LVMH Smartwatch to Cost $1,500
If you’ve been considering the purchase of an Apple Watch but have been waiting to see what smartwatches from the makers of traditional timepieces have to offer, be prepared to spend some big bucks. The first wearable device from French maker of luxury goods LVMH will set you back 1,400 euros or $1,526 USD.
In an interview with the German paper Handelsblatt, LVMH Watch Division president Jean-Claude Biver revealed that the company’s challenger to the Apple Watch will have a price tag several times that of the smartwatches currently on the market.
Biver told the paper that he welcomed the arrival of the Apple Watch because it had created a buzz, making more potential customers enthusiastic about purchasing a luxury watch. He also stated that the LVMH watch division will be concentrating on increasing its market share including building out its TAG Heuer and Hublot brands in China where the company currently makes only 5% of its revenue.
At Baselworld 2015, TAG Heuer officially announced that the brand would release “the world’s first luxury Android Wear smartwatch” in October or November of 2015. Biver has referred to the device as the TAG Heuer Carrera Wearable 01 and stated that it would be assembled in Switzerland.
One advantage the TAG Heuer smartwatch will have over its rival from Apple is a longer lifespan. UK communications manager Alexandra King explained that the product would have the ability to adapt to new technology.
“The watch will change the technology as it develops, Jean-Claude Biver was clear about that. We want to be able to change the technology but keep the watch elements,” she stated.
“If your child completed their Masters degree, you might want to give them a watch. We want to create something that will stay on your watch for a lifetime, that’s what TAG Heuer does. And as the technology changes, it will change.”
For $1,500, the smartwatch certainly ought to last longer than the average tech device.
