Tag Heuer presents the Tag Heuer Connected watch

Tag Heuer presents the Tag Heuer Connected watch

November 12, 2015: Mr Jean-Claude Biver was probably one of the early watch industry professionals to see the Apple Watch as a sign of future, accept it, and then turn it around in his favor. While most mechanical watch brands and their heads are in denial about the onslaught of all things digital in our life, Mr Biver took a leap of faith. 

And so, watchmaker Tag Heuer, Intel Corporation and Google unveiled a connected watch, designed by Tag Heuer, engineered with Intel technology and benefiting from everything the Android Wear universe has to offer. 

At 46 mm in diameter, Tag Heuer Connected looks like a true chronograph, with a case, back and lugs made from grade 2 titanium, a contemporary material ensuring the watch is lighter and more resistant to impacts than a traditional material such as steel or gold. Completed by a textured black rubber strap (six other colors – red, blue, white, orange, green and yellow - are available, sold separately) with a deploying buckle made of grade 2 titanium as well, it is elegant (much more than the boxy Apple smartwatch) with a high level of finish. The price is set at 1,500 USD, 1’350 Euros, 1’400 CHF or 1’100 GBP.

Tag Heuer has developed three digital watch dials which feature the immediately recognizable design codes of Tag Heuer's Carrera collection, including hands, index, counters, date window and minute track. The chronograph dial, the 3-hand dial and the GMT dial, all of which display the date and are available in a choice of three colors (black, deep blue or pearl white). Giving the appearance of a traditional dial, there are shadows under the hands and the beautiful sunburst effect of the light. The digital hands and indexes remain visible at all times, even when the watch is in ambient energy-saving mode.

Other watch faces will soon be made available, so you can try one customized by Tag Heuer's ambassadors via the Tag Heuer app which can be downloaded from the Google Play Store.

The watch has "interactive counters”, thanks to the unique way in which its applications are displayed. The most pertinent information from partner applications is elegantly displayed inside the three counters on the chronograph dial at 12, 6 and 9 o'clock, completely integrated into the watch's aesthetic environment. If something shown in a counter really interests you, touch the counter to open and interact with the application in full screen mode.

This makes information simple to read, enabling the user to stay focused on the essential, without spoiling the watch's classic appearance. Tag Heuer has primarily been an advocate of sporty creations. And so, the apps customized for Tag Heuer and available on an exclusive basis will be, to start with, Insiders (lifestyle), GolfShot Pro (golf), RaceChrono Pro (motor racing) and Viewrangers (trailing), which will be offered with free subscriptions. A specially developed Software Development Kit (SDK) will allow enrichment. Classic functions such as Timer, Alarm and Stopwatch have been included of course.

Intel engineered the intelligence inside the watch to optimize performance and enable a multitude of connectivity options including audio streaming, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi as well as allow users to harness the full range of features offered by the Android Wear operating system.

With 4 GB of memory, and all day battery life, Tag Heuer Connected is equipped with a small microphone to communicate with via Google voice control and a sapphire crystal touchscreen - the indispensable complement to the crown at 3 o'clock which also houses controls. The entire piece has been made water resistant for everyday use and is IP67 water resistance rated. The watch will continue to calculate, display, and exchange data, even if you don’t have your phone, as long as you have a Wi-Fi connection. It will remain connected to the cloud. 

Thousands of Android applications are already available for the Tag Heuer Connected watch user to download. The key applications, currently used by millions, such as Google Fit, Google Translate, Google Maps and Google Search with your voice are already available on the watch.

The watch can be easily synced with a phone running either on Android 4.3+ or iOS 8.2+. It is charged using a contact charger. Simply place the watch on top to recharge it. The watch has a two-year warranty, like other Tag Heuer watches. 

Talk about generosity, anyone who purchases a Tag Heuer Connected watch will have the opportunity to exchange it for a mechanical watch with real Swiss movement inside, at the end of the connected watch's two-year warranty period.

A dedicated online platform - tagheuerconnected.com - has been created to share the latest new features and obtain partner applications available for the interactive counters watch faces. The Tag Heuer Connected watch is available from the site tagheuer.com and in more than 100 Tag Heuer boutiques and 150 carefully selected retailers across the world. 

If the world remembers, Mr Biver was one of the few ones to overcome the temptation of quartz watches, and stick with the excellence of mechanical timepieces. So if he is cognizant of another new trend, and making it his own, we are willing to bet our money, this one trend is not going to go away anytime soon!