LVMH to launch Apple watch rival

LVMH, the French luxury conglomerate, have revealed that later this year their watch brand TAG Heuer will be launching a smart watch that will rival the newly-released Apple watch.

Jean-Claude Biver, the leader of the holding company’s watch division, commented last year on the Apple watch stating that the designers had made “some fundamental mistakes”. The watch guru claimed the design was “too feminine” and that it looked as if it had been designed by a student in their first trimester. However he expressed excitement for the watch to be sold, as Apple would create a whole new clientele of young people who want to wear watches.

LVMH is responsible for managing a whole selection of fashion houses such as Christian Dior, Marc Jacobs and Fendi so whatever they produce is certainly set to be a hit with the fashpack. However Biver has expressed his concern with creating a luxury smart watch: “A smart watch is very difficult for us because it is contradictory. Luxury is supposed to be eternal… How do you justify a $2,000 smart watch whose technology will become obsolete in two years?”

All we know so far is that the watch already has the edge over Apple with LVMH releasing the information that theirs will withstand 40 hours of use, whereas the Apple watch only lasts for 18. The price is set to be around £1,000. US sales data has suggested the Apple watch has sold poorly since release, so it’ll be interesting to see how this LVMH venture turns out.

Kea Bose