Swiss company mocks Apple with $30,800 Vantablack-coated watch – here’s why
The Last Upgrade also has an infinitely-spinning loading wheel
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Luxury watchmaker H Moser – known for occasionally baitingApplewith itsSwiss Alp analog watches– has released a new dig at the tech company with a timepiece that features an infinitely spinning loading wheel, and retails at $30,800 (about £23,000 / AU$40,000).
As reported byHodinkee, the Infinite Upgrade pokes fun atsmartwatchesthat require firmware updates before they’re able to tell you the time. Despite borrowing more than a few design cues from Apple, it has no ‘smart’ features at all – just two hands and that familiar wheel, which serves to count seconds.
Whereas theApple Watch6 features an always-on Retina Display, and is the company’s brightest display yet, the Infinite Upgrade’s face is coated in Vantablack – a material that can absorb up to 99.965% of available light.
This isn’t H Moser’s first foray into the bizarre; in 2017, the company produced a timepiece with a bezel made fromactual Swiss cheese.
The dark side
That Vantablack coating is doubtless part of the reason for the Last Upgrade’s price tag. The material (which is at the center ofa long-running feudbetween artists Anish Kapoor and Stuart Semple) isn’t a pigment, but a ‘forest’ of artificially grown carbon nanotubes.
It has practical applications in optics and heat regulation, but its maker Surrey NanoSystems has also licensed it to tech companies hoping to make a statement. In 2018, Activisionpaid for a room to be coated in Vantablackto promoteCall of Duty: Black Ops 4, and the following yearBMW revealed an X6 conceptwith a Vantablack coating intended to draw attention to the car’s silhouette.
Unlike the BMW, however, the Last Upgrade is actuallyavailable to buyif your pockets are deep enough and you don’t mind that it costs as a new car.
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Cat is TechRadar’s Homes Editor specializing in kitchen appliances and smart home technology. She’s been a tech journalist for 15 years, and is here to help you choose the right devices for your home and do more with them. When not working she’s a keen home baker, and makes a pretty mean macaron.
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