeskin-covered plastic, bands.”

However, Apple has gone further than just ensuring its watch wristbands can change with as the fashion seasons do. The tech company has also developed it smartwatch so that its users can personalize its home interface as well as its body. There are hundreds of watch interfaces users can choose from, so that the watch face reflects their personal style and taste. “Apple Watch is the most personal device we’ve ever created,” exclaimed Cook. International editor for Vogue, Suzy Menkes, who was one of the many fashion industry insiders invited to attend Apple's keynote noted: “Apple's credo is - and has been since the global success of its smartphones - to make technology personal. For Jony Ive's team,[senior vice president of Design at Apple] the ticking heart of this timepiece is that it is not purely functional, but becomes part of each person's identity. Their hope is that an entire generation of under-thirties who abandoned the wristwatch will take up the smart bracelet challenge.”

The tech company's extended invitation to the fashion industry signals the ongoing relationship between the two industries. Apple is aware that in order to market it's smartwatch as the stylish, must have personal accessory of the moment to its consumers, it also needs the support of the fashion industry's key players. But Menkes is still unsure of its future success: “I still don't know whether the fashion world will embrace this smartest of watches, or whether a new generation that has its phone as a timepiece will find the wristbands compelling.” So in order to help convince this generation that this smartwatch is a fashionable must have for next spring, Apple embedded a number of new functions into its watch which are aimed to connect with its audience.

One of these functions is ensuring that the watch's face is always visible. Ive and his design team created a digital crown to act as navigation guide through the watches many apps. With the increasing trend towards social connectivity prominent, as well as improving fitness and health, and easing mobile payments, Apple tapped into these areas to develop new technologically capabilities for its smart watch. Users are able to send customized emoijcons, notes and even their heartbeat to other Apple Watches with the tap of a finger, a first for a smartwatch. Apple Watch also comes with two apps that offer a complete over view of its users health and fitness. Another new function the smartwatch offers is a mobile payment system, using Apple Pay. The tech company revealed its vision was to replace another personal fashion accessory – the wallet – with its mobile payment system, which works using near-field communication. Apple reportedly already has a number of retailers and banks on board who will offer Apple Pay, including Visa and MasterCard, Nike, Bloomingdale's and Macy's.

With all these new functions mixed with fashionable customization aspects, the Californian-based tech company, who has been working on their smartwatch for three years, seems confident that its smartwatch will become a leader in the wearables field, much like its counterparts the iPhone and iPad. However, until the smartwatch goes on sale it remains to be seen whether Apple's market and sleek design appeal is sufficient to break into the market. “Not until this watch, its function embedded within the smartphone, goes on sale in early 2015 will Jony and his team know whether their minutely studied gamble will pay off,” points out Menkes.

Fashion insiders expecting more than 'neutral external aesthetics' from Apple

Despite the Apple Watch's shiny appeal, fashion insiders remain unsure of whether smartwatch will achieve its desired impact, despite its technologically capabilities. “It doesn’t make you reimagine the whole concept of how a watch you might wear everyday should look,” argues Friedman. “It makes you reimagine what a watch that you might wear everyday should do. That’s a meaningful distinction...the shocking thing, the innovative thing, about the Apple Watch is that it can look as normal as it does while doing all the things it does. So, while it may indeed change behavior, and may indeed threaten some in Switzerland, I don’t think Patek Philippe should be shivering in its boots."

"Of course, the Apple Watch will start at 349 dollars when it goes on sale next year, and even presuming that the rose-gold version will cost a whole lot more, it probably won’t reach the Patek pricing league. Apple isn’t saying.” Menkes adds: "The timepiece itself offers myriad visual possibilities, so in London your screen may show the sun rising and setting over Big Ben while in Bali it rises and sets over an idyllic beach. It has synthesised sound, sports functions, medical apps that help you keep healthy and, for the first time in the smart gadget world, style and self-expression are built into the functions... [but] from a fashion point of view, the external aesthetic seemed neutral: neither super-stylish nor repellent. I would imagine that geeks would love it more than aesthetes."

Gadi Amit, from New Deal Design, which designed the Fitbit and Lytro, seems rather disappointed with the physical aesthetics of the Apple Watch. In an interview with Fastcodesign, Amit said: “As far as just the physical design is concerned, I'm not convinced it's a clear winner. It's possibly not even the leader. I think many companies breathed a sigh of relief when the Apple Watch was unveiled. All those stories about rounded displays, exotic glasses, liquid metal housings, and superior sensors were overblown. The Apple Watch is a very good, extremely well-crafted object, and it's one of the leaders of the smartwatch category. But for Apple to be merely among the leaders, is not what I had expected.”