History of Watches
Before World War I, wristwatches (wristlets as they
were called) were reserved for women. Instead of wristwatches gentlemen carried
pocket watches and even quoted to say they “would sooner wear a skirt as wear a
wristwatch”. This started to change in the 19th century (Boer War), when
soldiers discovered pocket watches were clumsy to carry and thus difficult to
operate while in combat. Soldiers fitted them into primitive “cupped” leather
straps so they could be worn on the wrist, thereby freeing up their hands
during battle.
Even with their success in combat, the popularity of the
wristwatch was still limited to ladies’ models. Until World War I (1914-1919), when
soldiers from around the world converged on Europe to help defeat the German
Empire. The demand for reliable, accurate wristwatches was now at its peak. When
these war heroes were seen wearing them, the public’s perception quickly
changed, and wristwatches were no longer deemed as feminine. [The History andEvolution of the Wristwatch by John E. Brozek – Jan 2004]
Pocket Watch
|
The Earliest Wristwatches
|
Wrist Strap
for Pocket Watch
|
Rare photo of a British soldier wearing a
wristwatch in 1917 During World War I
|
1. It's
rude to check your phone all the time
2. With
watches, you can check the time hands-free
3. Sometimes,
you just don't want to bring your phone with you
4. You
feel "naked without it."
5. It
makes it look like you put effort into getting dressed that morning.
6. Unlike
the rest of your work wardrobe, it's acceptable to go wild with watches.
7. The
kind of watch you wear becomes a part of your identity.
8. Grown-ups
wear watches.
What is your reason for you to keep wearing a watch?
J
Current situation of 3D printing in Watch industry –
Slow adoption
Currently 3D printing adoption in watch industry
was quite slow and most of the large watch brands did not apply 3D printing in
their production due to the following reasons:
1. 3D printers
are not precise enough to print out mechanical watch movements
2. Larger
companies already invested in certain looks and machinery, they have no strong
reason for them to rush into something new
3. They make
only a few watches every time, they can easily customize or adjust watches
within a collection
Citizen was one of the first large watch companies
to apply 3D printing in their production process. It is using 3D
printing on prototyping which replace their time-consuming in-house prototyping
process. It gives designers to have more time to thoroughly review designs
during early stages so they could produce better final designs.
Besides, Citizen is using 3D printing to magnify and print tiny
structural parts at three times their actual size to examine their movement and
invent new assembly jigs. "With the high-precision 3D printed mock-ups of
our wristwatch designs, we improved quality and saved three times the
installation costs of our ProJet 3500 HD within six months." -- Mr. Naito,
Product Development, Citizen Watch [3D Printer Saves Citizen Watch Time and Money]
Besides of Citizen, some other watch/jewelry
company use 3D printing to print the band/ casing cast in different materials.
JELWEK 3D Printed, Eco-Friendly Watch which both looks and feels
very similar to wood
|
The First Commercial Watch Made from 3D Printed
Gold by Hopstroff
|
The world’s 1st 3D-Printed Titanium watch
by rvnDSGN which is cost USD$600.
|
Fashion brand NOOKA collaborated with 3D Systems (Company
that engineers and manufactures 3D printers) to deliver a special edition 3D
printed bands which can be purchased from online website “Cubify”. And from Cubify
customer can purchase 3D printed Apple watch bands. [Cubify
- Watches]
Limited edition NOOKA
|
Web Flex Band for Apple Watch
|
Opportunities by globalization and consequences of
3D printing adoption
1. New Market/ Demand
o
With the strong economic growth in
BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and rising disposable
incomes, it boost consumer spending on personal accessories, apparel and
travel. It also increased the demand on luxury products.
[Passport
– Watches global trend]
o
New competitors from technology
company create a new market for watch industry - smart watch e.g. Apple Watch
(released on 24 Apr, 2015). The smart watch also create a new demand for watch
accessories e.g. bands, watch-stands, cases, buckles will be created.
[Apple - Watches]
Ø
Adopting 3D printing
- Provide flexibility to designers
and consumers to customize and print their own bands with different materials. Company
“cgtrader” even launched a 3D print competition on Apple watch accessories.
Apple
Watch Accessories 3D Printing Challenge
To know
the competition result:
2. New idea from consumer and other market expertise
o
Under globalization, consumers are
keener and more able to express their individuality through consumption. Not
just celebrities, Blogger and fellow consumers are increasingly steering
preferences and buying choices. [Global consumer trends] Company need to “think globally and act locally”. Many watch
companies also have their own Facebook/ website which allow consumer to express
their comments.
o
Besides of improve product
quality, watchmaker company keep monitoring the market trends e.g. consumer
interest on Smartwatch, mechanical watches lead the global growth on watch
industry. [Passport – Watches global trend] The growth of Smartwatch is totally
different from traditional watch industry, collaboration with technology companies
are required. Example: MotionX Horological Smartwatch Open Platform to the
Swiss watch industry [Luxury smartwatch].
Ø
Adopting 3D printing
- Increase the interaction with
consumer e.g. design competitions
- Company invest in 3D printing can gain
knowledge from other company/ industry successful case e.g. how Citizen apply
3D printing
3. Provide better service and
product
o
With the advancements in
internet-based tools, it increased the buying convenience and online shopping is
growth rapidly. Buying convenience will be one of important criteria for global
consumer. [Global consumer trends] Swatch Group and Fossil Inc have seen strong
sales performances via their internet retailing platforms. They also plan to
extend the online sales to more various brands. [Passport – Watches global
trend]
o
Due to the keen competition, company
need to provide more diversified product to fulfill different customer needs
e.g. diver watches, sport watches, multiple time zone watches [Type of watches].
