SMARTEN UP

20th September 2018

It’s all happening at watchmaking’s frontier, with the smartwatch hitting its stride as a proper luxury product – and needless to say, TAG Heuer is already streaks ahead.

It’s a strange situation: after Rolex, the world’s next-biggest watchmaker is Apple. Strange for the fact Apple isn’t a watchmaker per se (whether you consider the Apple Watch an actual “watch” per se is a different conversation). But even stranger because Apple wasn’t even making watches until three years ago. Cupertino’s tech giant doesn’t release specific sales figures for the Watch, lumping them into its “Accessories” arm, but whatever your feelings about it, there’s no denying that the Apple Watch is everywhere. And there’s no denying that traditional watchmakers – sniffing a potential replay of the devastating effect cheap Far Eastern quartz technology wrought back in the Seventies – were right to join the gold rush of horology’s newest frontier back in 2015.

Now the rush is over, the histrionics easing up, and smartwatches settling into a niche of their own, it seems that brands are hitting their stride with more élan than ever – and its not just the burgeoning plethora of apps and functionality. It’s arguably the TAG Heuer Connected Modular that drew a line in the sand from the get-go, even showing Switzerland’s firmament how to have fun with a smartwatch (much as 1983’s Swatch Watch did, come to think of it, in response to aforementioned ‘Quartz Crisis’).

As well as all the phone connectivity, GPS and activity tracking you’d expect, TAG has added its own high-end finesse in the form of a slickly engineered swap-out system. So, with stock market and email done for the working day, the touchscreen ‘Connected’ module (Android Wear-interfaced, but with bespoke Intel innards, and available 41mm or 45mm across) pops out and a traditionally crafted mechanical watch module clicks home for cocktail hour. Or you could just switch your OLED display to something jazzy and play around with the straps and even their attachment ‘lugs’. The latter are available in titanium, titanium with rose gold, and diamond-set, but you get the sense there’s a whole lot more on the horizon. Whether you’re a magazine intern or stockbroker, one thing’s for sure about the Connected – this is squarely aimed at the young, indecisive and fashion-conscious.

THE CONNECTED MODULAR SAVES YOU ALL THAT HASSLE OF RUMMAGING FOR YOUR PHONE OR TABLET WHEN YOU’RE RUSHING AROUND AN AIRPORT

The seemingly small detail that will win the respect of hardcore watchnerds is the option of an ‘always on’ display – a host of analogue dials on tap, a tap away, and no more disconcertingly blank screens. Maybe TAG Heuer’s boffins finally paid heed to what Charlie Brooker warned about ‘black mirrors’? In fact, from Emporio Armani to Michael Kors, the smartwatch has generally become ‘smarter’ in the literal sense, some saying this could, ironically, could force Apple to round-out the Watch’s rather gadgety look.

“Smartwatches are now a very small part of the luxury watch firmament,” says ROX Managing Director Kyron Keogh, “though I don’t think Audemars Piguet will ever produce one!

“I still think the best functionality for smartwatches is in the area of fitness or wellness,” he continues. “But also travel, too. The Connected Modular saves you all that hassle of rummaging for your phone or tablet when you’re rushing around an airport but need to check on things back at the office.

“Ultimately, I see smartwatches as complementary to more traditional watches, not a threat… You have two wrists, so why not wear both!”

Take Kyron’s sartorial advice with a pinch of salt if you like! But in terms of building a watch wardrobe that spans your lifestyle, rather than looking for a horological silver bullet, having a smartwatch for the gym and a proper watch for when you’re not sweating on purpose sure sounds sensible to us.

TAG Heuer is available online and at ROX Newcastle

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