A few days ago, I had the chance to participate to one of the events organized to officially launch the Tag Heuer Connected Watch in Spain. This cocktail party took place on the Terrace of Rabat boutique in Barcelona, a great venue for this kind of event... and I have to confess that it is less risky to organize an outdoor event in Spain than in France due to the weather conditions!

The connected watch is a very important project for Tag Heuer. The proof is obvious: we just need to observe the  personal commitment of Jean-Claude Biver on this project to realize its strategic importance for the brand. Of course, due to the current limited production (we don't have to forget that the launch was postponed in Europe to focus the delivery on the US market), the watch by itself doesn't have and may not have in coming months a significant share of the Tag Heur overall turnover. But it is not the critical point. For me, the watch is fundamental for Tag Heuer because, for several reasons, it prepares the future of the brand.

I think that the decision to sign with Intel & Google and to develop a connected watch is an excellent idea for Tag Heuer and more globally for the LVMH watches activity. Because the difficulties faced by Tag Heuer a few years ago created at the end the opportunity and the context for this watch. And Jean-Claude Biver, once again, demonstrated that he understood what would be the upcoming trends for the industry.

Tag Heuer needed to change its strategy and to re-orientate its collection toward more reasonable prices. Moreover, the image of innovative brand of Tag Heuer was very strong and these two elements created the right context to launch the connected watch.

But why this watch is so important?

My own perception is as follows:
1) it is positive for the Swiss watch industry that a Swiss brand, even of course with foreign partners, is involved in a connected watch project. It was not possible to let Apple play on this market... alone.
2) for Tag Heuer, the connected watch reinforces its innovative and very modern image
3) the watch may even give the wish to young people to further buy a "real" watch. For me, the main risk for the industry is that the potential future customers... don't feel the need, the pleasure to wear a nice watch.
4) Tag Heuer offers the watch with a price around 1400 euros what is compatible and coherent with the price structure of the brand
5) Tag Heuer designed with a lot of care the case and wished to improve the perceived quality of the watch compared to the competitors' offers. Actually, the owners of the watch had to feel that they were wearing a "true" Swiss watch with all what resulted from this

In fact, I was very lucky to be able to wear during a few hours the Tag Heuer connected watch in the streets of Barcelona. If I'm not the typical targetted client, here are my few comments about it:

Pros:
1) I have to confess that the perceived quality, mainly due to the 46mm Titanium case, is really excellent. Moreover the watch, despite its large size can be worn with comfort thanks to its lightness (52g)
2) the menu and functions are easy to operate
3) I like the fact that in the power saving mode, two hands remain visible... because I hate the ugly black screen of the Apple watch.
4) I found that the charging time quite fast
5) the legibility in dark locations is excellent
6) seven colors of strap are available

Cons:
1) the legibility in a very bright context is not optimal (like in the sunny streets of Barcelona) even if I put the screen brightness at the max
2) the functions offered by the watch are not very numerous. But I didn't have time to fully play with it and to understand the interaction with the phone
3) the bulky size can be a problem for small wrists
4) don't eat potato chips before you touch the screen!
5) you need to charge the battery every day and for me it is a painful constraint

Having said that, I enjoyed this experience and I can understand why the watch is successful. The power of attraction of Tag Heuer and its know-how make the watch very appealing for the targetted customers. The dealer confirmed me that the requests he received are higher than the number of watches he will receive. It is the same situation here in France.

So, even if I'm not a fan of this kind of watch and that I don't imagine myself buying one, I will follow with a lot of interest the further developments around this watch and its next versions.

Please find below the pictures I took during the day.

In front of the pool:

In the subway:

In the Port of Barcelona, playing with the different screens:

Well, this one is a bit too girly!

Let's start the party!

The Terrace of the Rabat boutique in Barcelona is really an amazing location for this type of event!

The devil is in the details!

The famous Pedrera on the left, one of the most amazing buildings in the world. The ability to enjoy a cocktail with such scenery is a true privilege.

Blanca Panzano, head of Tag Heuer Spain launched the connected watch with Jordi Rabat on the left:




Of course, I wore the watch during the party:

Two magicians explained with tricks the different functions of the watch:

With the Tag Heuer connected watch on the wrist. You can feel the case size:

With Jordi Rabat and his spouse and Blanca Panzano:

I would like to thank a lot the Rabat and the Tag Heuer Spain teams for having given me the opportunity to discover in real life situation the features of the Tag Heuer connected watch.
Fx


This message has been edited by foversta on 2016-05-28 16:06:24