Watchmakers easing into smartwatch and fitness tracker market with a sense of style

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Two years ago, almost every smartphone or PC company had some sort of smartwatch in the market. The Apple Watch, a veritable latecomer to the segment, had yet to define its area of focus (something that's happened only in Q3 this year with watchOS 3 and Series 2 devices). 2016 saw smartwatch sales fall by up to 51 per cent according to some sources and various companies who were gung-ho on wearables have pulled out entirely.

This has made it possible for traditional watchmakers to move into the market but they have changed things up a bit by focusing on style and convenience over technological prowess. We now see companies like TAG-Heuer has a connected premium smartwatch, HP has teamed up with Movado, Michael Bastien, Tommy Hilfiger, Coach, Hugo Boss and Scuderia Ferrari to engineer various lines of fashion-first smartwatches that are aimed to entice traditional watch lovers.

More down to earth is the Fossil Group, who purchased fitness wearable Misfit recently and quickly released 40 hybrid smartwatches within eight of their brands including Fossil, Skagen, Emporio Armani and others including Misfit.

Fossil's approach is notable in two ways. First is that they are bringing down the price of Android Wear enabled watches and they are also offering hybrid smartwatches. For consumers who like the look and feel of an analog watch but crave some fitness tracking and notifications, hybrid watches are the perfect combination. They look stylish and not geeky, but they serve the more important tasks of notifying users and alerting them to their fitness goals.

Fossil has one of the biggest collections of hybrid and smartwatches running various popular brands including Fossil, Michael Kors, Kate Spade, Skagen, Misfit and Armani. Not only is Fossil offering a wearable for every type of user, they also have varying degrees of customization in terms of straps and buckles.

Some of the cool features of these watches demoes at a recent Fossil event include automatic time change when you cross time zones, the ability to ping your phone to find it when it is lost, controling music apps, alarms and many of these don't even require daily charging which is a constant pain point with modern smartwatches.

Fossil's principals all agree on something that the watch industry has known for decades, that there is no one size or one style fits all solution. Watches are, like various fashion items,  very personal choices. Many devices like the Apple Watch and some Android Wear watches look like technology and automatically fail to entice users who still want a watch that reflects their personality.

Personally, I liked the look of some of the hybrid watch options. As a watch collector, I put a premium on look, feel, materials and the timeless (no pun intended) look these watches have but also want some of the connected features they offer. The Fossil Group has hit all the right notes for a wide variety of consumers with a good range of pricing for these fitness trackers, hybrid watches and smartwatches.

Technology companies have had their turn in defining their vision. Many of them have tried and failed to capture this nascent market. With traditional watchmakers getting itnot the market, I expect pricing to become more affordable while features and functionality being offered across the board.