Gooseberry Wants To Make Your Watch Smart!

With their new Smart Buckle.

Courtesy of Gooseberry

Having tried a few smart or connected watches, I generally return to my favorite mechanical (or in the case of the Gavox Aurora, even quartz) watches before too long.  More often than not, I tend to come to the same compromise - connected watch on my right wrist, preferred "real" watch on my left.  The connected watches thus far have failed to live up to both the hype, and then the adjusted expectation level.  In some instances the functions do not work as promised, in others the watch breaks down quite shortly after purchase, becoming a somewhat frustratingly expensive paper weight.  The frustration level for the customer I suspect only increases when it seems that the brand is more intent on spending money on brand ambassadors and events and not worry too much about after sales support.  Because if we're honest, if it doesn't work as advertised, as the customer you are more apt to abandon the whole idea and stop wearing the now apparently "not-so-smart" watch.


MMT offered up the E-Strap this past year, but if I am being completely honest, it is still a limiting solution as it requires you to purchase the entire strap.  So this begs the question, what do you do when the strap is worn out, or if you would prefer to switch straps?  More to the point (and I will gladly accept being corrected if I have gotten the wrong end of the stick) my understanding is that the MMT Smart Strap is strictly a "B to B" solution, meaning that as a consumer, you can't go out and buy one for yourself.  You buy it from the watch brand as an OEM item.  Which means, you guessed it, you're going to be dipping pretty deeply into your pocket for it, and as it is an OEM item, it is going to be as challenging as getting any other OEM item in the post sales environment.  Meaning you will wait months, and frequently not be able to get it in a reasonable amount of time, and it is going to be expensive.

So let's get down to brass tacks -

Courtesy of Gooseberry

As a reminder, this solution as proposed is a buckle with the smart technology component built into it.

Courtesy of Gooseberry

It offers what is pretty much the expected level of features currently found in the majority of connected watches -

Courtesy of Gooseberry

My understanding is that additional features will be forthcoming as they are created and stabilized to ensure their functionality, so I will be curious to see how this develops over time.

Courtesy of Gooseberry

The buckle itself is rechargeable and is reported to last on average 7 days presuming a usage level of 8 to 10 hours.   The good news?  Only 60 minutes (1 hour) to recharge.

You can order the new Smart Buckle through Gooseberry's Kickstarter and save a good margin on the $99 US retail price point.

I have not personally used one, but I can say that if it does perform as advertised, it could be a very interesting step in the evolution of the connected watch.  

I will keep you posted - stay tuned!

The S1/01

From SEVENFRIDAY -

Courtesy of SEVENFRIDAY

The S1/01 is an interesting addition to the SEVENFRIDAY collection and offers some interesting nuances that make it an intriguing watch.

The animation ring (minute scale) is made of recyclable materials, as indicated by a recycle symbol on the side of the watch case -

Courtesy of SEVENFRIDAY

 

Sort of an interesting notion, although I am honestly unsure as to how likely individual watches are going to be knocked apart to "compost" in separately piles.  Now had this been an animation ring crafted from recycled materials?  Well then that would be even better!  But again, it is a cool idea, and well done to SEVENFRIDAY for thinking of it. 

The second interesting idea was the inclusion of an NFC chip in the case back, which allows the owner of the watch to register it with SEVENFRIDAY via the SEVENFRIDAY APP.  

Courtesy of SEVENFRIDAY

The APP is currently only available for Android based phones, but the hope is that a version for iPhone will be available in the future.  The chip is a great customer service idea and I think SEVENFRIDAY is to be applauded for thinking outside the "watch box" on this one.  You can find more info. on the App here - SEVENFRIDAY APP

Here are the pertinents, straight from the source -

S1/01

ENGINE
Automatic movement:
Open balance wheel on Miyota 82S5 40H power reserve.

BOX
Size: 47mm x 47.6mm 

BOX:
Case: Polished and sandblasted stainless steel with polished stainless steel bezel.
Caseback: Polished stainless steel with NFC chip embedded behind the globe.
New recyclable animation ring: Translucent nylon, showcasing the 4x metallic blue PVD structural screws. Classed as a recyclable plastic, the nylon bares the recyclable 7 logo.
Glass: Specially hardened and anti-reflective treated mineral glass. 

