The Mondaine design is powerful, timeless, and most importantly popular. By using it rather than designing their own clock, Apple taps into an aesthetic of affluent European influence. This subliminal association is what Apple is paying for, not pixels.
European cities are built around public transport. Thus main railroad and bus stations are usually stationed downtown.
And you should note that railways in Europe are often fast and comfortable, thus using rail can get you to your inner city destination a full hour faster (only measuring from the city boundary) than going by car (degree of luxury really plays no part in city traffic speed).
Do not forget that European cities have not been built around its majesty The Car.
The majority of luxury models of European cars are made for export. Not to say they don't drive there (of course they do), but it's often quicker to travel by train so a lot of people do so, even though they own a car.
Every tram stop in Zurich has a clock with that drawing on it.
More surprisingly, that clock is exact to the second. As in, take your mobile phone (time coming from the network), see when the time changes and see the hand moving at the exact moment.
Sure, it's probably reading a radio signal or something, still impressive.
It's not just affluent aesthetic of 'public transport', it's the whole structure of it.
Very few tram stops in Zurich have any kind of analog clock. And I'd bet that most of those clocks don't have the red second hand, which is the most distinctive feature of the railway clock.
