Swatch Boss Calls Apple Watch A 'Toy'

Watchmaker Swatch has only just trademarked Apple founder Steve Jobs' famous "one more thing" catchphrase - now it has taken a swipe at the firm's smartwatch.

In what appears to be the latest attempt to rile Apple, Swatch chief executive Nick Hayek dismissed the newly released Apple Watch as an "interesting toy" which is not a "revolution".

He also said it was a strategic decision by the Swiss watchmaker to avoid creating its own smartwatch, highlighting the fact that Apple's gadget needs to be charged once a day as one of the reasons why.

Mr Hayek made the comments to a Swiss newspaper just days after the company unexpectedly trademarked the term "one more thing" for marketing purposes.

As well as being the catchphrase of TV detective Columbo, the line was also regularly used by Apple founder Steve Jobs.

He used the phrase at Apple launch events to unveil an unexpected new product - just as the audience thought they had seen everything.

Apple news site Cult of Mac said the trademark move was a "jealous, petty way of striking back at people who are doing better than you".

Swatch co-creator Elmar Mock has previously warned that the Apple Watch would "put a lot of pressure on the traditional watch industry and jobs in Switzerland".

A year ago Swatch tried to block Apple from registering the trademark to the term 'iWatch' because it said it was too similar to its own brand name.

It eventually relented and let the trademark registration go ahead unchallenged.