Swiss watchmakers debut their first luxury smartwatch

Two luxury watch companies called Alpina and Frederique Constant have announced their first luxury smartwatches which includes an activity tracking system. These are not pure smartwatches in terms of features and a wearable OS. Both companies have added electronic parts to its previous analog watches turning them into a fancy smartwatch.

The activity tracking system, called Manufacture Modules Technologies, is a system which gives power to the hour and minute hand of the watch and is housed inside a Swiss-made case. The current version of smartwatch also has a sub dial which tracks the user’s activity. The button on the watch is just pusher. In order to set anything on the watch, users have to use the app on their smartphones.

According to the companies, the internal battery lasts for about two years and sync via Bluetooth. The system modules are manufactured by the same company that manufactured motion trackers for Jawbone products, called MotionX.

The two dials on the watch display separate information. The primary dial shows the accurate time while the sub dial is capable of displaying various types of data. The whole system works the same way as the activity trackers works on the Withings Activité Fitness Tracking watch.

The latest luxury smartwatch announcement comes at a very crucial time as Apple is gearing up to launch its first ever smartwatch on March 9. Even though the Swiss watch industry is still in experimental stages, smartwatches like the one mentioned above can have a significant impact on shaping the smartwatch industry. However, the only problem for Swiss made smartwatches is the cost which could fall between $2,000 price range. It is quite difficult to sell such an expensive timepiece when there are smartwatches with more features are available in the market for about $200.