With Apple's iWatch expected to make its debut in the near future, what are companies doing to keep their names in the smartwatch conversation? In the case of Samsung and its upcoming Gear S smartwatch, it essentially took the existing strap, dipped it in glue, rolled it in crushed coke bottles, and called it a day.
Encrusted in Swarovski lead-cut glass crystals, this new, optional band uses a new technology that the company is calling "Crystal Fine Mesh," which integrates crystals directly into the strap. It's part of the larger Swarovski for Samsung Collection, which is an assortment of hideously twinkling and overpriced accessories for products like the Galaxy S5 smartphone and Gear Fit activity tracker. If it wasn't before, the Samsung Gear S is now shiny enough to look at home on the wrist of a part-time associate at Claire's.
Samsung, of course, has hardly revolutionized the practice of taking a gadget and letting Swarovski transform it into a piece of modern kitsch. For years, Swarovski has been growing its particular brand of twinkling crystal barnacles on gadgets so they better suit the aesthetics of such design icons as Brittany Spears. Some other design crimes perpetrated by Swarovski include Swarovski encrusted Philips earbuds, Swarovski bedaubed Xbox Kinects, Queen Elizabeth approved Swarovski 3-D glasses, a Swarovski smothered Electrolux vacuum cleaner, and even a Swarovski plastered LG OLED TV.
The Swarovski Gear S smartwatch band will go on sale in October, for a still-unnamed price that is bound to be stomach turning. The full press release is here.