A company called Ganance has developed a way to turn almost any wristwatch, from a Citizen to a Rolex, into a smartwatch. Called The Heir, it’s a little disc that fits to the base of your treasured timepiece and adds new functions.
Unlike the Ollie Watch One, there’s no full rebuild needed. You won’t have to open the casing or stick anything in. And, if you want it gone, it’ll just… come off.
Heir we go again
The Heir (the ‘The’ is part of its name) adds a selection of sensors to a conventional wristwatch, upskilling it into something smarter. Functions added include movement and step tracking, notifications (via haptics, because it’s not changing the face), and gesture control. The latter are executed via taps on the preexisting face, which transmit to the unit before the casing.
The 3mm-thick disc doesn’t use any adhesive to stick to your horological investment. Engineering, specifically “microsuction technology”, is the answer there, keeping it secure until you pop it off yourself. Smart functions are enabled by Ganance’s app, which, happily, doesn’t come with a subscription fee.
Reservations for the device are currently live, and it’ll cost you R2,600 ($150) to keep one aside for yourself. If you don’t happen to own a regular watch, the disc also works as a tracker on its own. Just pop it into the HeirBand (R700), which is sold separately, and you’ve got yourself a functional upgrade for when you finally get around to buying that Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime.
