Fossil is behind some of the most alluring smartwatches in the wearables market. And now, two of its premiere brands, Skagen and Kate Spade New York, are entering the arena with some stunners for your wrist in 2018.
We’ll have deeper hands-on reviews of both watches soon from the CES 2018 showfloor, but this will give you the gist of what to expect out of Fossil’s early 2018 smartwatch catalog.
Starting with the Skagen Falster, it’s a smarter take on a classic analog look. Being a company known for its thin, low-profile timepieces, its first smartwatch comes off impressive with squared-off lugs that branch off of its stainless steel chassis, rocking minimal bezels and clad in silver, rose gold and black casing options.
Running on Android Wear 2.0, Skagen’s new model starts at $275 (£279, about AU$350) for the black version, while the others add $20 to the price tag. To be frank, this is quite steep for an Android Wear smartwatch these days, with the similar-looking LG Watch Style coming in well below the $200 mark.
And based on early renders provided to TechRadar, we can’t exactly tell how thin this smartwatch will be. For that, and for impressions on its general usage and feeling on the wrist, we’ll have to wait a short while for our hands-on look.
And now, Kate Spade
Skagen isn’t the only Fossil brand to launch a product at CES 2018. Kate Spade New York is debuting its first smartwatch, aptly called the Kate Spade New York Scallop Touchscreen Smartwatch – but we’ll just call it the Kate Spade Scallop, for short.
Inspired in design by a scallop, albeit a shiny one, the Kate Spade smartwatch is much more showy than Skagen’s. Offered in gold and rose gold options, it starts at $295 (£299, about AU$375) for leather strap options, but works up to $325 for a link bracelet if you fancy the rose gold look on both the chassis and the strap.
Both outside and in, the Kate Spade model is aiming at a crowd that likes to show what they’re rocking. If the shiny design doesn’t do it, its custom watch faces will certainly grab some eyes. Compared to Skagen’s one-size-fits-all approach to design, the Kate Spade watch won’t turn on everyone.
We’ll be looking at both Android Wear-powered watches here at CES 2018, so stay tuned for deeper impressions.
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