Luxury watchmaker H. Moser & Cie has launched its latest watch called the Swiss Alp Watch, which has a premium price tag of about $25,000 and bears a close resemblance to the Apple Watch.
The emergence of smartwatches has definitely affected the sales of traditional watchmakers. Companies such as Apple, Samsung, LG, Sony and more have a number of smartwatches that appeal to a vast number of watch lovers.
Some traditional watchmakers such as Casio are developing smartwatches, but many others are sticking to developing regular wrist watches, and Swiss company H. Moser & Cie is one of them. Rather than following the trend of electronic watchmaking, the company is still making mechanical ones but with a difference.
The company has revealed a Swiss Alp Watch, which is made of 18-karat white gold. While customers of the Apple Watch have the option to select from a number of bands to suit their personal taste, the Swiss watch comes only with a beige kudu leather strap with a white gold pin buckle option.
"Today, H. Moser & Cie. launches the Swiss Alp Watch as a statement of this new challenge and to prove that traditional mechanical watchmaking has a future, and it is, in fact, the future. It is much more than a watch for us. The Swiss Alp Watch is symbolic. It represents our resilience, our ferocious desire to fight for our values and traditions. It embodies everything we believe in," says Edouard Meylan, the CEO and owner of H. Moser & Cie.
While the Swiss Alp Watch may look attractive, it's not easy to ignore that it has close resemblance to the Apple Watch, which has enticed millions of people across the world.
Just like the Apple Watch, the Swiss Alp Watch also features a rectangular watch dial with curved and rounded edges. The Swiss watch has a crown on its side, similar to the one found on the Apple Watch.
The Swiss Alp Watch measures 38.2 x 44 x 10.3 mm, which is slightly different from the Apple Watch, which measures 35.9 x 42 x 10.5 mm. The Swiss watch is heavier than the Apple Watch because it is made of white gold. What makes the watch interesting, though, is that its back is made of clear sapphire crystal panel, showing the internals of the watch.
H. Moser & Cie does not say a word about the Apple Watch but even its promo video is also very similar to the one released for the Apple Watch. Instead of Jony Ive, viewers will listen to the voice of Meylan.
Smartwatches such as the Apple Watch offer a number of functionalities including making calls, notifying the wearer of the paired smartphone messages, monitoring heart beats and more. However, the latest H. Moser & Cie offering cannot be paired to any other device and its main purpose is the same as a traditional watch – to show the time to its wearer.
Thousands of Apple Watches are available in the market, while H. Moser & Cie has produced only 50 units of the Swiss Alp Watch. The Apple Watch has a starting price tag of $349, while customers who want to buy the Swiss Alp Watch will have to splash $24,900.
Check out the promo video of the Swiss Alp Watch.
