The partnership between Apple and Hermès for the Apple Watch Series 2 generated significant social buzz. Discussions around the Hermès Apple Watch collection increased over 133% and accounted for 69% of conversations about Hermès watches. While some question smartwatches as a luxury item, the Apple Watch is elevated through collaborations with established brands like Hermès, known for craftsmanship and leather goods including watch straps highly regarded in the industry. The HH Journal analyzes current watch industry trends online using social media data and conversations with influencers.

1. THE
SOCIAL BUZZ
OF HERMÈS AND
THE APPLE WATCH

2. A Two Week Snapshot
of What’s Trending
in the Luxury Watch Industry
05 September 2016 - 19 September 2016

3. OUR
MISSION

4. The mechanical watch is a wonderful
instrument and the guardian of craftsmanship
and creativity.
Our objective as the Fondation de la Haute
Horlogerie is to take this wealth of expertise
into the world through our four missions
to inform, train, recognise and organise.
Since 2005, we have promoted values
of excellence and tradition within
an organisation that has the support
of numerous brands.

5. In this series of trend reports
we aim to discover which stories,
pieces of news and industry developments
in the world of haute horology gain
the most amount of traction in the digital
sphere - uncovering why these trends
are important to the industry.
Every two weeks we’ll be diving into
the world of digital conversations to discover,
what’s trending.

6. SNAPSHOT
OF THE PERIOD

7. TRENDING TOPICS AND STORIES
BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 05 TO SEPTEMBER 19
Percentage of conversations on luxury watches penetrated by the topic
Hermès team up with Apple once again
for the Apple Watch Hermès Series 2
collection
Vacheron Constantin release new 2016 version
of the Traditionnelle Chronograph Perpetual
Calendar
The Hublot MP-05 LaFerrari Sapphire takes
to the small screen in new animated short
film
Breitling continue to generate excitement
around the release of a Limited Edition
Navitimer GMT Aurora Blue
Urwerk release new unique EMC
TimeHunter X-Ray timepiece
1.02%
0.88%
0.7%
0.63%
0.6%

8. VOLUME OF CONVERSATIONS
ON HIGH-END WATCHES

9. What’s been published on the HH Journal:
Apple, the world’s number-two “watchmaker”
Analysing the truth behind Apple Chief Executive
Tim Cook’s ranking of Apple as second (behind
Rolex) in worldwide watch sales
Vacheron Constantin – In perpetual evolution
Introducing the Traditionnelle Chronograph
Perpetual Calendar Watch from Vacheron
Constantin
Breitling – Home and away
Discussing Breitling introducing Navitimer GMT
Aurora Blue (limited to 1,000-pieces)

10. ANALYSING
THE SOCIAL BUZZ
OF HERMÈS AND
THE APPLE WATCH

11. Following the launch of the Apple Watch Series 2,
Apple have announced that they will be continuing
their partnership with the luxury French fashion
house Hermès - with the release of another range
of luxury, special edition digital timepieces.
The new Apple Watch Hermès collection will see
watches donned with a new double buckle cuff in
Swift and Epsome calfskin leathers (inspired by the
classic Hermés sandals designed by Pierre Hardy,
creative director of Hermés shoes and jewellery)
which will be available in multiple colours.

12. The watch will also feature exclusive faces based
on the design of Hermès’ own timepieces – the
highly popular Clipper, Cape Cod and Espace
Hermès.
The partnership has helped Apple build its
credentials as a provider of luxury fashion
accessories (rather than merely being a premium
tech brand), with the Apple Watch becoming as
desirable to fashionistas as it is with techies.

14. “Smartwatches can be clunky and
unappealing at times, but when Apple
and Hermès come together, you can be
sure that the resultant Apple watch is
going to be the chicest you’ve ever seen.”
Vivien, Luxury Launches

15. Among Influencers
2.28%
Penetration of conversations
by Hermès in Swiss watch
related conversations
133.33%
Increase of Hermès mentions
against the previous two
weeks
69.05%
Of mentions of Hermès are in
relation to the Apple Watch

16. Beyond Influencers
155
All online mentions of
Hermès in relation to watches
330.56%
Increase of Hermès mentions
against the previous two week
60.65%
Of mentions of Hermès are in
relation to the Apple Watch

18. SUMMARY

19. Pierre-Alexis Dumas, the Hermès Executive Vice
President (who is in charge of the brand’s artistic
direction), says the brands are “united by the same
vision, the uncompromising pursuit of excellence
and authenticity, and the creation of objects that
remain as relevant and functional as they are
beautiful”.
While there have been many who have questioned
the extent to which smartwatches have truly ‘taken
over’ (despite Tim Cook’s claim that Apple is now
ranked second in the world in terms of watch
sales), it is a commonly held belief that the design
behind the Apple Watch is of a very high standard
– H. Moser & Cie. even appropriated the design of
the Apple Watch for their Swiss Alp Watch model.

20. On the face of it the partnership with Hermès merely
elevates the Apple Watch as a symbol of luxury
(commanding a much higher price tag). However
Hermès is also well established within the world of
haute horology, with the brand has not only gained
recognition for their own range of timepieces, they
also have connections to other luxury watchmakers -
most notably Jaeger-LeCoultre.
Furthermore, within watch collectors circles, Hermès
wrist straps are very highly regarded – arguably
more so than any other watch strap in the world – for
their quality of stitching and the smoothness of the
leather.

21. Founded by Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie,
the HH Journal is an online publication covering
watchmaking news in all its forms.
In collaboration with London-based agency RE-UP,
The HH Journal is producing a series of trend
reports to analyse which current topics within the
high-end watch industry are trending online.
Two key social tools are used to gather the data to
analyse the current trends: An in-house database
of 2,000+ influencers and online sources
specialising in luxury and watches – with the
ability to gather insight into 6 months’ worth of
conversations. A social listening tool, allowing to
measure and examines all online conversations.

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