Smartwatches: The doomsday of traditional watches?
Smartwatches are revolutionizing the way we think about wearables and of course watches. Gone are the times when the simplest of information were transferred and displayed through a mashing of gears and winding of springs, now all of these data and much more can be had at your fingertips; or wrist to be more appropriate. You don’t have to take my word for it, the numbers speak for themselves, if I were to ask you who is the largest manufacturer of wrist watches currently what would you say? Seiko? Swatch? Rolex? No, it’s Apple, much like what the quartz oscillator did for the mechanical watch in the 1970s, analogue and traditional watches are now facing the same revolt again in the form of wearable tech.
The apple watch is unsurprisingly, the king of the hill in terms of both wrist watches and smartwatches, and now with the latest series 5 the brand is showing no signs of slowing down. With indispensable features that can allow you to access notifications, play music, monitor your health and fitness, and of course tell you what time it is. Based on logic and practicality alone, the smartwatch is without a doubt superior to the traditional wrist watch. Albeit the spring powered Swiss lever escapement should have long been obsolete over half a century ago. Yet for some of us, it’s the tactile feel of turning gears, and winding springs that tickles the most primitive portions of our brains. Much like how modern digital files are the way to go for most of us to listen to music. There’s nothing that can compare with setting up a turntable and record, warming up an amp and slipping on a pair of Open backed Grado headphones, and immersing yourself in another musical world. This is the very same truth with mechanical watches, and is the very thing that is keeping it alive even today.
Tissot Le Locle Regulateur T0064283605802
And that brings us to this, the Tissot Le Locle automatic regulator, with thrice as many dials as the apple watch, you’d think it’ll have plenty of information to convey, but you’d be wrong. All those dials do, are tell the hours, minutes, and seconds, oh and a small window for the date too for good measure. For something that is so visually complicated, compared to the apple watch with its clean, minimalist appearance, the Le Locle automatic regulator really looks like a relic from a different time. Powering it is an equally old-fashioned, mechanical movement, albeit with a self-winding rotor to keep it powered on your wrist. But still, a quick charge of a smart watch can easily outlast the paltry 38 hours of power reserve on the Tissot. So, what is the point of a traditional wristwatch in this day and age with technology that has already rendered them functionally, obsolete? I am, of course being deliberately obtuse here, because the reason why we buy traditional watches, and keep wanting to buy them is not because of any form of logical reasoning. In fact, the hobby of watch collecting is anything but logical. We buy these watches with our hearts, if we were to listen to our head all the time, we’d only have one smartwatch and that would be that. But we don’t, and that’s why watches like this Le Locle Regulateur exists. This age-old relic that is still able to tickle the most basic, and most primal nodes in our brains. If you’ve gotten this far and still don’t know what I’m going on about, just looking at it. From both the front and the rear and you’ll understand exactly what I mean.
In this ever-growing market, Apple and the other smartphone companies aren’t the only ones capitalizing on this major shift in wearable tech. Brands such as Garmin and even Fossil too have emerged in developing smartwatches and have seen massive success in sales. Let’s take a look at what the young bloods have to offer.
GARMIN VENU SQ MUSIC GM-010-02426-83 MOSS/SLATE SMARTWATCH
There’s no hiding what Garmin has its sights set on when developing the Venu SQ; The Apple Watch. What it essentially is, is a watered down Venu with all the features you’d come to expect but at a much lower price point. You do get (as the name suggests) music compatibility too, as well as a slew of trackers and GPS too. Pretty staple stuff from Garmin, and that’s not even a complaint. Running, cycling, swimming, heart monitors and many, many more are just some of the base features that this smartwatch is capable of. Add that with an incredibly user-friendly UI and what you have is an incredibly capable smartwatch at an ‘Apple-watch’ killing price of well under $400. Honestly, if you like the aesthetics of the Apple watch but want something a bit more affordable without compromising on the features, then the Garmin Venu SQ Music offers an undoubtedly great proposition.
