While other smartwatches focus on and promote their digital features, the Tag Heuer Connected watch, which was launched earlier this month in New York, places a strong emphasis on retaining the aesthetic and traditional functions of a mechanical watch.
The 46 mm-diameter titanium smartwatch offers three digital watch face options modelled on Tag Heuer’s well-established Carrera collection, including a chronograph dial, three-hand dial, date window and minute track.
A Tag Heuer media statement described the new wearable technology entrant as a “true watch”, adding, “And because the Tag Heuer Connected is above all a watch, the digital hands and indexes remain visible at all times, even when the watch is in ambient energy-saving mode.”
In addition to classic functions such as a timer, alarm and stopwatch, the watch – which incorporates technology from Intel and Google Android Wear – features interactive counters that allow the wearer to access apps and view information at a glance.
The watch is pre-installed with several Google apps, such as Fit, Translate, Maps and Search, which can be activated via voice command. It is compatible with both Android and iOS smartphones and is said to have an “all-day” battery life.
A black rubber strap that is available in six other colours comes as standard, with Tag Heuer noting that additional watch faces would be made available in future. It was also said that while the watch would not include Tag Heuer’s usual ‘Swiss made’ moniker (as many of its technological components hail from the US) it would be labelled ‘Swiss engineered’.
At the time of publication, the watch had only been launched within the US; however, a Tag Heuer spokesperson told Jeweller the watch would be available to order in Australia and New Zealand, both online and from concept stores, in the first week of December at a price of AU$2,000.
'Smart' vs traditional
Arguably the most interesting aspect of Tag Heuer’s marketing strategy is the fact that at the conclusion of the Connected watch’s two-year warranty, customers are able to exchange the smartwatch for a mechanical Carrera watch.
“We are going after new customers ... once they have bought a connected watch, they are ready to buy another watch one day,” Tag Heuer CEO Jean-Claude Biver told Reuters.
Tag Heuer’s smartwatch release follows the launch of the Apple Watch in April this year, becoming part of a battle for market share between traditional Swiss watchmakers and technology companies.
Other Swiss watch manufacturers that have shown an interest incorporating technology into their products include Swatch Group and IWC Schaffhausen, and in February this year, Mondaine launched what it claimed was the “first ever Swiss-made smartwatch”, the Helvetica No 1 Smart.
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