Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer finally revealed its Android-powered Connected smartwatch, alongside partners Intel and Google. From the announcement November 9, it retails now at US$1,500. Notably, this is the most serious smartwatch attempt yet from the Swiss, long acknowledged masters of watchmaking. We will be following the news about the Connected watch closely…

At a hefty 46mm, the grade 2 titanium timepiece certainly has more in common with chronographs and the like than it has with the current batch of smartwatches. For example, it has an aesthetic link with the TAG Heuer Carrera and TAG Heuer 01. The Connected watch totes a sapphire crystal touchscreen and can be paired with a choice of six rubber straps. Inside, the processor is the Intel Atom Z34XX running the Android Wear platform. It offers some functionality without any smartphone companion, using wifi to stay connected with the cloud.

As standard, the watch can switch between chronograph, world time, and three-hand dial modes, each of which displays against a black, blue or white background.

For registered owners, the company will also provide additional watch faces, co-designed with celebrity brand representatives, as well as luxury lifestyle-related apps, including a restaurant recommendation engine and golfing app.

After a two year period, Connected owners are eligible to part-exchange their TAG Heuer Connected for a traditional mechanical watch, upon payment of an additional $1,500 sum.

The Connected’s pricetag is only a fraction of the 18-Karat gold Apple Watch Edition, which has a current ceiling of $17,000, but retains parity with the upper end of Apple Watch’s $1,000 to $1,500 Hermès collaboration announced in September.

For those seeking a preview of the action, the video below illustrates how the changing of the watch faces works.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=QVSgInrRyB0