Tiny RFID Chip in Wristwatch Glass

Topic: Portable Devices

Posted on Fri, 16 Jul 2004 17:00:04 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

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This can only come from a Swiss Company. Swiss Startup Winwatch S.A. has patented a way of embedding tags built on RFID technology in watch glasses, opening a wide variety of new applications.

Winwatch's solution is to integrate a RFID transponder into a wristwatch without altering the internal structure of the watch. Which is important if you know how watches are made.

Actual timepieces are designed to contain tags within the main body and therefore require a space for accommodating the chip and the antenna within the mechanical part of the watch, which gives rise to a need for alterations in the structure of the movement. A step for mounting the tag needs to be added to the production process of the watch body, which requires additions and alterations in the production line. Since the tag is built in the mechanical part of the watch, it is difficult to replace it after the watch is completed as a finished product. Due to shielding effects like reflection or absorption, radio signals are very sensitive against the metal parts of a watch or the human body, which requires much larger antennas, resulting in increased material and production cost.

As the non-contact type RFID tag is independent of the mechanical part of the watch and simply fixed to the surface of the glass or embedded in the watch glass, design changes of the watch body are unnecessary. Therefore, the watch and the tag can be manufactured separately and the watch can be obtained by employing existing or ready-made watches with a minor change made on the cover for enabling the secure attachment of the tag to the watch glass. Considering that the metal parts of a watch or the human body can shield the radio signals, the watch glass allows RFID signals to pass easily through with low levels of attenuation. This allows all sort of pratically invisible next-generation multiband UHF-RFID tags with built-in antenna (e.g. UHF-RFID chip in 800Mhz - 2.45Ghz frequency-range) to be attached to any wristwatch and simplifies the manufacturing and commercial process, resulting in reductions in cost and offering tremendous commercial opportunities.
More details on WinWatch.ch and on RFID Journal.

See also our story about the RFID Reader Wrist Watch.