Why Apple will never let you have your own watch faces.

Apple considers itself a watchmaker.

This might be a cringe statement to watch enthusiasts, but you cannot deny the impact Apple has had over the last 10 years. The Apple Watch got regular people to start wearing something on their wrists again.

Including myself.

Just like any watch brand, they have fully immersed themselves into horology, consulting with the experts in the field during the development process.

Something Apple never does.

When Jony Ive spoke with Benjamin Clymer at Hodinkee, this is what Ive had to say regarding the Apple Watch project:

BC: How was this project different from others?

JI: We knew there was so much to appreciate in this space that in order to ground ourselves, we had a series of people that helped. Just to begin to understand the historical space, having tremendous respect and deference for watchmaking. This was highly unusual for us, speaking to anyone outside of our team early on in a product development stage. But, normally there are no parallel products from which to learn.

You know, we call this (pointing at my MacBook Pro), a MacBook, but you won’t learn more about this by understanding the nature of a physical book – so we didn’t talk to librarians. With the watch, we did. We spoke to an incredible list of experts in watchmaking throughout our development process.

Apple didn’t want to take any chances if they were going to go full-in with the Apple Watch project.

Even though they came out successful on the other end, it was the understanding of watch culture that really sets them apart from others like Google and Samsung.

When it comes to any watch, the watch face represents the brand. The watch company wants you to see their watch, and instantly know what it is.

Look at any watch company’s lineup of watches, and you will see consistency in design and branding.

Everything from the design of the hour, minute, and second hands, to the font, to the hour-markers are all part of what makes a brand instantly recognizable.

And that is why Apple will never let you have your own watch faces.

Even when Apple partners with Hermès, Apple uses its signature hour, minute, and second hands and blends the Hermès font with it, to make both brands recognizable.

If you throw on a cheap Rolex watch face on the Apple Watch, it will only cheapen Apple’s brand, which they do not want.

It is neither a Rolex, nor an Apple Watch.

It is confusion.

Other brands like Google and Samsung also make watches that have immense customizability which is fine, but you won’t find instant recognition with their watches. The brand recognition is not there.

They have a different approach, and that is their choice.

Google and Samsung chose to make watches, while Apple chose to be a watchmaker.