At that scale, the connector and the necessary electronics are too large.

I assume you mean having a USB-C port on the side of the watch. Having that port would allow water to get in to the case, the cradle-style charges used by smart watches allow the case to be sealed to prevent water damage. Even if you are careful about not wearing the watch when bathing, or in the rain, or in a pool, its unlikely you remove you watch every time you wash your hands or wash dishes.

The article goes into this.

Nice that watches ranging from £16 to £200 already support USB-C. My two Garmin watches both have (incompatible) unique charging/data ports.

Some watches already have USB - C. but I find it interesting to see if you are correct or not.

I would see standardizing wireless charging as a decent alternative...if it didnt take up even more space.

The Verge says:

These devices are too dang small, and the technology isn’t there yet. Most standard connectors, like USB-C, are too large to fit within a smartwatch or on devices that are meant to mold to your body. The smaller the device, the more difficult this becomes.

To which I say:

Bullshit!

Watches are small, but the USB-C connector isn't massive.

The USBC plug may not be "massive" but it still adds more bulk to the watch.

it might be rubbish as both a watch, Android device, and masc-coded jewellery - but it shows that USB-C is viable for devices of this class.

just because cheap ass watches use USBC ports doesn't mean it's a good idea. you need to know how these USBC watches actually hold up in the long run before you make that judgement.

I miss my pebble. It was such a good watch. It would last a week on one charge with eink.

The power connector was the fiddliest thing in the world and proprietary so when it failed and the batter failed soon after...the watch was dead.

I think the better question is, why can't wireless charging be more universal. We had decades of 500 different competing phone chargers. (as the famous XKCD comic https://xkcd.com/927/ ) mocks.

yet we don't seem to be getting anywhere near the idea of a universal wireless charge system.

yeah a standard charger would be nice, but I'm not sure the answer is USBC.

It's also hard to make a port like that water resistant. Using wireless charging is easier to make flat and seal tightly.

I mean, we are for phones. Qi2 is finally becoming more widespread, and the Qi1/Magsafe spec is quietly more compatible than its official support suggests.

Why this doesn't extend to watches and only partially to earbuds is a different question, but I at least the most likely devices to have wireless charging are getting there.

Im not familiar, how small can they get?

It's not that it's too large to exist, but it's certainly large enough that it'll make a dent in the battery space, and smartwatches are already battery-starved compared to dumb ones.

Its a terrible idea for a number of reasons, but as everybody else is saying, that doesn't mean you give up on standardization.

If you mean a USB-C port in general, they can be made waterproof. If you mean something specific to putting one in the most compact form factor possible, that might be true.

You kind of are, it's basically the same magnets+wireless combo Apple uses for their phones.

I don't know if you could use the same charger for a phone. Probably not. But it's a cross-company standard, so the idea would be to do the same for watches, if the standard doesn't include a watch option already (I haven't looked into it, frankly).

Don't watches use pads to recharge with a usbc? My samsung did.

Pebble is coming back.

We're bringing Pebble back!

Eight years later, you still can't beat a Pebble

(repebble.com)

It would be a dream! And I imagine easier to repair as USB anything involves pushing and pulling a physical connector that will eventually break. It may take a long time, but anything that moves will eventually break.

yeah I saw that....might take a closer look after its out and reviewed.
ATM my forever watch (and old CASIO) is still going strong. It outlived the pebble haha.