Since its inception, the Apple Watch has received more scrutiny than it's deserved. The apparent issues are countless, whether it be the price, the shape, the interface or the overall appearance, the Apple Watch has not appealed to as many customers as Apple had wanted. In the past few months, Apple Watch sales have plummeted over 90%, which makes it one of Apples biggest product losses. In many ways, this is sad because the watch itself is a beautiful product. It's unique and ambitious. The issue is that the current model was created to appease to an audience. This gets the audience interested about the concept and helps provide feedback to Apple for the creation of its predecessor. This process allows Apple to lessen the watches features, and as we are aware, when the second generation is released, it'll be a better-established, all-rounded piece. Let's cut to the chase, at this point in time, the Apple Watch is very incomplete.
The Eloquent project is an attempt to remedy aesthetics that I found bothersome, but moreover to address a few cosmetic and software changes that possibly would make the Apple Watch all the more appealing and widely customisable to a larger consumer audience.
In a broader sense of the word, Eloquent, is defined as something fluent, persuasive and clearly expressive. The Apple Watch Eloquent is an attempt to make the product all the more appealing and widely customisable to a larger consumer audience. It also is an attempt to allow digital watch technology to pay homage to traditional analog watches, by not only respecting quintessential luxury brands, but by also giving the world a means to enjoy the watch they've always wanted.
Personally, what has never appealed to me, is its rectangular shape. I understand that Apple wanted to produce a product that was unique and in many ways it is appealing, but for the purpose of being a watch first and a gadget second, a rectangular casing, housing a circular watch face in the centre, hasn't necessarily hit the mark. Another issue I have with the watch is its interface, though it's very ergonomic and fluid, the learning component was a bit too complex to understand. For example, from a hardware perspective, the friend button would've made more sense if it was the home button. The clicking of the crown might be a select button. It's not entirely intuitive. For someone like me, who wants to quickly glance at an app, but then has to push the crown three times for it to reset to a watch face, it's kind of infuriating.
The first component to address was the case, which conformed to a circular shape. From this, the rest of the design could progress. Logically, a circle was the best choice for the sake of appealing to a larger audience. From a survey I started prior to the watches conceptualisation, a circular case was by far the most commonly selected and appealing choice. The aesthetic of a circular case would accommodate a better "watch-like" appearance but it would also conform to a deeper sense of what circles entail. Terms like wholeness, unity and infinity all comply in the sense of designing something as quintessential as a timepiece. On the same front, I believe the downfall of the Apple Watches rectangular case, directly correlates to a point where the majority of its critical audience is not ready to accept such a shape just yet.
The next step in the design process was to address various models. This was done by introducing two new models, the Client and the Active. The Client, a model which comprises of precious metals ranging from Gold, Titanium and Platinum, naming a few, with an emphasis on formality, it features a magnetically held bezel that can be easily replaced for the sake of further customisability. The Active comprises of metals ranging from Steel to Aluminium, with an emphasis on strength and durability. Its key feature is the inclusion of two chronograph buttons, which can be used to switch between certain applications on the go, such as a stopwatch or the activity app. Instead of the crown acting as the watches zoom/scroll function, both models integrate rotatable bezels to replace the feature. This allows the user to perform the above functions with better accuracy and it promotes ambidexterity (instead of having the user wear the watch upside down to perform the same function on the other wrist). The crown now functions as the immediate watch face return button.
Upon attempting to add a new interpretation towards the Eloquent's internal mechanics, the idea of a charging rotor came to mind. With a similar reference to automatic watches, the rotor uses the perpetual motion caused by wearer to manipulate a magnet around a copper coil to charge the battery. This technology, though theoretical, might be an interesting application to increase the longevity of digital watch batteries. Apples unique interchangeable bands are entirely compatible with the Eloquent. With the inclusion of a few newer bands like the gold metallic bracelet, all straps and bands function and fit the same way.
After hearing one of the most popular comments that the Apple Watch was receiving, specifically, "I'd rather buy a Rolex than buy an Apple Watch" This turned on a light bulb. As of now, Apple is one of the highest grossing companies in the world. It's not a far stretch therefore to suggest that Apple could make further connections in the Swiss watch making industry? A company like Omega, Rolex, Patek Phillippe would be obliged to help Apple visualise a more utilitarian design. This sparked the software conceptualisation process. It began with the thought of Apple partnering with these luxury Swiss watch companies, to develop an exclusive app to allow Apple Watch Eloquent owners the opportunity to download unique analog dials for themselves. This would be an entirely new interpretation of exclusivity. For the first time, digital watch technology would pay homage to traditional analog watches, by not only respecting quintessential watch brands, but by also giving the world a means to enjoy the watch they've always wanted.
After combining these various elements, the Eloquent turned out to be an entirely new interpretation of an already established product. Whether or not a design of this nature would be deemed acceptable and adopted in the future, I think its process is thought provoking. I designed the watch with the intention of producing a product capable of a new level of customisability. More importantly, it was designed to address an idea that the use of digital technology could in fact create a new gateway into the field of modern timekeeping.
