Some of the biggest players in the tech industry are probing the viability of wearable tech, with Google, Microsoft, and Intel all anticipating the launch of wearable products in the near future.

But it’s Apple’s new Apple Watch that’s been making waves this week.

On Tuesday, CEO Tim Cook took to the stage to unveil the new product alongside the iPhone 6.

Exciting times: if the Apple Watch follows suit and generates as much interest as the iPod, the iPhone or the iPad, we could be about to witness the biggest event in the mainstream consumer watch industry since the Swatch craze of the early eighties.

But unlike Swatch, whose incredible success can be attributed largely to a relatively cheap price and an aggressive marketing campaign, Apple’s vision is much grander: to replace the conventional watch with something that does a whole lot more than simply tell the time.

In Cook’s words, the Apple Watch is a “digital lifestyle enabler”, meaning that its primary function is to give users a more convenient way of taking their existing technology on the move and integrating their devices to make their digital lives more manageable.  

But Apple, which, at least at one point, had more cash than US government, aren’t leaving anything to chance.

Enlisting former Burberry boss Angela Ahrendts and the former CEO of Yves Saint Laurent Paul Deneve to work on making the watch something that people will actually want to wear, it’s obvious that Apple are willing to go to almost any lengths to ensure that the Apple Watch will be as fashionable as it is functional.

With a vast array of aesthetic options – from strap options (colour, material, etc.) to casing (including an 18-karat gold model) – the Apple Watch has been designed to reflect its wearer’s tastes much more than Apple’s other products – a good thing considering the watch’s traditional role as fashion item and status symbol.

Still, with little to write home about in the way of actual technological progress – Apple’s usual selling point – it will be interesting to see how they’ll market a product whose main selling point is a lifestyle one.  

What do you think about the new Apple Watch? A customizable style icon, or still a geeky gadget? And will wearable tech ever take off?