If you need more evidence that the luxury Swiss watchmakers are as truly screwed as Jony Ive predicted, look no further than IWC’s laughable answer for keeping up with the Apple Watch.
The luxury watch company is adding a smart sensor called IWC Connect to the strap of its Big Pilot watch, a favorite of horologist collectors including John Mayer. Details on what the fitness sensor can actually do haven’t been revealed, but IWC created a ridiculously dramatic teaser trailer for the new strap that you can watch below:
The Big Pilot currently sells for $14,500, making it a fine rival for the Apple Watch Edition in the looks and price categories, but it’s far from a competitor in the smarts department. IWC plans to bring IWC Connect to its other watches as well, but it’s embedded into the actual strap, so you’ll have to buy multiple expensive smart straps if you want to mix up your look.
We still don’t know how it’ll compare to some of the other bad solutions presented by the Swiss watch industry — like Montblanc’s e-Strap — but the watchmakers say it’ll add “full activity tracking” as well as be able to control certain devices connected to the “Internet of Things.”
Via: Hodinkee
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
6 responses to “Luxury watchmaker IWC takes on Apple Watch with new strap sensor”
Ummmmmm……….
These product reveal teasers are beyond trite now.
You know when they talk about “Internet of Things” how much ground they have to cover…
That design idea is about as ill-conceived as the kickstand on the Surface.
Whoever designed this should be ashamed, let’s just add a crap button on the side of the watch band. “What a great idea”… Ummm No!
All the teaser tells me is “look, our designers were able to make a perfect circle.” Not impressed.