You can now be one of the first consumers to get their hands on the Mondaine Helvetica 1 smartwatch. The smartwatch is now available for preorder, but the Swiss watch manufacturer has only made 1,957 units in celebration of the year the popular font was introduced.
Mondaine first unveiled Helvetica 1 in March at Baselworld 2015 watch and jewelry show. The smartwatch doesn't compete with the other, more popular wearables on the market such as Apple Watch in terms of its functions. The Helvetica 1 can only track fitness and sleep data, and unlike the other digital touchscreen smartwatches, it features an analog face.
Still, users will be able to tell the time, as well as see the date, activity and sleep tracking data on the sub-dial, but will need to sync the smartwatch with an iOS or Andrord device to see more in-depth data such as daily steps taken, calories burned, distance traveled, see how deep or light your sleep was, and for the ability to set an alarm.
Another interesting features is the ability for the smartwatch to adjust changing time zones automatically when connected to the user's smartphone.
The wearable has a battery life of more than two years, not needing to be charged regularly, which is a major advantage.
Honoring the year the font was created, the Helvetica 1 will include an engraved "1 of 1977" on the side of the case. The typeface was first created by Max Miedinger and released by Linotype in 1957, and then a second version called Neue Helvetica was released in 1983, and Linotype released Neue Helvetica Pro in 2004, which is an OpenType version with expanded foreign language support. The typeface was redesigned to make the characters more consistent and legible as technology improved to allow more design freedom and to clean up the weight, width and spacing limitations.
The Limited Edition Mondaine Helvetica 1 Smartwatch will retail for $950 when it's released in September. Those who preorder the wearable will pay $850.
Via: SlashGear