Ø
Adopting 3D printing
- Customer can design and order from
online shop directly
- Reduce customer shipping cost and
time (On-the-spot printing/ print in by customer)
- Cheaper and easier to repair as
customer can just replicate the damaged parts and repair the watches
- Time reduced on prototyping gives
designers to have more time to thoroughly review designs during early stages so
they could produce better final designs [3D Printer Saves Citizen Watch Time and Money]
4. Reduce
supply chain and production cost
Companies can select the best
suppliers and manufacturers without cross-border issue.
Ø
Adopting 3D printing
- Shorten research and development
time e.g. prototyping (short term)
- On-the-spot and on-demand
3D-printed manufacturing will highly reduce the manufacturing cost.
5. Eco-Friendly
Globalization raised the awareness
of environmental protection. Companies introduce Eco-Friendly Watch, bio-degradable watch and solar powered watch.
Ø
Adopting 3D printing
- Beside of production cost
reduction, on-demand manufacturing will largely reduce the
environmental costs of assembling, transporting, maintaining, storing (nearly
eliminating transportation costs and inventory) and all the related logistics
involved.
- Overall the potential and eco-friendly
results of 3D printing technology are promising. This technology is believed to
be revolution in manufacturing which is expected to get bigger, better and
greener. E.g. eco-friendly utilizing bio-degradable materials. [3Dprinting Eco-friendly]
Pitfalls for adopting 3D printing
1. Not precise enough and material
limitations in current status
The
machines are not precise enough, at least not yet, to print out mechanical
watch movements. Printer objects are limited by printer size, multi-material
machines can only print copies of same item and printers are optimized to use
single material, however watches are made from multiple materials.
2. Lack of expertise in computer-aided
design (CAD)/ 3D printing technology
CAD is difficult. It takes
hundreds to thousands of hours of training in order to learn and develop
competency. The market is lack of 3D printing experts.
3. Intellectual property rights and
infringement liability
It is too early to confidently
state how future courts will view them in light of 3D printing. How to protect
intellectual property and risks of violating or infringing copyright and patent
laws will be a big issue in 3D printing.
For adoption and building on 3D printing technology
in watch industry
· Co-creating
with customers to understand customer’s needs and expectations, e.g. Apple
Watch Accessories 3D Printing Challenge.
"Are we collaborating with our customers to create relevant offerings and
enhance their experience?" [Week7 Reading: Business
Opportunities through Collaboration]
· Organizational collaboration and coordination
is very important. Work with 3D printer company (partnership) to get a broader
array of ideas. Hire 3D printing expert and re-skill staff to handle 3D
printing technology is needed. [Week2 Reading: At the Edge of Innovation]
Citizen is a good example for other watch company on how to collaborate with 3D
printer company. [3D Printer Saves Citizen Watch Time and Money].
· Support IT department to manage the IT
issue created by 3D printing. E.g. protection 3D printable files, data storage
of large amount of customer/ 3D printing data.
· Work with legal advisors and compliance
officers to find out how to manage intellectual property e.g. patent.
· As 3D printing technology is still
evolving, management is required to keep monitoring how to technology changing
and act fast.
What’s next for Watch industry?
Short-term
o
With the opportunities provided by 3D
printing, more competitors will enter watch industry.
o
Large company will start to adopt 3D
printing to lower production cost.
o
Customer can customize their product through
online shopping.
o
3D Printer improvement e.g. from single
material and colour to multiple material and colour.
Long-term
o
3D Printer will be more precise and able
to print mechanical watch movements.
o
Retail shop will provide “On-the-spot”
3D printing service.
o
More keen competition. Watch supply
stores won’t have to get their parts from the upper-hand watch houses like Swiss
watchmakers who typically refuse to sell their parts to individual watchmakers.
Watch repairers will be able to churn out replacement parts in no time.
It will lessen the monopoly on luxury watches and repair. [3D printing Affect]
Reference
Required
Reading
Business
Opportunities through Collaboration
In-text
reference: [Week7 Reading: Business Opportunities through
Collaboration]
At
the Edge of Innovation
In-text reference: [Week2
Reading: At the Edge of Innovation]
Articles
The History and Evolution of the Wristwatch by John
E. Brozek
In-text
reference: [The History and Evolution of the Wristwatch by John
E. Brozek – Jan 2004]
Watchmakers Slow to Adopt 3-D Printing by Arthur
Touchot
In-text
reference: [Watchmakers Slow to Adopt 3-D Printing by Arthur
Touchot –
24Feb 2014]
3D Systems’ ProJet® 3500
HD 3D Printer Saves Citizen Watch Time and Money
In-text
reference: [3D Printer
Saves Citizen Watch Time and Money]
Watches Global Trends and Opportunities from
Passport – Nov 2013
In-text
reference: [Passport
– Watches global trend]
Top 10 Consumer Trends For 2015 (13Jan, 2015) by
Daphne Kasriel-Alexander
In-text reference: [Global consumer
trends]
Website
8
Reasons Watches Are Still Worth Wearing by By Ellie Krupnick
In-text
reference: [Reasons
by By Ellie Krupnick – 29Jan2014]
Cubify
In-text
reference: [Cubify - Watches]
http://cubify.com/store/fashionwatches
Apple
In-text reference: [Apple - Watches]
http://store.apple.com/hk-zh
Types of Watches
In-text
reference: [Type of
watches]
Moving towards Eco-friendly
In-text
reference: [3D
printing Eco-friendly]
How Will 3D Printing Affect The Watchmaking
Industry?
In-text
reference: [3D
printing Affect]
MotionX News
In-text
reference: [Luxury
smartwatch]