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Should every watch collector have a smart watch within their portfolio?

4K views 63 replies 43 participants last post by  Littlelegs 
#1 ·
I was debating whether to place this question under electronic watches but felt that it needed a more generalistic view. Having trawled though the forum archives I can see that the last time this subject was raised to any extent was in 2015 but even then it was more about how the members were viewing the "smartwatches". If I have missed any other major debates then my apologies.

The reason why I pose the question is because I recently considered purchasing a Moon Phase watch and read numerous articles about how relevant the Moon Phase complication was to most watch collectors but what I did note was that from an Horological viewpoint most reports considered that because of the "complication" it probably should be either part of a portfolio or at least be on a wish list. I can to some extent agree with that point of view but I then thought "Why then wouldn't a collector consider it important to have a smartwatch as part of their portfolio?"

I have always taken the view with watch collecting that the brand, movement and type of watch is something of a personal preference to the Collector and maybe I am in the "old school" here when I consider that if a watch has been "crafted" then it definitely falls within the parameter of my collection but when it comes to a smartwatch what have you got? It might be a wonderful electronic invention but what is it's primary purpose?

I have gone online to seek the description of both a watch and a smartwatch and I think the following briefly covers each:-

A watch - is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. ... A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached by a watch strap or other type of bracelet, including metal bands, leather straps or any other kind of bracelet.

Smartwatch-, a small smartphone like device worn on the wrist. Many smartwatches are connected to a smartphone that notifies the user of incoming calls, e-mail messages, and notifications from applications. ... Some smartwatches come with pedometers and heart-rate monitors to help users track their health.

So given the descriptions above should we even consider a "smartwatch" to be watch or should it be considered an electronic device incorporating a timer?

On the basis of the above how many forum members consider that the smartwatch should form part of a Watch Collectors Portfolio? I'd be interested to read others views Eye Fruit Happy Emoticon Smile
 

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#5 ·
I like the fitness tracking side. Im actively looking at buying a Garmin Fenix 6 for doing trail running e.t.c. But ive had a smartwatch before and i already have a bad enough tech addiction as it is without having something on my wrist pinging me about every little thing. I do really like the concept, and wear a fitbit at the moment too, but i have it set for 1 way comms only, it records fitness data and sends it to my phone, i dont have anything get sent from my phoe to it.

The reason i started wearing watches was to stop me getting my phone out to look at the time. I would get distracted by notifications, scroll through facebook, get annoyed with myself and put my phoe away, then realise i didnt even know what the time was!
 
#45 ·
I like the fitness tracking side. Im actively looking at buying a Garmin Fenix 6 for doing trail running e.t.c. But ive had a smartwatch before and i already have a bad enough tech addiction as it is without having something on my wrist pinging me about every little thing. I do really like the concept, and wear a fitbit at the moment too, but i have it set for 1 way comms only, it records fitness data and sends it to my phone, i dont have anything get sent from my phoe to it.


The reason i started wearing watches was to stop me getting my phone out to look at the time. I would get distracted by notifications on Supersonic SC-64SW, scroll through facebook, get annoyed with myself and put my phoe away, then realise i didnt even know what the time was!
Hello. What's your preferred smart watch? My application is mostly for work and everyday to keep up with messages from the wife, but if it fit into hiking and hunting trips that would be great too.
 
#6 ·
For me, a smartwatch is to watch what a smartphone is to one of these;

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Smartphones today are really not about ringing someone up to have a chat anymore than smartwatches are about telling the time.

If you want to be annoyed constantly by a beeping electronic wrist-mounted tag emitting radiowaves, that is often sold as some kind of health monitor without the slightest sense of irony, then I'd say "yes, fill your boots". :tongue: :laugh:

That's right, I don't own one and don't want one. :laughing2dw:

The only thing smartwatches have in common with watches is that we all have our own needs and taste and we should buy what we like and not care what anyone else thinks. :yes:

I'm not sure my response is very helpful :biggrin:
 
#35 ·
I don't think there are any rules about what to have or what not to have in your collection. Same goes for that "I need to balance my collection". Why ? on whose orders ?
This ^ is the correct answer :yes: :thumbs_up:

I've got several smartwatches in my collection, and I only bought them because I liked the look of 'em. I don't use any of the "smart" functions, to me they are just nice looking watches, and I enjoy wearing them. I think the Fossil hybrid type are a good compromise, with normal analogue hands and good battery life. I did have a full digital smart watch for a while, but again I only used it as a fancy looking digital watch, and the only function I used was the ability to change the display style :laughing2dw:

