Early wearable devices are ordinary and ordinary, paying attention to functional requirements, but ignoring the appearance of beauty. People wear them to count their steps, not to look stylish. Now that‘s changing, and modern wearable consumer electronics devices are increasingly combining convenience and use with classic style to grab a slice of the lucrative and growing fashion market.

    The wearable technology industry continues to thrive. According to Statista, the shipment of hearing devices, smart watches, smart rings, wristbands and other wearable devices will reach about 560 million units in 2024 [1]. Compared to 336 million units shipped five years ago [2], this is an increase of more than 65%.

    Currently, this market is dominated by mature smartwatches from major brands such as Apple, Garmin, Google Fitbit, and Samsung. Manufacturers seek to differentiate their products by extending battery life, improving usability, and adding health and fitness features.

    The next wave of wearable technology will hit the lucrative world of fashion. To meet new consumer demands, smart designers and developers pay as much attention to form as to function. By blending advanced technology with traditional watches, wearables can break through the original look.

    Withings, a French consumer-electronics company, is one such pioneer. The company recently launched an advanced hybrid smartwatch, the ScanWatch Nova, which provides wearers with accurate 24/7 health metrics while featuring an elegant "diver style" stainless steel design.

    This compact smartwatch integrates temperature, accelerometer, altimeter, and multi-wavelength photosphygonometer (PPG) sensors, all managed by Nordic Semiconductor‘s nRF52840? multi-protocol Bluetooth LE SoC to generate a variety of health data, This includes temperature tracking, on-demand electrocardiogram (ECG), and menstrual cycle tracking.

    Festina, the world‘s leading watch brand, has also launched the latest product in its connected watch series, with a stylish and modern design. The Festina Connected D with the nRF52840 SoC functions as both a traditional watch and an activity tracker. This stainless steel watch features a realistic physical dial and hands with an OLED display opening.

    Meanwhile, Dayton Industrial‘s Link2Care Smartwatch DA13700 with Nordic nRF52832?SoC is elegantly designed and equipped with 3D motion sensors for activity logging, inactivity alerts, sleep monitoring and fall detection. The smartwatch also integrates Nordic‘s nRF9160 SiP, which provides LTE-M/NB-IoT cellular iot connectivity and GNSS, meaning that the wearer‘s location information can be reported to designated caregivers along with SOS alerts, while further information can be uploaded directly to the cloud and customer service centers over the cellular network.

    This trend toward both form and function is no accident. Luxury watch sales are not as affected by smartwatch sales as some might think. Last year, for example, Swiss watch exports increased by 7.2% compared to the previous year, with mechanical watches accounting for almost 80% of the growth [3]. All indications are that if the connected watch can break through in both appearance and function, it can gain the favor of consumers.

    Another booming market is fashion-forward smart jewelry, which also provides the wearer with health data and sometimes built-in safety and security features such as location updates and SOS alerts.

    In particular, the beautiful smart ring is challenging the dominance of smart watches in the entire industry. The Smart Ring is aimed at two different markets: those who do not want to wear a watch, and those who want or need to collect health parameters.

    Ultrahuman Ring Air, a smart ring powered by Nordic technology, can track and record a range of health parameters while providing the wearer with activity or recovery recommendations. In addition to appearance, the device also provides a range of metrics, including movement index and sleep index, to help users better understand and improve their physical fitness levels and factors affecting metabolism.

    The WHOOP 4.0, developed by Us-Based human performance company WHOOP, is not a smart ring, but is also a non-traditional smart wearable as it lacks a display and can be worn on one arm, allowing users to wear a traditional watch on the other wrist.

    The integration of wearable technology into high fashion is not a whim. In the near future, concepts such as AI-driven clothing design and customization, or interactive fashion experiences beyond physical clothing, can further expand the field of wearable technology.

    With a new generation of highly integrated wireless SoCs, such as Nordic Semiconductor‘s innovative nRF54H20 product, the wearables of the future will not only be more stylish, but also smaller, lighter and more powerful.

    1. Wearable unit shipments worldwide from 2014 to 2028. Statista, April 2024.

    2. 2019 Wearable Market Report. IDC, March 2020

    3. Record value and a sharp rise in volumes. Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, January 2024.