As Apple Watch celebrates its 5th anniversary, watch enthusiasts reflect on its impact and how its mainstream appeal brought new interest in mechanical watches
After half a decade, the Apple Watch's lasting impact is clear. — There are certain moments that stand out as true game-changers.
HODINKEEStephen Pulvirent
Context & Ripple Effects
Five years in, the verdict on the Apple Watch has flipped from the skepticism of its early days — when a 220-day review found the apps ecosystem stalled and the device overly reliant on the iPhone — to the position HODINKEE now takes: the smartwatch didn't kill traditional watchmaking, it fed it. The surprise finding is that the Watch's mainstream appeal pulled new buyers into mechanical watches rather than away from them.
The arc matters because the pre-launch framing was different: as fashion talk around the 2014 debut faded, brands quietly repositioned tech wearables as niche products, per the NYT's later accounting. What survived was not the fashion-watch hybrid but a fitness-and-health computer on the wrist — and, unexpectedly, a gateway drug for horology.
First-order effects
Mechanical watchmakers gain a customer funnel they never built: consumers who arrived via the Apple Watch are crossing over to traditional watches, reversing the displacement narrative from the 2014 launch era.
Second-order effects
Fashion brands' retreat into niche tech-wearables marketing leaves the mainstream wrist split between Apple's health-focused device and mechanical watches, with little contested middle ground left for fashion-first smartwatches.
Third-order effects
If the pattern holds through the Watch's second half-decade — where the 10th-anniversary retrospectives credit Apple with reshaping the industry — the structural outcome is coexistence: the smartwatch owns utility and data, mechanical watches own meaning and craft, and each market grows the other's awareness rather than cannibalizing it.
The trend: Smartwatches and mechanical watches are settling into complementary roles, with Apple's mainstream success acting as an entry point into traditional horology rather than its replacement.
here's a reproduction of my original sketch for the home screen. the shape of the circular icon was driven by the clock that lived in the centre of what i originally called the dock. the crown gave the home screen a dimensionality, allowing you to scrub through layers of the ui. …
a few fun facts to celebrate 5 years of #AppleWatch here's a photo taken of the team on launch day, that's me in the centre. (the beard ages me but my wife @bella_bongiorno won't let me leave home without it) https://twitter.com/...
i created the solar watch face as a way for muslims observing ramadan to quickly see the position of the sun and for all to understand the sun's relationship to time. #RamadanMubarak https://twitter.com/...
digital touch was originally called E.T. for electronic touch. i called it that for its potential as a new form of emotional connection. the drawing “ink” was inspired by my graffiti days. the ephemera was designed to communicate transmission while making it guilt free. https://t…
i've always loved straps that were uncomplicated, the mechanism for the loop watchband was an evolution of velcro speedmaster straps worn by apollo astronauts. https://twitter.com/...
Five years ago I launched 8 Apple Watch apps on day one (most now long retired). It has been a wild ride to see the device mature and develop. I'm still utterly enamored with creating for it. It is such a delightful and impactful platform. https://david-smith.org/...
My Mother suffered an SVT attack for days before hospitalization a few years ago. Had she been wearing an Apple Watch, it would have been caught sooner. She is fine, but she wears one now and it gives me some peace of mind. https://twitter.com/...
I just wanted to say thanks to everyone following along with me. As I looked at the responses to my Apple Watch tweet, I felt so thankful to be surrounded by such smart, insightful, good people. I hope everyone is staying healthy in this challenging time, and best wishes.
My first #AppleWatch was the original in black steel. The DLC coating was like something from Krypton. Love the Solar face on it too. ⌚️🌞 What was your first Apple Watch? https://www.instagram.com/...
Had the original Space Black Apple Watch in 2015, never bought another one until the Series 5 - the sluggishness, apps, Siri performance left a bad taste. But now the Series 5 is great. https://twitter.com/...
So cool to get to see some of the behind-the-scenes of the design of Apple Watch. I hope more of those stories get shared over the years. https://twitter.com/...
@imranchaudhri @bella_bongiorno Loved every step - including our prototype video from 2013! #AppleWatch #Apple @Apple @tim_cook https://twitter.com/...
By far my favorite and most-used Apple Watch face. I'd argue that Solar is still the most attractive face, and that's why I use it: it's the only one that gives me the same kind of feeling with the Apple Watch that I get from nice mechanical watches. https://twitter.com/...
The Apple Watch launched five years ago today. • 100 million Apple Watches sold to date. • $40 billion of revenue. • ~80 million people now wear an Apple Watch. The Apple Watch has already ushered in a paradigm shift in computing. https://twitter.com/...
5 years of Apple Watch... seems like yesterday I was waiting for mine to arrive. Some favorite photos I took when I reviewed it. The Milanese Loop hasn't even begun to look outdated. https://twitter.com/...
I haven't gone a day without an Apple Watch on my wrist since it launched exactly five years ago, and I probably won't ever again. I use mine way more often than my iPhone, but almost never with third-party apps. It is still desperately crying out for third-party watch faces
“Something I've never shared about that process was that when we told some in the industry we planned to put Jony Ive from Apple on the cover of our magazine, a few partners said they would pull their advertising.” https://www.hodinkee.com/...
Terrific, terrific look back at 5 years of #AppleWatch by @AlmostStephen of @HODINKEE “On an even more basic level though, the Apple Watch has brought public attention to watches on a level that far exceeds anything else.” https://www.hodinkee.com/...