> the skill and artistry which went into designing and making it

Well, sure there was skill and artistry involved. But there is skill and artistry involved in designing and building smart watches as well.

> FWIIW I also like 80s era calculators

Hopefully not to the point that you're carrying a $10000 TI-57 everywhere and swear that today's calculators just don't measure up to it...

There is zero individual skill and artistry that went into any smart watch that I know of. It's all soulless corporate excretions, just like most of the digital watches that were made in the quartz era (there are a few exceptions, like the Seiko spring drive).

If there were individual skill and artistry or even individual design or flair which went into them, they would be more interesting objects. It's theoretically possible to do. Nobody's really done it yet. I doubt anyone will for decades to come; the mindset that goes into a 'smart watch' is all wrong.

Ah yes, "soulless corporations", as opposed to the rich and soulful 30 year tradition of the holding company which owns A. Lange, Baume & Mercier, Cartier, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Montblanc, Officine Panerai, Piaget, Roger Dubuis, and Vacheron Constatin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richemont

Way to stick it to the Man by buying an overpriced set of gears from him!

You can see how much individual design is going on because each of these outfits puts their OWN name on the same basic product.

If you can't see any artistry and skill in the making of Apple Watch faces https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aK7KPw9bLfI or their wrist straps https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/hodinkee-apple-watch-revie... then I don't know what "artistry" and "skill" are supposed to mean.

Those holding companies encourage artistry, mechanical excellence and beauty; they also sponsor some interesting sports. Apple doesn't do any of these things, and while I admire their apparent devotion to customer privacy -no comparison.

Re: your lack of understanding -at least you admit it! I mean why would anyone buy a sailboat or hand crafted knife? You can always buy some mass produced thing which is "better." Why buy a sports car when you can have a reliable honda? Why buy a pair of $600 Aldens when you can wear crocs? Heck, why buy a meal made by a human when you can drink soylent and live in your cube at work for more hours?

FWIIW I wouldn't buy any watches from those companies more or less because they're run by holding companies (maybe Jaeger), but they're a world cultural treasure for preserving this kind of artistry for middle class to upper middle class people to enjoy. Mostly subsidized by the Chinese trade, but whatever.

Now you're implying that a bigger marketing budget or a different marketing approach makes a company more worthy of your dollar than another.

No, I'm actually telling you why people buy antiquated devices like wristwatches. Or air cooled porsches. Or wooden sailing vessels. Or nice shoes (alden has a marketing budget of approximately zero). Some people really like craftsmanship rather than mass-produced utilitarian disposable garbage! Just because Glashutte Original is owned by swatch doesn't mean a heck of a lot; it used to be owned by the East German government. Still the same creative small company with a dedication to craftsmanship and tradition (admittedly it sucked under communism), rather than a trillion dollar company with a dedication to vacuuming up as much of your dollars as possible on the backs of slave labor.

FWIIW, as I said above: I do not buy watches from the "big" conglomorates (which, all together, are smaller than the ipad market). But I am glad they exist.

BTW I have a pocket watch which has been in my family since 1882. Try that with an apple watch and let me know how it goes.