On the wrist

Every watch tells a story. Every strap changes it.

The Smartlet Journal covers watch strap compatibility, modular wearables, and the collector's question that started it all: mechanical watch or smartwatch? Our answer: both.

Filter by category

On the wrist

Fitbit Air just made the dual-wear wrist mainstream - Smartlet

Fitbit Air: the screenless wearable that made dual wear mainstream

On 7 May 2026, Google announced a wearable with no screen. Within four weeks of the announcement, the watch press, the tech press, Reddit, Threads,...
Two mountains, two ways up: the Japanese and Swiss philosophies of watchmaking - Smartlet

Two mountains, two ways up: the Japanese and Swiss philosophies of watchmaking

There is a particular conversation that happens every few months in serious watch circles, and it usually starts with someone holding a Grand Seiko in...
The watch drawer: why most collectors wear 20% of what they own - Smartlet

The watch drawer: why most collectors wear 20% of what they own

There is a drawer somewhere in my apartment that contains several watches I have not worn in over a year. They are not bad watches....
316L vs 904L stainless steel: why most luxury watches use the cheaper one - Smartlet

316L vs 904L stainless steel: why most luxury watches use the cheaper one

Most people buying a luxury watch never look at what its case is made of. The steel itself is just "stainless," in the way the...
The spring bar: how a 1.5mm steel cylinder holds your watch together - Smartlet

The spring bar: how a 1.5mm steel cylinder holds your watch together

There is a small steel cylinder, about 1.5 millimetres in diameter, that holds your watch onto your wrist. It contains a tiny internal spring and...
The watches you wanted vs the watches you hunted: a field guide to FOMO and hype cycles - Smartlet

The watches you wanted vs the watches you hunted: a field guide to FOMO and hype cycles

Most serious watch collectors I know have a story they would rather not retell. The one about the watch they bought during the pandemic for...
The NATO strap: how a 1973 British military spec became the most worn watch strap in the world - Smartlet

The NATO strap: how a 1973 British military spec became the most worn watch strap in the world

Almost every watch enthusiast owns a NATO strap. What is remarkable is how few people know where it actually came from. The strap was specified...
The four philosophies of the wrist - Smartlet

The four philosophies of the wrist

A watch tells the time. That is the one thing the three most stylish American men of the twentieth century seemed least interested in. Sinatra,...
How global executives solved the multi-timezone wrist problem badly for years, and what Kevin O'Leary just made visible - Smartlet

How global executives solved the multi-timezone wrist problem badly for years, and what Kevin O'Leary just made visible

Global operators have been solving the multi-timezone wrist problem badly for years. Two watches, two wrists, an awkward signal the watch press has rolled its...
Apollo 11 redundancy and the engineering case for two watches on one wrist - Smartlet

Apollo 11 redundancy and the engineering case for two watches on one wrist

Apollo 11 is remembered as the mission that made one watch immortal. It was actually built on a redundancy principle that every test pilot of...
Why Q would have invented Smartlet for James Bond - Smartlet

Why Q would have invented Smartlet for James Bond

Every Q gadget resolves a conflict between two needs. Smartlet does the same thing on a wrist. Q would have signed the patent. Probably did....
Serica + Apple Watch: the independent watchmaker's dual-wear guide - Smartlet

Serica + Apple Watch: the independent watchmaker's dual-wear guide

Three Serica references, three approaches to the same wrist. Here is how the 7505, the 6190, and the 5303 pair with an Apple Watch through...
1 2 3 4 5 6 … 14

Request our press kit

Want to know more about Smartlet, our story, our product, or our vision?

Request our press kit