Founder and CEO of Martenero John Tarantino sat down with The Verge to discuss his initial opinions about the Apple Watch.
Martenero is a mechanical watch company that is based in New York City that sells customizable watches for around $500. During the interview, The Verge asked Tarantino about his thoughts on how the Apple Watch may impact the mechanical watch market.
Both the Apple Watch and the mechanical watches Tarantino sells are roughly the same price. Right now, Tarantino does not consider the Apple Watch to be a threat to the traditional watch market. However, he said that the category is one that he will be paying close attention to, and it would be silly for him to ignore it.
Even though the price points on the watches are similar, Tarantino says that they appeal to a completely different set of people.
“If there’s a threat, it’s more to that — I’m picking an arbitrary number — 25-and-under crowd. People who maybe down the line would be interested in a mechanical watch, but they’re not there yet. If they get hooked on something like this early, that could mean potential trouble for the mechanical watch market.”
Tarantino believes that the 18-karat gold Apple Watch Edition will never have the same effect as a traditional gold timepiece, like the ones offered by Rolex and many other watchmakers. After a year when Apple comes out with a new generation of the device, he believes that the device will lose its timelessness. The original gold Apple Watch you bought years ago will not have the same effect as pulling out an older gold mechanical watch. The mechanical watch is timeless because the aesthetics and functionality never change.
The Verge also asked Tarantino if he will end up purchasing an Apple Watch. Here is his response:
“I probably am going to buy it. I am very curious. I probably will. I’ll probably wear it for a couple weeks and see. But I will not be buying the $10,000 Edition, and I’m fascinated to see who actually buys that.”
The Apple Watch went up for pre-order on Friday, April 10 and sold out within 6 hours. Estimated shipping times for the device have now been pushed back to June/July. Anyone can make an appointment to try on an Apple Watch at any Apple retail store location, whether you pre-ordered the device or not. The company has equipped their retail stores in nine countries with special hands-on tables designed specifically for the Apple Watch.
The Apple Watch will hit store shelves on April 24. The new wearable device from Apple will range in price from $350 (US) to $17,000 (US) and is the company’s first new major product category in five years. Be sure to read the entire interview with Tarantino from this link.
