Tag Heuer to create luxury smartwatch with Google operating system

Announcement: executives from Tag Heuer, Intel and Google at in Basel (Picture: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP)

19 March 2015

Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer has announced it will create a smartwatch in partnership with tech giants Google and Intel.

The new product will be in direct competition with the Apple Watch, as the luxury manufacturer becomes the first premium watchmaker to be drawn into the smartwatch market.

Analysts suggest the move has been triggered by Apple's forthcoming gold Apple Watch Edition, which has an 18-carat gold body and will start at £8,000.

The announcement was made at the Baselworld luxury goods show in Switzerland, and saw Tag Heuer confirm they were manufacturing the smartwatch using Google's Android Wear operating system for wearables, as well as processor chips from tech giant Intel.

Intel's Michael Dell said: "We believe wearable technology will take off as it represents who you are and how you want to be seen."

New market: examples of the Apple Watch

No further details of the design or functionality of the device were revealed.

Tag Heuer president Jean-Claude Biver told the BBC: "The whole look of the watch will be different. It will be a traditional look. It will not look like an Apple Watch. An Apple Watch looks like a miniaturised copy of its phone. Our watch will never look like a phone.

"Our watch will [have] all the emotion and the DNA of Tag Heuer and it will fit in to our collection."

Mr Biver also confirmed that the Swiss firm plan to launch the watch in the final quarter of this year.

The Apple Watch, which goes on sale at the end of April, has been noted for its use of premium materials, and the marketing push Apple has placed on these items. Both stainless steel and gold feature heavily in the design of the Apple Watch and Apple Watch Edition versions of the device, and its placement as a luxury fashion accessory as well as a piece of technology has made the rest of the industry take notice.

"The mobile industry was excited by the fact that Mobile World Congress broke all attendance records with 93,000 visitors. Baselworld is expecting 150,000 which underlines the scale of the luxury goods business," said Mr Wood.

"It's no surprise Tag Heuer decided to make this announcement in Basel rather than at a tech show like Mobile World Congress. It knows success will come from supporting its traditional sales channels which can offer the exclusivity and customer service that cellular retailers lack. Apple has clearly figured this out too, which is why it has shunned operators and consumer tech retailers instead favouring its own store and flagship stores like Selfridges in London and Galeries Lafayette in Paris."

Tag Heuer to create luxury smartwatch with Google operating system

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