Connected Watches: How Luxury Brands Incorporate Smart Watch Features

At Baselworld 2015, the watch industry's most highly anticipated showcase, we got our first look at the new products we will see on the market this year. Following the release of the Apple Watch, many traditional watch makers announced new models that in one way or another incorporate smart watch technology.

Top brands such as Tag Heuer, Breitling, and Fredrique Constant all made headlines with their plans to move into the smart watch market. With all of the big announcements, we have decided to compare the new smart watches and the functions they offer. Continue reading and find your next generation timepiece:

Fredrique Constant: Swiss Horological Smartwatch

Fredrique Constant is known for their highly precise quartz movements, classical designs, and master craftsmanship. When we first heard that they were releasing a smart watch, we couldn't wait to see how they incorporated modern features into their classic designs. To our surprise, the Swiss Horological operates on a quartz chronograph movement and doesn't look like a smart watch at all! In fact, if you saw a friend wearing it you probably wouldn't even know.

So how is it that an analog clock with no touch screens or digital display can be considered a smart watch? The answer to that lies in the MotionX Horological Smartwatch Platform developed by Silicon Valley based partner Fullpower Technologies. The MotionX platform is a low energy two way communication channel between the watch and both IOS and Android devices.

The main function of the MotionX is to monitor activity and track sleep. The activity monitor utilizes years of motion research to accurately track your walking and running. Using the smart phone app, you can set fitness goals and track your progress throughout the day. If you don't want to be constantly checking your phone, the outer hand of the sub-dial displays the percent of your daily goal that has been completed. This gives you all of the functionality of a fitness tracker inside of a timeless watch design.

The sleep tracking technology is clinically proven to track sleep patterns and can measure within 95% accuracy of a professional polysomnography machine. This allows you to track not only how long you are sleeping but also how long you are in a state of deep sleep or a state of light sleep. There is also an option to set an alarm based on the state of sleep you are in.

All of the information that the watch collects is compared to a data pool of other peoples activity and sleep data. After comparing your data with people in your demographic, the MotionX will assign you sleep and activity score. These scores are intended to help you assess how healthy your activity and sleep habits.

By only focusing on these two key smart watch features, Fredrique Constant has managed to solve one of the largest problems in smart watches: the battery life. Rather than incorporate a rechargeable battery, the Swiss Horological Smartwatch is powered by the same battery Fredrique Constant has used in previous models. This allows you to get 2-3 years of use without ever needing to take it off to charge! This is essential in tracking sleep as all other smart watches must be taken off to charge and more people will choose to do so overnight.

Breitling: B55 Connected

We previously posted an in depth article on the Breitling B55 Connected, but let's examine it's smart watch features in comparison to the Swiss Horological Smartwatch.

The B55 Connected Watch aims to incorporate new technology to develop the ultimate pilots instrument. As a result, they have ignored features such as tracking activity and sleep patterns, and focused on helping pilots record flight information more easily and accurately.

These features include:

• Chronoflight time log
• Electronic tachometer
• Count down / Count up system
• Mission elapsed time
• Aviation-oriented “chrono flight” device that records flight times while memorizing the take-off time, landing time and date
• Analog and two digital displays
• Backlighting that can be activated by turning wrist 35 degrees
• Rechargeable lithium ion battery with magnetic charger
• 10 times more accuracy than a standard quartz movement
• Breitling smart phone app to easily adjust watch settings
• Wirelessly sync flight data to smart phone

This is an amazing tool for aviation, but it's also a great timepiece for men of any profession. The watch contains Breitling's new Caliber B55 Movement, a complex chronograph that is Bluetooth enabled. This new movement will allow Breitling to continue developing new smart watch functions, so the sky's the limit for what the watches will eventually be able to do.

Tag Heuer: Coming Soon

One of the most exciting reveals at Baselworld came from Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer, who announced their partnership with tech powerhouses Google and Intel.

The watch itself was not unveiled, and little is known about what it will look like, how much it will cost, or what it will be able to do. What is known, however, is that the companies plan to compete directly with the Apple Watch and aim to be the markets most luxurious smart watch.

The release date still hasn't been set, but we can expect it to be out at some point in late 2015. Until then, enjoy the announcement video and hope it gets released soon!

If you are interested in getting more information on any of the featured watches, please contact one of our Long's Jewelers watch experts today. We are not currently making appointments for this item since it is a brand new release.