This Month in Luxury: Apple Watch beats Rolex

Welcome to This Month in Luxury, presented by Micah Singleton, The Verge's resident Luxury Director. In this monthly (or whenever we remember) column, I will take you on a completely
superficial journey of opulence, pointing out one device, artifact, or service an upscale individual such as yourself would take pleasure in experiencing. Let the journey begin.
Look. There are a few things that are just facts of life; death, taxes, Donald Trump saying something fucking insane, and Rolex being considered a top-tier luxury brand. But what was not expected in the least is that the Apple Watch — the device that you bought six months ago and is now sitting in your night stand — would be considered a bigger name in luxury watchmaking than the legendary watch brand that adorns the wrists of people with taste across the globe.

But according to a new study from the analytics firm NetBase, the Apple Watch topped Rolex in social mentions, coming in 13th and 14th place respectively. (Chanel, Gucci, and Hermès filled out the top three so everyone hasn't lost it.) When it comes to watches exclusively, the Apple Watch tops the list once again, beating out Tag Heuer, Richemont, and Patek Philippe (!), along with Rolex.
What does this mean? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Despite being the most insane thing I've ever come across in all my years as a luxury consumer, Apple has managed to dominate online luxury chatter with its Watch. Sure it may be square, work poorly with apps, needs to be charged by your assistant every night, and has no luxury appeal besides a gold casing (no platinum??), but people seem to like it and are eschewing traditional luxury brands in their tweets and posts.

The good thing for the luxury watchmakers is their customers are far more loyal than Apple Watch users. According to the study, the net sentiment — or how consumers perceive the brand's quality and the likelihood that they will stay loyal to it —  rating for Rolex is 85 out of 100, while the Apple Watch is only a 58.
This means Apple still has a way to go before it can truly topple legendary luxury watchmakers like Rolex and Patek Philippe. But Apple's name in the luxury world is growing fast and showing no signs of slowing down. So if you're a watchmaker reading this, disembark from your yachts, call the drivers, and gas up the jet, it's time to get back to work.