Luxury watch Tag Heuer is planning to enter the smartwatch arena.
Tag Heuer's head of watchmaking Jean-Claude Biver spoke with a local Swiss newspaper, NZZ am Sonntag, confirming the company's plans to launch a smartwatch. Biver insisted the Tag Heuer smartwatch will not copy the Apple Watch nor will it follow in the footsteps of others.
"We want to launch a smartwatch at TAG Heuer, but it must not copy the Apple Watch," Biver told NZZ am Sonntag on Sunday, Reuters reports. "We cannot afford to just follow in somebody else's footsteps."
Smartwatches are gaining traction in the smartphone-dominated industry. These tiny wristwatches act as a second screen to the smartphones with access to various functions like answering calls, reading texts, replying to messages, tracking fitness and lot more. Key players in the tech industry like Samsung, Apple, LG and Sony among other startups have flooded the smartwatch space with new entries in various ranges and specs.
French luxury group LVMH's watch brand, Tag Heuer, has its own luxury smartphone, Meridiist. The brand has also tried its hand in smartwatches when it built a one-off device for the members of the Oracle sailing team, the report adds.
Tag Heuer will unveil its first smartwatch at the Basel watch fair next spring, Biver said without revealing further details about the watch. It is quite obvious that Tag Heuer's smartwatch will hit a premium price range like its luxury timepiece collection.
In other news, watchmaker Fossil announced a partnership with Intel last week, which possibly spells a new wearable in the category, Gizmodo reports.
