TAG Heuer Connected: the adventure begins!

Even before his connected watch existed, Jean-Claude Biver, President of the LVMH Group’s Watches Division and CEO of TAG Heuer, had already pulled off his first feat: to create an impressive buzz around TAG Heuer’s upcoming connected watch, generating press coverage estimated to be worth tens of millions of francs. For example, CNBC’s news banner recently read “TAG Heuer vs Apple”—a first and unexpected consecration of this association for the Chaux-de Fonds watchmakers. Today, in New York, Jean-Claude Biver managed a second feat by giving a certain gravitas to the launch of his new product, the TAG Heuer Connected, through the presence of three highly distinguished guests: Bernard Arnault, Chairman of LVMH (the world’s leading luxury group, owner of TAG Heuer), Brian Krzanich, CEO of Intel Corporation (the global leader in semiconductors with a turnover of $56 billion last year), and David Singleton, Vice-President of Engineering for Android at Google.

In front of this choice and learned audience, the latest TAG Heuer creation needed to live up to expectations. Developed in partnership with Intel and Google, this independent watch (which doesn’t need to be connected to a cell phone) can still be synchronized with smartphones operating on Android (which accounts for the majority of the market) or iOS (iPhones). Equipped with the Intel® Atom™ Z34XX processor, the watch runs Google’s Android Wear platform and thus offers the usual panoply of Google-specific services, such as Google Maps, Google Translate, Google Fit and OK Google. This also means that over 6,000 apps can be used on the TAG Heuer Connected, as well as several apps dedicated exclusively to the world of TAG Heuer: music, football, Formula 1, etc. It has 4 GB of memory—meaning that all resident music can be enjoyed offline—and a latest-generation lithium battery guaranteeing day-long autonomy (almost 24 hours). The TAG Heuer Connected is also equipped with a microphone to communicate via Google voice control, and its connectivity options include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The 46 mm diameter case, meanwhile, is crafted from grade 2 titanium. And finally, true to its #ConnectedtoEternity slogan, the smartwatch can be taken back to any TAG Heuer store at the end of the two-year warranty period and—in return for a payment of $1,500 (1,400 CHF)—be exchanged for a TAG Heuer Carrera timepiece complete with mechanical automatic movement.

“First and foremost a luxury watch”
 

“This TAG Heuer Connected that we’re unveiling today is first and foremost a luxury watch whose every attribute points to TAG Heuer,” declares Jean-Claude Biver, who highlights the choice of dials, or “faces”, and the hands that remain visible even when the screen is switched off. “A person standing a few feet away won’t know whether you’re wearing a connected watch or a TAG Heuer mechanical Carrera,” states the Chaux-de Fonds watchmaking boss, proudly. “But it’s the first luxury Swiss watch to feature an Intel processor,” he adds, as if trying to justify the benefits of the chip that denied them the Swiss Made label. On this issue, Jean-Claude Biver maintains that it is much better for a connected watch to have the famous “Intel Inside” label than the Swiss Made one. Even though this watch can do no more to qualify for the Swiss accolade, TAG Heuer is keen to organize a technology transfer over the coming months, to repatriate assembly of the chips to La Chaux-de-Fonds.

When asked his opinion on the current state and potential of the connected watch market, Jean-Claude Biver avoids a direct answer: “Yes, the success of connected watches still remains to be seen, but if Apple has already sold 5 million watches, it means there’s a market and potential out there.”

Today in New York, Jean-Claude Biver announced that 10 million francs had been invested in this development and that he hopes to sell at least 50,000 connected watches in a year, which represents less than 10% of TAG Heuer’s overall production. It is rumored that a second-generation TAG Heuer Connected with even more functions is already in the pipeline for release in twelve months or sooner.