Fossil Debuts Android Wear And Hybrid Smartwatches For Kate Spade, DKNY And More At Baselworld 2017

The premier timepiece event of the year, Baselworld, has officially gotten underway in Switzerland and the theme already appears to be fresh takes on connected smartwatches.

Fossil Group announced Thursday that it would be launching more than 300 connected watches across 14 brands from its portfolio for 2017. The company currently counts fashion-forward names like Kate Spade New York, DKNY and Michael Kors in its roster, along with its namesake Fossil brand.

The new assortment of hybrid watches and Android Wear smartwatches will debut across the following brands: Skagen, Michael Kors, Kate Spade New York, Misfit, Emporio Armani, Fossil, Chaps, Diesel, Tory Burch, Armani Exchange, Relic, Marc Jacobs, MICHELE and DKNY.

“Many of our brands that first entered the wearables space less than a year ago are now branching out with new styles, colors and types of wearables, all showcasing the perfect fusion of fashion and technology,” Greg Mckelvey, chief strategy and digital officer of Fossil Group said in a statement.

Read: Google And Movado To Debut Android Wear 2.0 Smartwatch Collection At Baselworld 2017

The company will be releasing hybrid smart watches for the year ahead that will feature “discreet notifications,” and activity tracking capabilities. Consumers can also expect design changes to buttons and to the watches’ overall look.

“Our customers are no longer wearing a watch simply to tell time, they are wearing it to stay connected to the people and activities they care about most while remaining fashionably on-point,” McKelvey said.

Connected Android Wear 2.0 watches will feature AMOLED screens and Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 processors, according to The Verge (unlike the Android Wear watches, the hybrid watches rely on coin cell batteries).

Fossil rolled out its first smartwatch in 2015 and has already released over 150 hybrid smart watches, touchscreen smart watches and fitness trackers all over the world.

“… while 2016 was a banner year for our smartwatch innovation and introductions, the tangible results of Fossil Group’s innovation are creating tremendous opportunity for our wearables in 2017,” Eric Anderson, executive vice president of Portfolio Brands, Fossil Group said in a statement.

For a complete list of the new connected devices and their accompanying release date, check out the press release.