Those of you, those very few of you, who have been putting off getting a smartwatch until a major Swiss watchmaker entered the market will be happy to know that TAG Heuer has an Android Wear-powered smartwatch coming out this fall. As expected of a Swiss watch, it’ll cost you quite a lot of money, but even $1,400 isn’t that ludicrous when you consider the company you’re buying from, not to mention the fact that the Apple Watch can cost several times more than that.
TAG Heuer will start selling a smartwatch for about $1,400 in October or November as the brand becomes Apple Inc.’s biggest Swiss competitor for connected timepieces. TAG Heuer’s smartwatch battery will last about 40 hours, said Jean-Claude Biver, who heads the watchmaking activities of the brand’s owner, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE. The Apple Watch battery was designed to last 18 hours, though that can stretch out further if fewer functions are used. The Apple Watch may get younger consumers more interested in wearing watches for the first time, Biver said in an interview. Cupertino, California-based Apple is selling sport and mid-range models for $349 to $1,099, and versions in gold for $10,000 to $17,000. “I hope they sell millions and millions and millions of them,” Biver said, speaking ahead of the official opening of a Hublot boutique in Dubai Mall. “The more they sell the more a few people will want something different and come to TAG Heuer.”