Here are mine, starting with the TomTom, which looks quite "old skool" with it's low-res display compared to the more modern type, but I really like it:

20201202_142324

Next up is a Fossil with an E-ink style background display:

20210301_175426

And finally a Fossil Q Hybrid, which is Bluetooth but has an analogue subdial for the smartwatch functions (none of which are used by me, as previously mentioned:

20181116_133325

I've also got an awesome G-Shock, which is Bluetooth connected, but not sure if that is classed as a smartwatch:

20200519_150016

So there you have it, shock horror, you don't have to use all of the functions, they can also be used as.... gasp.... a watch! :laughing2dw:
 
#8 ·
To be honest, this isn't really a question about smart watches IMO but one about collections and collecting strategies.

Personally, my 'collection' (if you can call it that) is based around my lifestyle. I have (or plan to get) a certain watch for a certain requirement - dress, office, social, beater, sport etc. And my choice is then based on what I like that ticks those boxes.

So for me personally, a moonphase isn't a "must", nor is anything else.

If your collection is a collection of Japanese quartz watches from the 80s, or Swiss timepieces from the 1953, or you're trying to get as many different automatic movement types as possible etc etc then a smart watch obviously isn't a fundamental part of your collection.

But if your collection is to try and get an example of every movement, or every "type" of watch, then I'd have thought a smart watch was an absolute essential without which your collection wouldn't be complete.
 
#9 · (Edited by Moderator)
I've no issue with smartwatches, they offer some very useful functions.

But I find it wrong, that on the basis that among the many things they do, they display the time and that they are worn on a wrist, they are classed as a watch.

They are not watches, they are wrist mounted computers.

If I straped my microwave to my wrist, it would still be a microwave and not a microwavewatch, despite the fact that it has a time readout.

If I straped my car to my wrist, it would still be a car and not a carwatch despite it having a clock in it.

If I owned a smart watch (I don't because my phone fits in my pocket and my arms work pretty well in retrieving it when I need it) I would not class it as part of my watch collection just because it sits on my wrist, anymore than I would a bangle, bracelet or one of those charity rubber bands that you see.
 
#10 · (Edited by Moderator)
Every watch collection should, if possible, have whatever watches the collector wants & can afford to own :biggrin:

Btw, I` wouldn`t want a Smart Watch even if it was given to me as a present :thumbdown: :tongue:
 
#11 ·
Btw, I` wouldn`t want a Smart Watch even if it was given to me as a present :thumbdown: :tongue:
<bricey screws up carefully curated Christmas list, throws it in the vague direction of the bin, peels off a new leaf from the note book, and with furlough brow starts to sharpen his pencil>

Edit: Bricey realises that @mach 0.0013137 might have simply meant he needs two smartwatches, one for each wrist!!!
 
#12 ·
I see a smartwatch as a completely different genre and generally they hold zero appeal for me. Having said that there was a guy at the poker table the other night with a Monte Blanc smartwatch which looked very traditional and was vaguely acceptable to me, I won't be rushing out to get one though.
 
#15 ·
Smart watches are computers with a phone function. I generally don't carry my phone anywhere, it sits on my coffee table. My ex called it my immobile. On this basis I wouldn't buy a smart watch.

The future is that everyone will be fitted with a cranial chip and a discrete aerial for 24/7 surveillance and advertising downloads. The only way to turn it off will be DIY brain surgery.
 
#16 ·
Smart watches are computers with a phone function. I generally don't carry my phone anywhere, it sits on my coffee table. My ex called it my immobile. On this basis I wouldn't buy a smart watch.

The future is that everyone will be fitted with a cranial chip and a discrete aerial for 24/7 surveillance and advertising downloads. The only way to turn it off will be DIY brain surgery.
I find it genuinely bizarre that there are people I know who have a smartwatch linked to their phone and whilst wearing the smartwatch sitting three feet from their phone they get a notification on the smartwatch, acknowledge it and then reach over to pick their phone up to do the same! :huh: Twice the actions, twice the time! :mad0218:
 
#17 ·
If a watch collector wants a smartwatch, then why not buy one?

I'm not a collector (still in denial :whistle: ) , and I don't want a smart watch, because it would have to take the place of a proper watch on my wrist and I don't want annoying notifications every second of my life.

But as usual, buy what you like.
 
