Helvetica-Inspired Smartwatch Actually Looks Smart

There are no notifications, no voice activation, no gimmicky apps, or watch faces that can be loaded onto it. The Helvetica 1 is, however, very handsome.
Mondaine's Helvetica 1 smartwatch.
Mondaine

Mondaine’s Helvetica 1 is a smartwatch that (thankfully) doesn’t look anything like a smartwatch. For one thing, there’s no screen; just a clean face with numbers emblazoned in—you guessed it—helvetica. Then there’s the fact that the watch isn’t particularly smart, at least not in the “Hey look, ma! I can send my heartbeat” sense of the word. There are no notifications, no voice activation, no gimmicky apps, or watch faces that can be loaded onto it. The Helvetica 1 is, however, very handsome and, starting now, very available for pre-order through August.

The Swiss watchmaker unveiled its Helvetica line last year, and like Withings’ Activité watch, the company is layering in simple technical upgrades that elevate the traditional quartz-movement timepiece to smartwatch status. Using MotionX and sleep sensors, the Helvetica 1 can track physical activity, calories burned, and your sleep cycle. You can set fitness goals and automatically change your watch’s timezone through its accompanying iOS and Android apps.

Pretty barebones functionality as far as smartwatches go, but that’s not why you’re buying it anyway. The Helvetica 1, like its namesake font, looks good. Just check out how its lugs resemble the slightly curved “1” in Helvetica. Added bonus: The company claims you need only charge it just every two years.

Mondaine is making only 1,957 of these watches—a nod to the year Helvetica was designed. You can buy it for $850 now or $950 starting in September.