This is super dependent on the watch itself, watch batteries aren’t inherently unreplaceable.
If your problem is e-waste, disposable vapes are by far a larger contributor than a single watch that someone will use for years before buying a new one.
My problem isn't with either. I am just stating that your average Smart Watch isn't going to be worth anything in 10 years. There is the battery itself, then the fact that software at best is supported for 3 maybe 4 years, hardware support may or may not exist.
They are inherently disposable while a Rolex, and most watches actually are capable, if not intended, to be heritage pieces capable of surviving decades.
If you are buying expensive jewelry to hold value that’s fine, but that’s not what everyone is doing or wants. If you don’t care about e-waste then frankly I’m not sure why you care what other people spend their money on.
Last time I checked replacing the battery cost $60
Also, I can buy new smart watches every time the battery gets used up, or updates stop coming ; and at the end of my life I won’t even be halfway to a Rolex’s price tag.
Value is a false system - just because you 'value' something doesn't mean it is actually logically worth anywhere near that amount. Plus, ones personal decision of 'value' doesn't mean shit if 1) they aren't selling it and 2) others don't share the 'value'. I can go to Walmart, stand in the doorway, and tell people that they owe me money for being in my presence. But if they don't also share the sentiment, I'm not going to make any money.
Have you looked at the second hand market of used Rolex Watches vs First Generations of Smart Watches?
I'm not trying to put anyone down jut fact remains,you can flip the Rolex you buy on the second hand market and get money back after 10+ years.ä without any problems.
But even if I replace my watch every time it stops getting updates, I can do that for multiple lifetimes before it costs me anywhere close to what a Rolex would have 😅
I hope we can find a solution for that, but as of now living without producing e-waste is literally impossible, so I don’t really bother my mind with the exact quantity.
If I keep buying smart watches at this rate, in 30 years I will have produced around a single smartphone’s worth of e-waste from them, and that’s if literally none of it gets recycled.
( My phone (iPhone 13 mini) is approximately 6x the size of my watch (Watch series 4) ; and I’ve had that one for 6 years. I’m only replacing it if it doesn’t get the next watchOS, which I won’t know until WWDC, so I made a pessimistic guess that it won’t for the calculation. )