London Time: Smart watches, we’re afraid to report, are here to stay
YOU know how rude it seems when someone checks their wristwatch during a conversation? Well, things are about to get a lot ruder, thanks to 2014 being the year of the smartwatch.
Just as the pocket watch proved itself useful enough to migrate to our wrists over the course of the 1930s, we are now so wedded to our phones that we must feed ourselves with their constant trickle of social validation in an even more convenient manner; a manner that’s infinitely more tempting to indulge than the conspicuous act of brandishing one’s iPhone over that lunch or boardroom meeting. (Though, let’s face it, all too many of us are rude enough to do this anyway.)
After years of Spy Kids-esque digital watches (mostly Seikos) that connected to your BBC Micro or Commodore 64 via cables or FM radio, it all started in earnest in 2012, when Pebble asked Kickstarter’s legions of would-be Dragons for $100,000. Five weeks later they had more than $10m on their hands, and had soon shipped over 85,000 units of their $150 “ePaper” gadget. At CES in Vegas this January, its “Steel” version pretends to be more watch-like, but, really, if you’re wearing this thing, you still look like a poor imitation of a Star Trek extra. The original series of Star Trek, at that.
Then there was Sony’s SmartWatch 2, and now Samsung’s tepidly received Galaxy Gear. And this year, if feverish rumours are to be believed, the big boys come out to play: Google and Apple, both of whom filed patents long ago that hint at their iWatch ambitions. Yup, this Android-enabled, Bluetooth-connected “wearable tech” is here to stay.
But just because it attaches to your wrist, isn’t to say it belongs in London Time. Nor, for that matter, does it belong beneath your shirt cuff. As a City worker who probably wears a suit most days, do you care about whether you wear smart shoes? Of course you do: trainers would look ridiculous with a suit (though that doesn’t seem to faze those kids up the road in Shoreditch…). Well, a watch is as important an accessory as a shoe, making a smartwatch even less appropriate with a suit than a Casio.
As for it being at odds with a “proper watch” in terms of expressing status, appreciation of heritage and craftsmanship? I shouldn’t have to explain this at all, as it’s patently obvious that a smartwatch does none of the things a Breitling or Panerai do so well. But if you must insist on having your emails and stock prices beamed to your wrist, please at least wait until Samsung, Pebble et al have employed a decent designer and started building these things with a bit of class.
Alex Doak is a freelance luxury-lifestyle journalist, who writes on watches for FT, The Times, Wired and many more.