IWC Joins Wearables Club

The International Watch Company, also known as IWC, has become another Swiss watchmaker entering the Internet of Things market. They are doing this in a very different fashion though.

So far only known as IWC Connect the latest tech innovation from IWC is actually a small gadget built into the watch strap.

Rather than develop a watch with Android Wear built-in, like TAG Heuer, IWC are releasing a watch strap which can be fitted to current IWC watches. The strap will have technology that allows you to do “activity tracking” which EFTM understands will include step counting and sleep tracking. From what IWC has revealed so far it appears that the IWC Connect strap does not have a display so data will be displayed on your smartphone.

This is a very interesting move by the Swiss watchmaker. They have chosen to maintain their reputation in highly premium watches while still appearing to join the Internet of Things trend. This is a big move, it suggests that TAG Heuer have gone down the wrong path by creating an entirely smartwatch however whether consumers will prefer the addition to their watch strap over an entirely new watch remains to be seen.

Georges Kern, IWC CEO adds to this “we do not touch our beautiful watches – an ‘IWC’ stays a mechanical handcrafted timepiece. We’ve engineered an intelligent design solution which perfectly integrates and underlines our product worlds.”

It is hard to compare the beauty of a traditional watch built by IWC to any other smartwatch, not even the new Apple Watch compares. This is merely a teaser from IWC so watch this space…