Baselworld 2017, the largest annual wristwatch tradeshow begins with Press Day today in Basel, Switzerland.  In its 100^th anniversary year, the show is beginning to blur the lines between luxury timepiece and consumer tech and is expected to heavily feature fashion focused Android Wear smartwatches from traditional wristwatch and designer brands.  The event will last through March 30^th and will be covered daily by Strategy Analytics.  Below are a few of our top picks, from our WDE (Wearables) service, on smartwatch announcements for Press Day:

• Casio has announced the Pro Trek WSD-F20S, a special limited addition of their Pro Trek WSD-F20 announced at CES 2017.  The F20S will sport all the same features of the F20, such as built-in GPS, 5 meter water resistance, and Android Wear 2.0, with a new and luxurious blue and black design, the addition of a sapphire crystal display, and adding ion-plated buttons and buckle.  It will be a very limited production run of only 500 units and pricing and availability details are not yet revealed.

Exhibit 1: Casio Pro Trek WSD-F20S

• Fossil, through a collaboration with famed National Geographic wildlife photographer Cory Richards, is adding another, special edition, smartwatch to their lineup – the Fossil Q x Cory Richards.  The design resembles the Fossil Blue, which holds a sentimental attachment for Cory as he received one in his early career and keeps it framed as a memento of some of his earlier expeditions.  Although price has not yet been disclosed, the timepiece will feature a pedometer, Android Wear 2.0, customizable watch face, and an interchangeable leather strap engraved with Cory’s signature.   Scheduled to hit the market on March 27^th,  the Fossil Q x Cory Richards should appeal to high-fashion consumers, although likely will be priced higher than base smartwatch models from consumer electronics giants like LG and Samsung, limiting it’s reach.

• Watch brand Gc will use Baselworld 2017 as a platform to announce their first ever smartwatch, the Gc Connect.  Sporting premium materials and design, the Gc Connect will feature Android Wear 2.0 and a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor.  Interestingly, and likely in the interest of battery life/usability, many of the fashion and traditional wristwatch brands are choosing to exclude GPS and heart rate monitors.

You can tune into our Day 1 update tomorrow and can find our first blog about our expectations for Baselworld 2017 here.