Defining the question
A smartwatch is usually described as a wristwatch that can run programs, connect to other devices and do more than tell time. Under that definition, the title of first is unclear. Under a looser one, a watch that did something more than show the time, such as a calculator, could count. Under a stricter one, requiring a touchscreen, wireless connection and downloadable software, the first practical examples come from the 2010s. The history is better read as a series of attempts than as a single invention.
Digital watches
The first step was the electronic watch. After the adoption of the quartz watch in the late 1960s and early 1970s, makers turned to digital displays. In 1972, the Hamilton Watch Company introduced the Pulsar, which showed the time in red light emitting diodes when the wearer pressed a button. It was expensive, initially sold in gold, and quickly followed by cheaper models using the same ideas. Liquid crystal displays, which used much less power and could stay on all the time, spread from the mid-1970s.
These watches were not smart, but they proved that wrist watches could be electronic devices, and that they could contain a small computer chip.
Calculator and data watches
Once a watch contained a chip, adding a function was natural. Pulsar sold a calculator watch around 1975, whose tiny keys were pressed with a stylus. In the early 1980s, Casio sold calculator watches in large numbers, and the format became a popular novelty. Casio and other makers also offered “databank” watches that stored telephone numbers and short notes, which was a modest form of personal organizer on the wrist.
A step closer to the idea of a wrist computer came from Seiko. Seiko produced watches in the mid-1980s that could receive data from a personal computer, and one model with a small keyboard was marketed as a way to carry notes and schedules. Details of the exact models, dates and capabilities differ among sources, so claims that one of these was the first wrist computer should be treated with caution.
Syncing with computers
In the 1990s, makers explored watches that could exchange data with a computer. A well-known example is the Timex Datalink, developed with Microsoft and released in 1994. It received appointments and contacts from a personal computer by detecting patterns of flashing light from the screen, which was clever but slow. The idea was that a watch could display schedule information taken from a desktop organizer.
Other experiments followed. Watches with a built-in camera, with pagers, with a compass and barometer, and with infrared links appeared in the late 1990s. Some of them were solid products, such as the sports watches with altitude and heart rate features that appeared later and found a loyal audience among hikers and runners.
Prototypes also pushed the boundary. IBM showed a research watch that ran a version of the Linux operating system around 2000. Several companies, including Samsung, showed or sold a watch with a built-in mobile phone around the same year, which is among the strongest candidates for an early phone watch. These were large, short on battery life and costly, and sold in small numbers.
Early connected watches
In the 2000s, the first watches to connect through wireless links arrived. Bluetooth made it practical for a watch to talk to a phone, and some models displayed incoming caller information or messages. In the mid-2000s Microsoft offered a service that sent small pieces of information, such as weather and news headlines, to watches over FM radio signals. It worked, but the number of supported cities and models was limited, and the service was discontinued after a few years.
Another development was the fitness tracker. These small devices counted steps and sleep, and from about 2009 they became common. They were not watches with full programs, but they brought a daily habit of wearing a connected device on the wrist.
The crowdfunded and mainstream phase
A turning point is often placed in 2012, when the Pebble watch raised a large sum through a crowdfunding campaign. It had a simple, low-power display, connected to a phone and showed notifications. Its success showed that many people wanted a basic connected watch. Several large companies, including Samsung, Sony and Google’s Android Wear partners, introduced smartwatches in the following years.
Apple announced its Apple Watch in 2014 and began selling it in 2015. It was not the first smartwatch, but it brought touchscreen interfaces, health sensing and a wide app platform to a large audience and made the category more visible. Sales grew over the next decade, though smartwatches have remained mainly a complement to the phone rather than a replacement for it.
Summary of the disputed firsts
- The first digital electronic watch: commonly given to the Hamilton Pulsar of 1972.
- The first calculator watch: commonly given as the mid-1970s.
- The first watch that exchanged data with a computer: several 1980s and 1990s candidates.
- The first phone watch: late 1990s and around 2000, with a few contenders.
- The first modern smartwatch: depends on whether the defining feature is apps, touchscreen or wireless connection.
Claims of “the first” in marketing material are better read as claims about one feature at one moment. Each of these devices contributed an idea to the later models, which is perhaps a more useful way of looking at them.