FOSSIL CARLYLE FTW4025 GEN 5 SMARTWATCH
If you’re looking for a fitness smartwatch that is good looking and functional enough for you to use daily, then the Fossil Q Carlyle is definitely for you. You’ll be getting the essentials that you’d expect from a device of this price, with Google Fit being the main app here. You’ll get a pedometer (step counter), movement minutes, and heart points too. It’ll also monitor your heart-rate in the background too and when sensing that you’re stressed, will guide you through breathing to destress yourself. It can track a lot of work outs too, though it will consume the battery life of the device if you do so, so that’s something you’ll want to take note off. Third party apps are available as well, if you want something more customizable. And apps like Nike Run Club, and Cardiogram do come pre-installed. Overall, it offers the essential health and fitness monitoring that any average consumer needs. Oh, and it also comes with quick release strap pins for ease of change, allowing you to easily swap the straps to match the activity/occasion. All in all, if you’re looking for a modern smartwatch that operates well and ticks enough boxes to be a stylish alternative to a traditional fitness tracker, then the Fossil Q Carlyle is certainly a strong contender.
GARMIN INSTINCT SOLAR CAMO EDITION GM-010-02293-56 LICHEN CAMO SMARTWATCH
The Garmin Instinct Solar is a rugged sports smartwatch that shares a similar DNA with the Fenix range. Though the current Instinct has been given an update to be solar powered, that only means better news for hikers and outdoors types in terms of a more significant battery life and performance. The Instinct already provides many of the power-saving modes featured on the Fenix as well, making it an even more indispensable companion on your adventures. The Instinct is capable of tracking: hiking, running, swimming, cycling, climbing, skiing and even boating along with other types of outdoor pursuits. Built to withstand the toughest of elements, the Instinct has all the usual functions you would come to expect from a high-end Garmin smartwatch. A GPS for plenty of mapping coverage, barometric altimeter to measure elevation when you’re climbing up mountains as well as a heart rate monitor and an oximeter. Which can be used to check elevation against blood oxygen on its new Acclimatisation widget. It should come as no surprise that this tough as nails outdoor smartwatch places a large emphasis on features that will come in incredibly handy when you’re out trekking or hiking, making it the perfect companion to have in the great outdoors.
Innovation on all fronts
Thanks to their functionality and convenience, smartwatches have become very much indispensable and go hand in hand with our smartphones as with our everyday lives. Unlike traditional watches, smartwatches aren’t something you can simply switch to, or wear on a particular day because ‘you feel like it’ due to all of the data and functions that they have. As a result, it practically kills off wrist time for other watches in a collection for most users. This inability to switch between watches with a smartwatch is a heavy blow to the watch industry as people might just stop buying watches and start treating their watches like smartphones, because you really ever only need one. And with the constant innovation in technology, it is impossible for an outdated technology like the Swiss lever escapement to be able to keep up with this rate of innovation.
Though it might be completely unfair to say that Swiss watch makers are unable to innovate; look no further than Zenith’s Defy Inventor, Ulysse Nardin’s Freak Lab and Grand Seiko’s development of the Spring Drive movement, a hybrid movement that regulates time with a quartz crystal, while still being driven by a traditional mainspring. However, innovations like these only comes once every few years whereas technological advancement, grows exponentially with every passing year.
To put it simply, Moore’s law states that technological growth does not progress linearly, but exponentially, till it reaches a singularity at some point in the future. Where technology advances so quickly and aggressively beyond our control, but that is a topic for another time. With many media outlets critiquing the Swiss watch industry for their lack of innovation and constant reissues for the sake of filling shelf space in stores. We must understand that they are working with a technology that is over 200 years old and has been long obsolete for the last 50 years. Unlike computers which have only been around for the later-half of the 20th century, for which its progress only further accelerates progress.
The growth of social media is another cause for the seeming lack of innovation in the Swiss watch industry, with a constant demand for the next ‘in-thing’. It is difficult for an industry, let alone one dealing and working with tools of the past to be able to keep up. It’s a mad scramble, to the top, though for many affordable watchmakers, it may seem that the battle has already been lost. Based on pricing alone, many affordable watches priced below $3,000 are at a high risk of being beaten out by smartwatches and will certainly lose a large chunk of their market-share to smartwatches. Whereas brands above that price point such as; Rolex, Omega, Breguet are safe from this ‘invasion’ simply because people who can afford, or rather, people who buy these watches, buy them for their intrinsic and artistic value, not for convenient functionality.