#20 ·
This thread interests me because I have written a number of reviews on certain smartwatches for the Forum. The fact that I have abandoned this subject area tells me that smartwatches have failed to make their mark on my watch collecting, which may have something to do with their lack of "watchness" so to speak. I must admit that my advancing age probably has something to do with my failure to collect and adapt to smartwatches, and I certainly have no problem with people who collect these devices, whether or not they decide to call them "watches". Perhaps I am just not "smart" enough to start collecting smartwatches and/or smartphones - who knows, they might be a major collecting area in the future. As for myself, I will hold on to my non-smart mobile phone for as long as possible, enjoying the fact that it has a proper phone keyboard instead of one of those infuriating little flat touch-screen keyboards. :biggrin:
 
#23 ·
Its hard to buy something knowing its value and utility is going to decrease pretty quickly. Well maybe its utility wont decrease, but it will be surpassed quite quickly. I dont know how they are going to get around that problem. Although it seems like tech is slowing down and phones now just have small incremental improvements, nothing groundbreaking. So maybe its getting near a point where you could spend £500 and know youd be ok for 2-4 years. Still not a great proposition though.

That having been said though, i think the value for someone thats into fitness, is quite a lot higher than just as an extension of your phone. Getting HR, VO2 Max, pace and all those other metrics are pretty useful if you run seriously.
 
#56 ·
Its hard to buy something knowing its value and utility is going to decrease pretty quickly. Well maybe its utility wont decrease, but it will be surpassed quite quickly. I dont know how they are going to get around that problem. Although it seems like tech is slowing down and phones now just have small incremental improvements, nothing groundbreaking. So maybe its getting near a point where you could spend £500 and know youd be ok for 2-4 years. Still not a great proposition though.

That having been said though, i think the value for someone thats into fitness, is quite a lot higher than just as an extension of your phone. Getting HR, VO2 Max, pace and all those other metrics are pretty useful if you run seriously.
And isn't that the point???
We have watches with specific features for divers, pilots, travellers, drivers. If your thing is fitness and the data that is important to you are collected digitally from your wrist, genuinely what is the difference?

I'm having this debate with myself at the moment as I start to think about building a little collection. Yes I need a dress watch. Yes I need a daily beater. For my sport watch, I don't dive so why would I get a diver? I do climb mountains, I run, I hike and I train in the gym so my Fenix 7 is perfect for me as my sports watch.....
 
#25 ·
I'm guessing if you buy a smart watch it's because it's a extension of your phone/wallet so you need to wear it all the time. At the point where I need to wear a smart watch, my interest in owning other watches would probably wain as they would have no practical use.

i feel that technology will get to the point where it relegates watches to jewellery and that will be a sad day.
 
#26 · (Edited by Moderator)
Niet.

You have a smart 'phone. Ergo, watches are jewellery: a balm for the soul. "Smartwatches" are anything but that (IMVHO of course).
 
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#27 · (Edited)
There's a difference between buying a smart watch because it's useful and adding one to a collection - of watches, wearable tech or whatever. I'd be looking for some sort of emotional connection before they'd become collectable. This article on Wareable takes a fairly broad view of what a smart watch is, but collectors might well go looking for some of these.

Smartwatches 1927-2023: The devices that paved the way for the Apple Watch - Wareable

1927 mechanical wrist satnav.

Rectangle Font Metal Fashion accessory Titanium


Sinclair Wristwatch Radio 1985

Plant Terrestrial plant Gadget Grass Audio equipment


IBM Linux watch from 1998

Rectangle Font Material property Gas Technology
 
#29 ·
I have to confess, I bought a smartwatch as a way of using my phone at work only i add, whist driving primarily. At first i wore it on my left wrist as normal, then some six months later i realised that i hadn't worn a normal watch in that time apart from the odd weekend. This started as we went into lockdown the first time, I didn't wear a watch weekends as i was working constantly do home improvements.

So after six months i switched it to my right wrist and started wearing one of my normal watches on my left, problem solved. It is a useful tool that i have no need of outside my work, it works for me.
 
#32 ·
See..



This item is 60 or 70 years old.. when you pick it up it begins to serve a purpose with daily accuracy. It should continuously serve its purpose for perhaps 100 years.

Can I say the same for any "smart watch"? Umm.. no.

Anyway.. they are just portable computers worn on the wrist. This doesn't mean they are watches.

We don't collect phones and consider them pocket watches.
 
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