With smartwatches currently being all the rage, the media write extensively about new watch designs created by IT and fashion companies alike. Up until now, two players has attracted most attention – Apple Watch and Android Wear – that undoubtedly have the biggest chance of reaching the masses. However, the market of electronic, intelligent watches, is much broader than that.

Apple Watch and Android Wear as leaders in the industry

Apple Watch and Android Wear stir up the strongest emotions and are commented most often by the media. Despite comparisons made frequently between the two, I believe Google aims its gadgets at a different target group. A smartwatch with Android OS is a gadget for geeks. Most of such devices are not as elegant as Apple watches, maybe except for Motorola and LG models (smartwatches having a round cuvette). Apple, however, has a better strategy for entering the fashion market, and an interesting design, which can be matched to different clothing styles.

Additionally, the company has a stronger strategy for entering the world market of wearable fashion: recently American Vouge has written about Jony Ive Senior Vice President of Design at Apple Inc. and how he influences consumer product design as well as fashion. Apple also organized a one-day-only watch display at Colette boutique in Paris during Paris Fashion Week. The event was attended also by Anna Wintour and Karl Lagerfeld, among others. The Apple product made its fashion debut on the cover of Vogue China. Apple Watch, however, is also criticised by watch lovers for being a product for masses (as it is not hand-finished) and at the same time being unreachable for members of the middle class.

LVMH’s TAG Heuer Smartwatch i Division Furtive Super-Secret High Tech Watches – a classic alternative for tech corporations

An alternative for more demanding customers can be the concepts of TAG Heuer and Division Furtive. As regards the former, we only know that the watch is to be created:

We want to launch a smartwatch at TAG Heuer, but it must not copy the Apple Watch,” Jean-Claude Biver told Sunday newspaper NZZ am Sonntag “We cannot afford to just follow in somebody else’s footsteps.

As for Division Furtive, a prototype has already been made, and the creator is currently raising money on Kickstarter for its development (feel free to support the project!). It combines new technology with an analogue watch. The watch features:

– Calendar
– Flashlight
– Travel Time, which allows for setting time not according to time zones, but points of compass
– Moon Phase
– Chronometer
– Power reserve – backup battery
– Universal time setting by light from smartphones or computers. There are also plans of developing an Android application.

Given the trends in smartwatch and wearable fashion industry, I get the impression that lots of things are about to happen in this matter in 2015. Maybe it will be the time when watch lovers reconsider their attitude towards smartwatches and although I highly doubt that the latter will replace beautiful, hand-made Swiss models, surely big changes are on their way.