【Watch Human Capital Online】

Smartwatches have Watch Human Capital Onlinechanged a lot since the release of the Apple Watch.

Once a mess of myriad operating systems and designs, the smartwatch space has morphed into a trinary system with the vertices consisting of the Apple Watch, Google's Android Wear platform and Samsung's Gear watches. (Pebble and a few others are still around, but lack the gravity of the three majors.) Which one you choose depends mostly on what type of phone you have.

But that's changing, too. About a year ago Google made its Android Wear watches compatible with iPhones. (Samsung has promised the same for its Gear line.) Initially only a few watches were compatible, but today it's virtually impossible to buy an Android Wear watch that won't work with iOS.

That gives the Android side a clear advantage in the style department. While the Apple Watch design has remained exactly the same since its was first unveiled almost two years ago, the many manufacturers of Android Wear devices have iterated through numerous looks, from sporty to sublime.

In recent months, we've also seen Android Wear start its own fashion trend, with thicker, round designs winning out, including the most recent Fossil Q and Asus ZenWatch 3. Samsung's Gear S3 (which isn't powered by Android Wear) is also a clear statement that, as far as current smartwatches are concerned, bigger is better.

Which brings us, of course, to Michael Kors. The designer brand announced its foray into smartwatches a few months back. Now it's following through with two eye-catching designs, Dylan and Bradshaw, under the line name Access.

"Over the last few years, this idea of always being connected has become a crucial part of everyone’s life, no matter who you are or where you live," Michael Kors -- the designer and CEO -- told Mashablevia email. "[Our smartwatch] gives you the best of both worlds -- reliable technology and great design. We didn’t want our fans to have to choose between fashion and technology, so we’ve made it possible to have both."

Dylan ($350) is a sporty, round design that's reminiscent of a men's chronograph. Bradshaw ($350-$375) is metallic and showy, more suited for night out. Unsurprisingly, both are big (Dylan is 46mm, Bradshaw 44.5mm), thick and weighty.

Big and beautiful

The heft goes beyond even the larger smartwatches of previous years. I typically wear an LG G Watch R in my daily life, a two-year-old watch that was thick by Android Wear standards even then. But the Michael Kors Dylan brings heft to a new level: It's noticeably heavier, an extra weight that continually reminds you you're wearing a watch. That can be a good thing, and it also means the battery is equally robust; I never had trouble getting through the day.

I've been trying out the Michael Kors designs for the past couple of weeks, and there's a lot to like in what the fashion brand has done. Let's face it: If Android Wear has a weakness, it's that the software doesn't allow for much differentiation, but the MK models manage to carve out a unique space with a level of customization that goes beyond anything I've seen.

First, there's the physical look. The sporty Dylan model comes in three colors and buyers can choose from six different straps, four silicone and two leather. Bradshaw, ostensibly the more feminine watch, has more than a half-dozen metallic colors, with matching straps. (You can also slip in a silicone or leather strap on that design.)

Once you've got your individual look, you can take things further with your watchface. Android Wear has always offered much more in this department than the Apple Watch (at least until watchOS 3 debuts this fall), but the MK watches offer several watchfaces unique to the brand, and you can get seriously anal about the details, with settings not just for the face, but for the color of the dial, the hands and even the "highlight" color of things like battery life and step counts.

Wait, there's more! After you've tricked out your favorite watch faces, you can set up the watch so they appear at different times. That way you can have a digital, information-rich dial during the day, then have the watch automatically transform into a glitzy-yet-austere watchface after 6. Very cool.

The new watches are built on Qualcomm's new Snapdragon Wear 2100 chip, so they're quite speedy. I never had a problem with lag or notifications that were slow to respond to a finger press. Of course, I've never had those problems on any Android Wear device.

If the MK Access watches are any indication, though, Android Wear still has serious problems with basic communication -- especially with iPhones. When I paired the Dylan with an iPhone 6, I was continually prompted to "Touch to reconnect," only to watch it fail to do so time and again. Eventually it would work, but only after much app-quitting and rebooting. On Android, connecting was less of an issue.

Another strike: For both designs, the MK watches cut a slice out of the circlular watchface along the bottom, just like the first Moto 360. For a big design, there's no excuse for this -- the Moto 360 had to make that compromise for the ambient light sensor because the bezel was so small. These watches are so big, I simply can't believe it's an issue (for the record, it isn't for the LG G Watch R, which is again, a two-year-old watch).

Fashion truly get wearable

The precise workings of the technology in these watches, is -- to a very real degree -- beside the point. The Michael Kors Android Wear models are one of the first smartwatches to come to market almost fully from the fashion side. Yes, all smartwatches have needed to pay attention to style, and certainly the Apple Watch had seemingly no end to its magazine-cover close-up.

The MK Access smartwatches are different, though. You won't be buying these through a carrier or at the same time you pick up charging cables. These are built and marketed for people who want a stylish watch, first, and a mini notification window on their wrists, second.

In that respect, they're already a triumph -- for both Android Wear and the smartwatch category in general. But whether or not you actually like these watches in particular depends greatly on your opinion of current design trends. If you like your timepieces big, you're in luck.

Correction:The starting price of the Bradshaw is $350, not $375 as the piece originally stated.

Michael Kors Dylan and Bradshaw

The Good

• Chic, contemporary design

• Great battery life

• Incredibly detailed customization features

The Bad

• No lightweight design choice

• Watchface isn't complete circle

• Flaky iPhone connectivity

The Bottom Line

Although Android Wear still needs to mature from a tech standpoint, Michael Kors' smartwatches are some of the most stylish we've ever seen.