Tag Heuer first revealed its plans to enter the smartwatch market last fall. Rumours that it might be shown at CES 2015 failed to materialize but LVMH’s Jean-Claude Biver revealed some new details in an interview with Bloomberg this week. Without providing specifics, he confirmed that the Tag Heuer smartwatch will not only provide the usual notifications and health monitoring but it will also have functionality specific to the brand thanks to partnerships with other companies.
Biver also recognized that while Switzerland is among if not the best when it comes to watch design, it does not have the same manufacturing expertise when it comes to electronics. “We can’t produce the engine, the chips, the applications, the hardware — nobody can produce it in Switzerland,” he explained. “The hardware and the software will come from Silicon Valley.” But the overall design as well as the case, dial and crown will be all Swiss. This will also ensure that Tag Heuer also meets the requirements to label the watch as “Swiss Made.”
Two teams are working on the Tag Heuer smartwatch. One, consisting of watchmakers and watch engineers, is focused on the watch-centric R&D aspects while the other, made up of technology engineers, is working with the company’s partners to develop the smartwatch components and features.
Tag Heuer will reveal its technology partners in the next six weeks. That should give us a good idea of the features the smartwatch will have.
While Biver eagerly awaits his Tag Heuer smartwatch, he will be wearing an Apple Watch. “It’s a fantastic product, an incredible achievement,” he said. “I’m not just living in the tradition and culture and the past, I also want to be connected to the future. The Apple Watch connects me to the future. My watch connects me to history, to eternity.”
Source : Bloomberg