Analytics firm NetBase has released a report detailing the world's top ranked luxury brands. The measure for this ranking was based purely on social mentions, which certainly puts the study into context. According to NetBase, the Apple Watch has garnered 700 million mentions on a number of social media platforms since its debut in September 2014.  

Whether or not the Apple watch is in fact considered a luxury brand by the tech world is up for debate, but NetBase has it ranked higher than the likes of Rolex, Patek Philippe and Tag Heuer, with the latter having recently debuted its own smartwatch. 

This latest report does however bring an interesting idea to the fore. Since smartwatches began cropping up a few years ago, their endgoal has been hard to pin down. Perhaps then, is their best purpose at this stage that of status symbols, rather than high tech pieces of hardware?