The success of the Apple watch has put the fear of god in a lot of jittery Swiss watch brands. Those with conviction have remained true to their roots and traditions of heritage, craftsmanship and Swiss excellence and those that lack the basics have shown a fickle minded approach by producing a smart watch.
De Grisogono is one such lack luster Swiss high jewellery and watch brand that has strayed from its black diamond DNA to launch a smart watch at Baselworld earlier this year in partnership with Samsung. The watch is a Samsung Gear S2 standard model with the same sized screen, rotating bezel and Tizen operating system.
The watch is clearly lacking in innovation and is a basic smart watch with a case made from rose gold, with over 100 black and white diamonds and a bracelet studded with the brand’s signature galuchat. The diamond-set gold bezel turns around the dial, allowing access to the Gear S2’s library of applications and features, including notifications, and activity logs.
While the partnership claims to be more than a mere co-branding exercise, it conspicuously falls short by a distance as it is simply a Samsung Gear S2 that was launched in October last year and six months is an eternity in tech speak so the technology is already outdated. Moreover, this is a customization that does nothing to add to the tech smarts or the allure of the watch – which is what the core consumer of a smart watch is looking for. This watch is all set to erode De Grisogono’s DNA that it has spent the last two decades creating.
