Can Invis Save the Watchmaking Industry?

Tradition and Modern Challenges

For decades, the watchmaking industry has symbolized craftsmanship, precision, fashion, and luxury. Yet, in the face of the rapid evolution of wearable technology and growing customer expectations, it must address new challenges. Can a traditional watch, offering features like a date display, stopwatch, or tachymeter, still find its place in a world dominated by smartphones? Or will it become just an ornament and a luxury item? Invis answers this question by introducing technology that not only preserves the spirit of tradition but also restores the practical utility of watches with modern applications.

A Return to Pragmatic Functionality

Before smartphones and smartwatches appeared, watches provided practical features that met users’ everyday needs. The history of these inventions highlights pivotal moments in the development of the watch industry and the visionaries who focused on users' practical demands. Here are a few examples:

• Date Display: The date display allowed users to check the date with a simple glance at the watch face. Rolex introduced the first Day-Date watch in 1956, showcasing both the day of the week and the date on the dial. Practical? Definitely – it’s easy to forget the date!

• Water Resistance: In 1926, Rolex took a monumental step forward, creating the first water- and dust-resistant wristwatch. Named the Oyster for its hermetically sealed case, it protected its precision mechanism. The Submariner, introduced in 1953, was the first diving watch water-resistant to 100 meters. Its rotating bezel allowed divers to monitor their dive time safely. Is that useful? Absolutely. Don’t dive? You still have a watch that won’t fail you in the rain. Are you a diver? Then you have an essential feature to monitor your dive time.

• Automatic Watches and Tachymeters: Watches with automatic movements eliminated the need for manual winding – a simple yet vital innovation. The fascinating rivalry between giants such as Seiko (caliber 6139), Zenith (El Primero), and the Breitling, Heuer-Leonidas, and Büren-Hamilton consortium (caliber 11 Chrono-Matic) in 1969 will be remembered forever. Users gained a watch that didn’t require winding, along with a stopwatch and a tachymeter to calculate speed. Useful? Of course – automatic watches became a staple category in the market.

Before we consign these great innovations of mechanical watches—which, for decades, combined practical usage with the timeless beauty of wristwatches—to museums, it’s worth remembering that electronic devices still need charging, have much shorter lifespans, and that automatic watches remain available. However, the truth is that we now check the date, time, speed, and countless other useful data—beyond the reach of mechanical complications—on other devices, primarily smartphones. And so, the watch becomes an ornament.

Invis brings back the philosophy of utility, offering modern solutions such as contactless payments, door opening through gestures, or biometric authentication at an unmatched level of security. What’s more, these solutions are built into high-quality straps and buckles that preserve the traditional design of watches. This ensures that a classic watch doesn’t need to look like a gadget from a science fiction movie to meet contemporary demands.

The History of Watches: Functionality and Emotion

The history of watches is the story of items worn every day, whose value stemmed from both their functionality and the emotions they evoked. Thanks to Invis, a watch becomes more than just an ornament on the wrist. Functions such as physical activity tracking, contactless payments, and location tracking mean that users not only reach for their timepieces more often but also begin to see them as indispensable tools for daily life.

A Revolution in Contactless Payments

Could paying be any easier than simply waving your hand over a terminal? No need to charge the device, no need to carry your phone, even with your hands full. It’s that simple. Invis, certified by Mastercard and Visa, opens new possibilities for millions of users. Your favorite watch remains as it was; you simply change the strap, and you can pay with it anywhere. You can finally leave your wallet at home, and one day explain to your kids what it was used for.

The Intelligent Key of the Future

Imagine life without keys. That future is here and Invis plays a key role in it. Replacing keys with magnetic cards or opening doors with PIN codes still lacks full convenience. Cards can be lost, and PINs can be forgotten, so you’d still have to carry keys as a backup. However, access control using NFC technology and tokenization, integrated into a strap for a classic watch, is a true breakthrough. As a result, the owner of a classic watch can unlock their home with a simple gesture – bringing their hand close to a panel and opening the door. And again, as with payments, the device doesn’t need charging, and you can open doors without a phone.

Security Redefined – Biometrics in the Buckle

A watch is a symbol of individuality, and often of social status. Today, thanks to Invis's biometric technology, a watch can act as a personal guardian of data, home, and finances. Recognizing the owner through a scan of the wrist’s skin topography and their walking pattern provides undeniable biometric authentication for payments or unlocking doors. Additionally, your biometric profile is stored only on the Invis device and nowhere else. Lose your watch with the Invis device? You can locate it on a map in your smartphone using the “Find my Watch” function. These are milestones in security and personalization that Invis is bringing to life. This is how a watch gains practical features tailored to our times, just like those from the era of tachymeters and date displays.

The Future of the Watchmaking Industry: Data and Utility

The future of the watchmaking industry following the advent of smartwatches is the subject of many questions and analyses. In terms of value, the market for classic watches holds its ground, but the numbers from the wearables market are thought-provoking. It is expected that the global market for wearable technology will grow from $70.30 billion in 2024 to $152.82 billion in 2029, with an average annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.8%. This is where pragmatic users are moving. Sometimes, unable to part with their classic watches, they use both devices simultaneously – a trend that already has its name: “double wristing.”

Watch manufacturers pondering this phenomenon should also consider another trend. A device used daily for simple tasks such as paying, unlocking doors, or counting steps contains user data that is both useful and often very important. Such a device is worn daily and rarely replaced. And that watch will become the number one device – the one used for payments, counting steps, unlocking the home, or logging into a computer. Invis not only redefines what a modern watch is but also opens new possibilities for the entire industry. The integration of traditional elegance with modern technologies meets the dynamic changes in consumer preferences.

Can Invis save the watchmaking industry? We believe it can. This is not just technology but also a manifesto of modernity in the service of tradition. It is a future that remains faithful to the past.