The First Swiss-Made Smartwatch

About time too.

Forget LED displays, square lumps and email notifications - Swiss watchmakers Mondaine have gone and made a smart timepiece that doesn't have the appearance of a miniaturised calculator. 

The Helvetica No 1 Smartwatch echoes some of the style points of the brand's iconic Swiss railway watch design of the 80s - a watch face of such appeal that it landed Apple in hot water, the Californian group sued for appearing to have copied it for their own clock app. Rather than opting for an electronic display, Mondaine has maintained its analogue craft with a clean, minimal face.

The "connected" part of the watch sneaks into the additional dial above the six o'clock position: whether you're plotting your daily movements or nightly sleeps, the watch can output stats on this additional dial, showing you how close you are to reaching targets and what you've clocked up during the day. Data is collected by the watch's MotionX activity and sleep monitoring system, which then coordinates with your connected smartphone to keep a track of your habits. 

Set to be unveiled at Baselworld in the next few weeks, the Helvetica is yet to receive a price. Expect it to arrive some time this autumn, a little after the Apple Watch has convinced us that we actually don't want a wrist-based message pest. 

(Images: Mondaine.com)