WATCH & JEWELRY /
SIHH＆BASEL
July 16, 2015
Feature | Baselworld Review: Examining Smartwatch Trends | BVLGARI
BVLGARI
A New Genre of Watchmaking is Born
Feature: Insights from Baselworld 2015
Examining Smartwatch Trends: BVLGARI (Part 1)
At " Baselworld", numerous new models were unveiled by various brands. Among them, a new trend emerged: the smartwatch genre. This article examines the new trends and future prospects of smartwatches this year.
Photographs & Text by SHIBUYA Yasuhito
A Concept Model Beyond Smartwatches
Portable mechanical watches are said to have originated about 450 years ago. Furthermore, while there are various theories, watches worn on the wrist emerged around 200 years ago, in the 19th century. Following the electronic revolution of quartz watches, 2015 marks the dawn of the smartwatch era, a veritable wrist-worn computer.
Looking back, watches have always been the most advanced information devices for humans. A compact, seamlessly integrated wristwatch represents the ultimate form for such devices.
Consequently, since the advent of handheld computers in the 1980s, wrist-worn computers have been developed numerous times. However, it is unfortunately common for the concept to be sound, but the technology to lag behind.
Now that technology has matured, the arrival of the smartwatch era is inevitable.
Furthermore, smartwatches hold a variety of possibilities.
While "achieving multi-functionality with a wrist-worn computer" is one direction, other vectors can also be considered.
One such direction is "elegantly realizing a single, important function."
At the 2015 Basel Fair, BVLGARI proposed a concept model as an "intelligent luxury watch": DiagonoMagnesium Concept Watch", a connected watch that pursues a single, important, and appealing function befitting a luxury brand.
In partnership with WISeKey, a world-leading data security company headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, BVLGARI pursued just one function with this timepiece: addressing the new dangers everyone faces in the network age – namely, network security.
Inside the case, crafted with lightweight magnesium alloy and PEEK (Polyether ether ketone) in the central section, lies not only BVLGARI's fully in-house automatic movement cherished by watch enthusiasts, but also an NFC (Near Field Communication) chip and a communication antenna.
What kind of security is realized with this watch, and through what operations and mechanisms?
BVLGARI
A New Genre of Watchmaking is Born
Feature: Insights from Baselworld 2015
Examining Smartwatch Trends: BVLGARI (Part 2)
Making Your Watch Your Ultimate ID
While security is planned to be realized in various scenarios in the future, what has been announced at this point is that payment transactions by accessing bank accounts and access to data centers storing one's valuable data can be performed with peace of mind, at the same security level as bank security systems. The usage is also remarkably simple.
Users install the dedicated Android application "BVLGARI Vault Application" on their smartphones. After launching this software, bringing the watch close to the smartphone initiates communication by passing current to the watch's built-in NFC chip.
At this time, the digital certificate data recorded on the watch's NFC chip serves as an electronic key. This watch, which you always wear, proves your identity on the network.
Moreover, this watch looks exactly like a regular mechanical watch from the outside, and it is impossible for anyone other than you to read the information on the chip and use it illicitly. Furthermore, the NFC chip itself has no battery; it operates using the induced current generated when a smartphone is brought near, so there is no concern about degradation or need for replacement.
"What celebrities seek as added functions for luxury watches is not the same functionality as smartphones, we believe," says the brand's CEO, Jean-Christophe Babin.
The idea of "making the watch you always wear your ultimate ID – using it as an electronic network key to achieve ultimate security" is a function that perfectly suits celebrities who favor luxury watches.
It is still a concept watch, and neither its release date nor its price has been decided yet. However, this "ultimate network security" function may garner considerable popularity among celebrities.
The era of widespread, full-fledged smartwatches will also be an era where the conventional notion of "smartwatch = wrist-worn computer" changes.
BVLGARI Japan
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