14 DAY TRIAL // Famous Swiss watchmaker company Hublot announced that it’s going to launch its first smartwatch, and it's going to be a limited edition.
There is no shortage of cheap smartwatches on the market. If anything, there are too many of them, and a large chunk of the market consists of cheap and unreliable models. This is definitely not the target for Hublot, a company known for the quality and prices of its time-keeping devices.
In fact, Hublot is owned by a much bigger company, Tag Heuer, which already has a smartwatch on the market. The difference is that Hublot plans to launch a limited edition of the new smartwatch, offering both much better quality and the name of the brand itself.
How much is it?
The information regarding the new watch from Hublot was revealed by TAG Heuer CEO, Jean-Claude Biver in a phone interview with Bloomberg. It’s a weird way to make this announcement, but on the other hand, it’s not made for regular people.
Hublot’s smartwatch will cost approximately $5200, which means that it’s going to be three times more expensive than TAG Heuer’s Connected Modular 45 model. Only 2,018 pieces will be made, and it should generate revenue for the company of about 10 million dollars.
Jean-Claude Biver also said that since it’s a limited edition, the watch should become a collector’s watch in 20 years. What he didn’t mention is that the battery is going to be dead and the operating system basically worthless. It’s going to be a nice display, but non-functional.
On the bright side, the launch is scheduled April, and it’s tied in with the Soccer World Cup that takes place in June and July, in Russia. The owners of the watch will get notifications about the teams that are playing and the players that have scored, among other things. No information regarding the operating system was made available.
To be fair, there is a very interesting market at the top, since there is very little competition. There is the Montblanc Timewalker e-Strap, Breitling Exospace, Samsung de Grisogono Gear S2, Kairos Hybrid Watch, a couple of others. Apple is no longer making their Gold version smartwatch, so they ‘re no longer competing.
The new luxury smartwatch from Hublot is set to be unveiled today, March 21st, at the Baselworld Trade Fair.