The first generation of smartwatches, for all their Maxwell Smart-ian ingenuity, have failed to find purchase with one group of consumers:
People who are serious about watches.
Where’s the titanium? The crowns? The bezel? Where’s the watchness?
Ask and ye shall receive: TAG Heuer Connected, the first Android-enabled wearable from the Swiss timekeeping titan.
Connected features all the trademarks you’d expect of a top-notch smartwatch: bluetooth integration, upgraded Intel processor, easy-to-read “transflective” display, 4GB internal memory, directional wind and weather monitoring, and a slew of elegant watchfaces to choose from.
Unlike most of its contemporaries, though, Connected equips many of the features you’d expect of a classic luxury timepiece: Functional crown and bezel. Scratch-resistant sapphire crystal. And a bold but lightweight 46.2mm titanium case inspired by TAG’s flagship Carrera.
In fact, the Connected has the potential to be a Carrera proper. One of the watch-collecting elite’s criticisms of smartwatches has been their penchant for obsolescence. A good watch, they opine, is something its wearer should be able to pass down to his progeny.
Which is why TAG is offering buyers the option to exchange their Connected (after at least two years of use and for a nominal fee) for a fully mechanical Carrera.
So you’re essentially buying two watches in one.
And that’s a proposition any watch collector can get behind.
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