Smaller sizing, fresh form factors and big ideas
I was going to #Trend about watches for women this week but then when I started to look around, I realised it’s been an all-round kick-ass month for launches of all sorts of wearables for women.
For most of the year, weeks can go by without me seeing something I could imagine me or my female friends wearing. Plus we’re still waiting for things like Tag Heuer’s promised smaller, 39mm Connected Modular for women and the now indefinitely delayed Swarovski Android Wear watch for women.
Read this: Best running watches and fitness trackers for women
Since IFA, it’s been a busy month full stop. But as well as the usual bulky sports watches and VR headsets, we’ve seen smartwatches, wearables and smart jewellery that take into account both style and substance that will appeal to ladyfolk.
Let’s get into it.
Okay, hit me with the watches first
Might as well. Props to Fossil Group here – its fall collection of Android Wear smartwatches isn’t exactly equal in terms of range but alongside the new, mens Diesel On Full Guard and the Emporio Armani Connected, we got the Michael Kors Access Grayson and the Sofie plus the Fossil Q Venture and Explorist.
I’ve seen some models wearing that Sofie one?
Now, I was pretty enamoured with the pretty, lug-less MK Sofie – having seen and worn a lot of bulkier, uglier watches in my time – but a fellow Wareable colleague took one look at it and said it’s still too chunky to wear. And it’s true, you can really feel it on your wrist.
Well, you got that screen and battery and..
Exact. So on the size front, Fossil Group and its designer brands are prioritising its fashion hybrid watches i.e the ones that look like a regular watch but do vibration for notifications, activity and sleep tracking and have smart pushers for music controls and remote camera skills.
This week, we got to take a look at the new £159 Q Neely and Q Jacqueline styles. These are 36mm watches and on the wrist you can really see the difference, even compared to the most recent Fossil hybrid the 38mm Fossil Q Accomplice.
Impressive, then?
It is impressive, sure, and we’re sure these new styles, based on popular Fossil watches, will win them plenty of new fashion fans.
That said, the ‘dumb’ Neely and Jacqueline styles they’re based on are actually 34mm so there’s still a way to go before they are truly identical. Plus, compared to the 11mm Q Accomplice, they are actually slightly thicker at 12mm thick.
So that’s where they hide the tech?
Indeed. Skagen’s dainty new Signatur T-Bar hybrid is similar – 36mm and 12mm thick and the luxe Michele Connected is slightly larger at 38mm.
We really do applaud the engineering efforts here though and we’re sure FG will get to the point where they can make every single womens’ watch smart, as Michael Kors is planning to do with its mens wristwatches.
Watches are the big play then?
Kind of. When you bring startups into the picture, though, we’ve seen some awesome new concepts in both form and function. We just posted our review of the unisex Motiv Ring (main image) which brings the fitness tracker into a sleek smart ring form factor.
It’s not perfect but the potential is there for it to be a discreet lifestyle hideable. And we need more of those for men and women who don’t want to declare to the world that they’re trying to get fit or lose weight.
Smart rings are getting real trendy
Alright, want something even quirkier? How about a smart earring for interacting with Siri and Google Assistant? Our editor Michael Sawh reckons this is where Fossil Group is heading after it announced it’s getting into hearables and smartglasses this week.
But is it possible?
Well, we recently spoke to Peripherii, a startup actually building a costume smart earring, with a mic and speaker, which is paired with a dumb piece of jewellery for the set. The female co-founders told us that the crowdfunding campaign will launch at the end of October 2017.
What else might gals want from wearables?
Over the summer, we saw a flurry of safety wearable launches – Carah and DAZL for instance – but one crowdfund that has caught our attention is the Embr Labs Wave. It’s not just for one group of people but I think this heating and cooling bracelet could find a real customer base with women wanting to take more control of their fluctuating temperature.
It’s not super small or stylish, but it solves such a specific problem, it doesn’t need to be. The startup is an MIT spin-off and it’s already raised half a million dollars on Kickstarter with a week to go. That’s good news because I really want one.