Is there a need for luxury watch makers to worry about the imminent competition they face with the Apple Watch?

Apple has made it very clear that they have every intent to ‘disrupt’ the world’s watch market. They’re going to be joining the world of Cartier, Tag and Rolex, and they’re probably going to succeed.

As Apple enters the world of fashion, they bring along function, colour and choice.

“In a matter of months, it’s entirely possible that a $349 digital watch will be regarded in many precincts as cooler than a 18-karat diamond-studded Chopard Happy Sport Medium Watch, which costs $43,140.”

Whilst Apple has always focused on a niche market, with people buying into their “premium products”, the Apple Watch puts them into the well-saturated watch market.

At the reasonable price, though, it will be normal and affordable for people to buy an Apple Watch to add to their watch collections. And, with the choices of gold, aluminum and rose gold, the watches will look more like their luxury predecessors than as a gadget.

The Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry currently exports about $20 billion worth of watches annually. Let’s see if Apple comes close to that.

Check out The Daily Beast.