MULTI LEVEL INTERFACE:
Gun metal Opaline outer plate, rhodium dial ring with luminous filled indexes, finely sandblasted rhodium “SEVENFRIDAY” plate and polished rhodium stamped grid at 9H. Sandblasted rhodium “S” plate between 4-5H with metallic blue second indicator.
Hands: Metallic blue hour hand and metal minute hand designed as an extension of the mechanical engine. Both rhodium coloured hands are filled with Super-LumiNova®.
Discs: Seconds displayed as an extension of the mechanical engine via rhodium disc with black printed numbers and tracks.

STRAP:
Black calf skin leather with soft touch padding and black stitching.

WATER RESISTANCE:
3ATM (30 metres).

NFC:
Chip that allows authenticity verification via the SEVENFRIDAY Android app.

It's All About Timing

Every now and then Frederique Constant comes out with something surprising, intriguing and downright useful. 

Courtesy of Frederique Constant

This is their latest offering - not a watch, not a smart watch, but something that will certainly keep you better informed about your watches!

There have been a few different attempts to create a rate measuring device for the "hobbyist", and they have had varying levels of success/acceptance.  They have been a bit bulky, some have debated the accuracy of the measurements, etc.  I can hear the "Pointdexters" right now arguing about frequencies, etc.,  and how only their slide-rules, calculations and tea leaves will give an accurate reading ; )

Courtesy of Frederique Constant

And if you are a one or two watch kinda' guy or girl, then this is probably not for you.  But if I am honest, I see a HUGE group of people that this could be of great use for.  From the small store that offers pre-owned watches, to the collector going to get togethers where they might wish to trade or buy a watch from a fellow collector. I myself could get great benefit from this when doing reviews of watches. 

Here is the release in full from the folks in Geneva -

Accuracy

The hallmark of a great timepiece is accuracy. A measure of accuracy is a measure of value. Each mechanical timepiece has a tiny Balance Wheel that acts as a pendulum. Every oscillation back and forth should take exactly one second. But if the Balance Wheel mechanism is off by just a matter of a few degrees, the accuracy of the watch will suffer.

Measure

To start measuring the heartbeat of the timepiece, the ingenious Analytics Clip must be placed on the watch and the user must launch the SwissConnect Analytics App, available for iOS and Android. Within seconds, Frederique Constant Analytics measures the accuracy of the watch. It measures the precision of mechanical watches, with an accuracy of at least ±0.2s/day.

Visualize results

An oscilloscope shows the audio waveform in real time. The result is plotted in a chart, which can be saved for later reference.
Also, Analytics can record and save a long-time measurement, e.g. for 12 hours, to analyze the long-time performance of your watch. 

Multiple watches

Frederique Constant Analytics supports a wide range of frequencies, covering almost all mechanical watches available on the market. In case the user doesn’t know the watch’s frequency, a frequency auto detect function is available on the app.

Track

Frederique Constant Analytics connects to the Cloud. When the user measures a watch, data is saved to his or her cloud account. Accuracy measurements can be tracked over time on a dashboard. Frederique Constant encourages every user to monitor their watch collection and record all measurements. This will enable them to follow their timepieces over the years and detect when each should be serviced.

Knowledge base

Frederique Constant offers a growing knowledge base on mechanical watch accuracy, maintenance and service. There are various reasons that the accuracy of a mechanical watch changes over time. Particularly the balance spring can change in strength from the micro-stresses to the metal they are made of. Moreover, watch escapements are lubricated with oils, and as those oils age, the rate of a mechanical watch changes as well.

Backup and restore

Once the user has registered his or her Private Account, the Analytics app will back up the watch’s measurements to the cloud and keep data available anywhere. The user can easily restore data if he or she switches to a new smartphone.

The Frederique Constant measuring clip will be available at Frederique Constant Authorized Retailers and through the Frederique Constant webstore at: http://frederiqueconstant.com/analytics/

The asking price is 99 Euros, and it supports both Android and iOS.

For more info -

Frederique Constant Analytics
 

The Lepsi Watch Analyzer

Ever wonder how accurate your watch really is?  Which position is it's ideal?
Just how fast or slow is it?

It would seem that the good folks at Orbita reached into your brain and pulled out a very useful item!



Here's the scoop, straight from Obrita - The Lepsi Watch Analyzer tests your timepiece by mounting your watch on an acoustic holder.