IWC Connect Will Add IoT Connectivity To Traditional Watches

It's the modern wearables dilemma: do you need or want a smartwatch? While Apple Watch and various Android Wear devices have captured the imagination, some still swear off smarter tech in favor of a more traditional timepiece. The functionality of connectivity is handy, which lead luxury Swiss timepiece manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen to create the IWC Connect, which will serve as the band-attached contextual brains for their classic smartwatches. Still slight on details, IWC Connect promises activity monitoring and access the the lauded Internet of Things.

Aesthetically, IWC Connect will be little more than a button on the strap. Beginning with IWC's Big Pilot's Watch, IWC Connect will bring "fully fledged activity tracking" and "control over certain devices connected to the Internet of Things".

Georges Kern, CEO of IWC Schaffhausen, had the following to say:

Seeing that many of our customers and brand ambassadors are wearing connected devices alongside their IWC watches, we chose to work with a like-minded digital technology company to develop an elegant, aesthetically complementary solution that eliminates the need to have additional devices on the opposing wrist to your IWC. But, and this is essential, 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.

IWC is still mum on the details of Connect. We don't know which Internet of Things devices or platforms are supported, and we're not familiar with what software will provide you with a look at what info IWC Connect grabs about your activity. The company promises more details in the coming months.

Source: IWC