Tag Heuer and Google join for luxury smartwatch venture

Swiss watchmacker TAG Heuer, along with Google and Intel, are all joining forces to produce a luxury Android Wear watch – there’s no doubt that they have the Apple Watch Edition in their sights.

Google has announced this remarkable partnership with Intel and luxury timepiece brand Tag Heuer along with the promise that they will launch a luxury Android Wear watch this year.

None of the three partners are offering any firm details, except to say that they’re particularly interested in the intersection of the small details that make mechanical watches so beautiful, and the new technology that comes from Android Wear and smartwatches in general. They all agree that this is going to be something big.

This most definitely appears to be Google’s response to the Apple Watch and Google isn’t waiting for the dust to settle.

The inclusion of Tag Heuer could reflect that the Swiss precision watchmaker is either afraid of the smartwatch onslaught or, perhaps, is looking to move with the times. So to speak.

Either way, the folks at Tag Heuer are actually going so far as to lobby to expand the definition of “Swiss made” to allow for the inclusion of microprocessors made outside of the country. This could be an interesting move, indeed.

How exactly this watch will look, work, and most importantly how it will compare to the Apple Watch is still pretty much completely unknown, but it will be assembled in Switzerland and sounds like it’ll feature at least some traditional mechanical parts. I am betting that it won’t be cheap though.

This will be just one of several partnerships Google has entered since Android Wear’s inception. Tag Heuer isn’t even necessarily the only high-end brand Google will partner with; it’s just the first.

Watch this space.

Sorry.