Mondaine announced their intention to bring a luxury Swiss smartwatch to market all the way back in March and it seems as though the long-awaited Mondaine Helvetica No. 1 Smart is now ready for release.
When Will The Mondaine Helvetica No. 1 Smart be Released
The first batch of Mondaine’s Swiss smartwatches are available on an incredibly short run of 1,957 (seriously? You’d think they’d just wait and round up to 2,000!) watches. The watch is currently available at a price of $850 (around £545), but will go up to the expected $950 price point shortly.
It is unlikely that this short run will be available for much longer as excited fans of Swiss watches, smartwatches and obscure Swiss typefaces will all be rushing out to grab hold of one. The good news is that a wider release should be just around the corner – and this watch is going to be one smartwatch definitely worth owning.
As we explained back in March, the Mondaine Helvetica No. 1 Smart was going to be one to look out for in terms of features and looks. This watch has the incredible style of the rest of the Mondaine Helvetica collection. Believe me, nobody will worry about being spotted with this watch on their wrist, unlike some of the early adopters of Sony and Samsung smartwatches!
But what is most impressive is what is inside of the watch.
The MotionX and Sleeptracker sensors track steps, distance and sleep – they also provide smart alarms and activity alerts. By bringing on board experts from Silicon Valley Mondaine have made sure that the first of the Swiss Horological Smartwatches is going to be absolutely top class in terms of function as well as form.
Check out our March preview of the Mondaine Helvetica No. 1 Smart for more information on the features of the watch.
What’s Next For The Swiss Smartwatch
One of the biggest problems that the Swiss watch market was expected to face this year was the release of the Apple Watch. Some of the predictions even suggested that the release of the Apple Watch would be as devastating as the quartz crisis.
Studies so far have shown that not to be the case.
Of course that doesn’t mean that Swiss watch manufacturers should ignore the demand for a watch which can do more than just tell the time.
Google are looking to expand their watch line with more stylish watches style than the smartwatches we’re used to seeing – Android Wear watches from LG, Motorola and even Alcatel look much, much better than the early Samsung smartwatches. Plus Casio are expected to bring a smartwatch to market by march of next year and it’s likely that we will see an Apple Watch 2 some time in the near future.
By the end of this year we’ll have seen a Swiss smartwatch from Mondaine, as well as Swiss smartwatches from Alpina, Frederique Constant and Tag Heuer’s collaboration with Google. By this time next year Swiss smartwatches might not just be part of the smartwatch pack, but they could actually leading the way!
