The future of watches or a gimmick? Stylish, or not so? Smartwatches have been the biggest disruptor in the timepiece business ever since the first Apple watch was released in 2015. But, of course, watchmakers have been trying to pack more functionality into their products for decades, long before the advent of the smartphone.

Hamilton launched the first LED digital watch in 1972; Timex and Casio’s first calculator watches came out a few years later; in 1982 Seiko created a watch with an in-built TV, and two years later its first wrist-worn computer terminal; there was a pager watch in the 1990s; and Microsoft actually launched a ‘smartwatch’ – that’s what it called them – back in 2003.

Watches have always been getting more intelligent. But it was Apple’s – and more specifically the ability to link it to a smartphone – that was the game changer. Just how far that game has changed, or will, remains to be seen.

What Makes A Watch A Smartwatch?

First the mobile phone became, in effect, a computer in our pocket. Now the smartwatch looks – with further miniaturisation – to become a computer on our wrist, or at least an extension of one. For the time being, any advanced functionality is dependent on its connection to a nearby smartphone.

Montblanc Summit 2

Whether you need a smartwatch is another matter – they work well as fitness watches and perhaps for those who travel a lot. But beyond that it’s really for those, in a sense, too lazy to get their phone out of their pocket – a means of getting a quick glimpse or access to many of the apps the wearer uses.

At least, that’s how the Swiss watch industry tends to see them – more as novelty than real competition. After all, a mechanical watch is a very different thing – an expression of craft and materials that, arguably, evokes something emotional rather than practical.