It is this thinking that will help the watch industry survive and keep its edge over smartwatches. Simply resting on their laurels and releasing fashion/statement pieces one after another for the sake of filling shelves is no longer enough. Innovation and creativity are the only way forward, and I am really looking forward to what the sub $3,000 range of watchmakers have to offer.
EMPORIO ARMANI AR60011 MEN'S WATCH
This rather striking piece from Emporio Armani serves as a reminder that creativity and style really does go a long way to why some of us still wear a traditional wrist watch in this day and age. With an otherwise conventional rounded case shape and simple swooping lugs, it’s certainly not a brash or particularly ostentatious watch. But it is the dial that really makes this piece truly special. Featuring a pair of rotating discs displaying the subsidiary seconds and 24 hours, paired with bold semi skeletonized hands for the hours and minutes attached beneath a blue ring. Telling the time is an otherwise simple affair but at first glance, it really doesn’t seem so. And that’s exactly why we love this piece, it houses a simple traditional and reliable Miyota automatic movement, but for a moment, at first glance it almost looks magical in the way you’re meant to tell the time And, don’t worry, it’s not one of those ‘you’re kidding yourself moments’ because there’s still plenty of details that this watch offers that really sets it apart too (besides the already unconventional ringed ‘handset’). The repeating diamond like pattern on the inner ring of the dial that sectors into a nice deep blue grained pattern along the edges really adds more depth to the already 3-dimensional nature of this watch’s aesthetics. All in all, if you’re looking for a striking and reliable every day dress watch that really doesn’t look like anything else out there, it’s certainly hard to do better than the AR60011.
MASERATI STILE R8821142001 MEN'S AUTOMATIC WATCH
The Maserati Stile Automatic is the brand’s take on the luxury stainless-steel sports watch design, but without the luxury price tag of course. It is a simple, elegant three hander with slim markers lining the periphery of the dial and slim matching baton hands as well. So far so simple, but there’s a catch, the watch features a lovely opened center dial showcasing the automatic movement powering it. The watch is fitted in an elegant and angled brushed and polished 2 two-tone silver and rose-gold stainless-steel case, with a contrasting white peripheral dial and blue strap as well. Despite the rather busy theme of the overall design, legibility isn’t compromised thanks in part to the bold blued polished hands against the intricate silver skeletonized movement and dial. If an elegant and well-built stainless-steel every day dressy sports watch is what you’re looking for, then the Stile R8821142001 is a properly good choice.
CASIO G-SHOCK ORIGIN GM-5600B-3DR MEN'S WATCH
A great testament to how great a watch’s design is comes from how it continues to look good, no matter what colour way it’s in, even after decades. Whether you’re rocking the vibes of the 80s in Rasta or denim, or the 90s with teal and purple, or even a modern military style urban camo, there’s certainly a watch for you in this line-up. The one we picked today is one that we think should be a staple in every collection, a special edition with a case finished in black PVD stainless steel instead of resin paired with a military style olive green resin strap. The GM-5600B-3DR is a great modernization of a timeless design that would look just at home in the 90s as it would today. Functionally, it is the usual affair with the noon-specialized G-Shock watches, with a world timer, stopwatch, alarm, and timer functions all easily accessible with the buttons along the sides of the case. Overall, if it is a versatile, cool and rather unique G-Shock that you’re looking for, it’s hard to go wrong with the GM-5600B-3DR.
Room for both
As a species, we’re always moving forward, looking for new ways to improve ourselves, and our lives overall. Technology, is simply a result of this constant improvement and its rate of progress is a testament to our drive. Brands that are unable to innovate or differentiate themselves might end up in the pages of history books, and in order to stay relevant, forward is the direction to not only look to, but head to.
